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Formula USA/Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike Series Round 1 : Daytona By HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 3 he winners of the two LockhartPhillips Unlimited Superbike races, held on a warm, wet afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, had something in common. KWS Millennium Technologies Suzuki's Shawn Higbee and Hooters/Mountain Intern~ional Speedway Dew Suzuki's Michael Barnes both rode Suzukis to 11-plus-second victories in races that were red-flagged. The similarities ended there. Higbee backed up his first-leg win with a third in the second leg, which was stopped by rain on the fifth lap, with the remaining eight laps declared wet. Barnes ended up seventh in the first leg after being docked a stop- and-go penalty for jumping the start in the first leg. "There were three of us that moved on the line," Barnes said. "I'm the only one that got penalized." By winning the second race, Barnes took the larger purse, $3750 to Higbee's first-leg take of $1250. But Higbee's point tally was higher because of an agreement the riders made with F-USA officials. Since no one was comfortable racing at Daytona in the rain, even on DOT tires, F-USA road race director Bill Syfan proposed a solution. FUSA would pay fuJI purses, but would give eight points to any rider who completed one lap in any race declared wet. That way, any rider who didn't want to take unnecessary risks didn't have to. As it turned out, three of the four F -USA National Road Race Series events were declared wet. The point system meant that Higbee scored 34 points: one point for his pole position; 25 for his first-leg win, which was red-flagged after 10 of 12 laps; and eight for the second leg, in which he finished third. Arclight Racing's Lee Acree, second in the first leg and a DNF in the second leg, is second with 28. Eric Wood, who rode his 14K The Moviebacked Suzuki to third in the first leg and second in the second leg, is third with 24 points. "You had to temper your aggression in the rain," Higbee said at the end of the day. "I just tried to take my time and gradually move up. It would have been nice to try to get by Eric [Wood] for second, but I think we're in good shape with our finishes today. It sets up well for the rest of the series, so I'm happy." Others were less so. In his debut for the Hooters/Mountain Dew Suzuki team, Larry Pegram found himself with what appeared to. be a power deficit. He fought to fourth in the first leg and rode for the guaranteed eight points in the second leg, -finishing" 11th. "We had a little problem with our stuff this weekend, so hopefully we'll fIX it next weekend," Pegram said. Acree's new Arclight Suzuki teammate, Craig Connell, found that he wasn't fully recovered from the shoulder injuries suffered in a fiery crash last September at Portland International Raceway. He finished eighth and seventh. "['m on this learning curve," said Connell, who switched from a Ducati on Dunlop tires to Suzukis on Pirelli. "I want to go faster, but I don't want to throw it down the road. The hardest thing is changing direction in the chicane." RACE ONE Pegram got the jump on the 34rider field entering turn one, the skies dark and threatening, raindrops about to start falling. He was at the front of a string of riders, six of whom would soon separate from the field and decide the podium. Eric Wood moved to the front on the second lap, leading Blackman's Ettc Wood (4) hold. off Michael 8 MARCH 13, 2002' cue • _ n _ _ os HI_Iu.ch (2). Bames (hIdden) .nd Higbee (1) _rty In the first leg.