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STTARS SuperTT American Racing Series, Southwest Region Final Round: Buttonwillow Raceway Park to fall, the decision was made to reverse the program's running order so that the Premier main would run first, thus settling the championship before the dirt portion of the 1.5-mile track turned into a quagmire. An announcement gave the competitors just 15 minutes' notice, and savvy veteran Canet, who'll turn 40 on January 25, opted to replace his handcut rear slick with a rain tire to match the front. It almost seemed as if Canet was fated to miss the eight-lap main event. First, he couldn't seat the tire bead, and then, realizing that he was going to miss the warm-up lap, he spun a few doughnuts to scrub the new tire in, only to spin out and fall, bending the shift lever against the engine cases! When the green flag flew, Pearce got a good start - some said too good - and led the 23-rider field into the first turn. Chisum put the move on Pearce to take first place in the dirt, while vacationing Georgia road racer Mike Smith ran third briefly on his number911 Yamaha YZ250 before falling in the sealer-slicked hairpin, the first corner to be affected by the now steadily falling rain. Chisum's lead was shortlived, as by lap three he'd slipped to fifth, behind Pearce, Yarrow, Canet and Donnie Howard, who'd borrowed Brok McAllister's Honda CR500 for the main after his Digger Helm/Dot Hamblin/Clawson Motorsports Husaberg broke in the heat race. On lap four, Yarrow made a bid for the lead, only to crash violently in one of the faster road race corners, forcing Pearce and Canet to take evasive action in the wet grass! This let Howard close up, making it a threeway battle at the front. By now, Canet's rain tires were starting to pay dividends, and on lap five he surged past Pearce into the lead. Two laps later, Howard did the same, relegating Pearce to third. Cernicky, meanwhile, had gated poorly, and he lost time working his way past David Hopfe, Ernie Lyles By BRIAN CATTERSON PHOTOS BY BRAD ZERBEL BurrONWllLOW, CA, DEC. 9 ~ oing into the 2001 STTARS \:J SuperTT American Racing Series Southwest Regional Finale at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Don Canet hadn't won a single race. A broken leg suffered while testing sportbikes for Cycle World magazine kept him sidelined early in the season, and recent rounds have favored more offroad-oriented riders. Not winning a race bothered Canet because, like Ricky Rudd in NASCAR, Canet has managed to win a race every year since the inception of the SuperTT Series in 1997. The difference is, Rudd isn't Bill France, whereas Canet is: He founded STTARS and runs the races, yet remains a top competitor. Though all the other championships had been decided previously, the Premier-class title went down to the wire between a pair of Honda CR500 pilots: two-time defending champion Rick Pearce and challenger Mark Cernicky, who recently joined Canet at Cycle World. Heading into the weekend, the two were separated by a single point, so it was a winner-take-all scenario. The pendulum seemed to swing Cernicky's way in the morning's fourlap heat race, as the AFAM/Volcom/BiIlWard.com-sponsored rider finished second to American Honda/Fred Commings Honda/ Bridgestone-backed Pearce's distant fifth. Youngster Casey Yarrow won the heat aboard his Fairfield Cycle Center Husaberg, with Canet third on his Fast By Ferracci Husqvarna and Josh Chisum fourth on his Generation Next/Action Sports/White Brothersbacked Yamaha YZ400F. Dark clouds had been threatening all morning, and as raindrops began (Below) Rick Pean:e (1) nailed the start of the SuperTT Premier main event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park and kept an:h rival Mark Cemlcky (3) behind him to capture his third straight series championship. 34 ..JANUARY 16, 2002' a U c • e n e _ os and Aaron Howe - the latter, ironicalIy, on a Honda CR500 that Cernicky had sold him a month prior. By the halfway point, Cern icky had gotten by early leader Chisum, and with two laps to go, there was nothing but daylight separating him from Pearce. Though the once-eight-second gap closed to just three seconds at the finish, it wasn't enough, and Pearce was the 2001 champion. "Man, it feels great to get that off my shoulders," Pearce smiled after the race. "Three times in a row, can you believe it?" Cern icky was obviously disappointed at not winning the title but was keeping his chin up, bolstered by the Middleweight-class championship he'd wrapped up on his Honda CR250 two rounds earlier. "I've got no hard feelings - Rick's a great champion and he deserves it," Cemicky said. "It's funny - in the three years I've been racing the Premier class, I've finished fourth, third and second, so maybe 2002 will be my year." Winner Canet, meanwhile, was beaming, elated to have snatched victory from the jaws of self-defeat. (Right) Three-time champion Pean:e poses with his wife, Wendy, his sons Josh and Bronson, and the numberoOne plate that he'll get to keep for another year. (Below) On the first lap, Pearce (1) leads Casey Yarrow (5) and a seriously sideways Canet (4) off the asphalt Into the dirt. Yarrow crashed out of contention three laps later. At the STTARS SuperTT American Racing Series Southwest Region's final round in Buttonwillow, Callfomla, winner Don Canet let the race come to him, counting on his rain tires coming good by the finish. His plan worked perfectly! "I just about gave up on changing that tire," he confessed, "but Rick stopped on the way to the start, saw my predicament and told me he had an air can in the back of his truck. I kind of feel bad about beating him after that." Canet chuckled, then added: "Actually, I'm glad I won, because now I don't have to pay the winner's share of the purse!" eN Buttonwillow Raceway Psrl! Buttonwillow, Califomis Resulb: December 9, 2DOl IFinsl Round) PREM: 1. Don Canel (Hus); 2. Don Howard (Han); 3. Rick Pei!lrce (Han); 4. Mark Cemicky (Han); 5. Dovid Hopfe (Yam). . M./W: 1. Mark Cemicky (Han); 2. Brok McAllister (Han); 3. Allan Webster (Han); 4. Michael Day (Yam). SPTSMN: 1. Josh Chisum (Yam); 2. Ernie Lyles (Hon); 3. Bruce Sellers (Yam): 4. Mike Fultz (Hon): 5. Ed Coffey (Hon). LJW: 1. Brad Rudy (Yam): 2. Michael Day (Yam): 3. John Lyles (Han). NOV: 1. Mike Fultz (Han); 2. Allan Webster (Han); 3. Andrew Dickson (Hon); 4. Rick Wilson (Hus): 5. Rob Weaver (ATK).