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Hayden's race came to a violent end on lap nine. The canister on his Honda CBR954RR had come loose during the action and was hanging just a few inches off the ground. When Hayden flicked the bike from left to right into the first chicane, the muffler ratcheted the rear wheel off the ground and spit him just short of the air fencing that lined the banking at the top of the super-speedway pavement. He was taken to Loma Linda University Hospital, but was released with little more than a sore knee. '" went so high in the air when it sent me up the banking," Hayden said. "It's really unfortunate when things like that happen, but you have to look at the bright side. When I was up in the air, I was up there for so long that I had time to think, 'God this is gonna hurt.' But I came down and just kind of banged my knee a little bit. I feel fortunate." Pridmore's chances for the win effectively vanished after he nearly collided with a backmarker in the infield on lap 14. Pridmore stalled his bike, and Zemke got by for second place before Pridmore could recover. "I can't remember what turn it was because there are like a thousand corners at this track, but I had a backmarker come across in front of me, and I stalled the bike," Pridmore said. "I hit the starter button, and the battery was like dead. I was like, 'This is a definite problem.' Anybody who has seen me walk knows that I can't exactly push a bike to start it. So, I just popped the clutch and the thing started right back up. I was just lucky that we were eight seconds ahead of the other guys at that point. It definitely wasn't another day in the office. It was panic." Pridmore was able to repass Zemke, who finished third, well ahead of Hale, the Texan never in contention for the lead after the opening lap. Pridmore's Attack Suzuki teammate, Ben Spies, rounded out the top five. Zemke was reasonably satisfied with his podium finish. "It went... okay," Zemke said. "It wasn't too bad. We went into the race kind of rolling the dice. With limited setup time this weekend in qualifying, we just worked on a race setup, and we found what we had wasn't the hot ticket. We made some changes to the rear suspension, and it was better, but it wasn't optimum. It was good enough to get us third-place points, and that's a good start for a championship." eN FORMULA XTREME: 1. DlImon Buckmllster (YlIm); 2. JlIson Pridmore (Suz); 3. JlIke Zemke (Hon): 4. Mike Hole (Hon); 5. Ben Spies (Su,): 6. Jordan Szoke (Suz); 7. Steve RIlPP (Suz); 8. Tom Kipp (Su,): 9. Alex Gobert (Hon): 10. Clint MeB";n (Suz); 11. James Compton (Suz); 12. JlIson Curtis (YlIm); 13. Mike SullivlIn (Suz); 14. Steve Smith Jr. (Due): 15. Eric Erling Hougo (Suz); 16. John Scott Wilson (Suz); 17. Jeff Bostrom (Suz); 18. Tyler Alexander (Suz): 19. Bob Siebenhllllr (Hon); 20. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz); 21. Josh Bryen (Suz); 22. Ched Jensen (Suz); 23. Tom Wertmlln (Suz); 24. Kenyon Kluge (Suz); 25. Michael Kosta (Suz); 26. Lance Isaacs (Yam); 27. Roger Lee HlIyden (Hon); 28. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 29. Robert Mesa (Suz); 30. Kim Nllkashima (Suz): 31. Giovllnni Rojas (Suz). Time: 24 min., 44.512 sec. Distance: 17 laps, 37.26 miles. Winner's average speed: 94.819 mph. Margin of victory: 19.694 seconds. LOCKHART· PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After I of 8 rounds): 1. 1. Damon Buckmaster (37/1 win); 2. Jason Pridmore (33): 3. Jllke Zemke (29); 4. Mike Hole (27): 5. Ben Spies (26): 6. Jordon Szoke (25): 7. Steve Ropp (24): 8. Tom Kipp (23): 9. Alex Gobert (22): 10. Clint MeBoin (21); II. Jomes Compton (20): 12. Joson Curtis (19): 13. Mike Sullivon (18): 14. Steve Smith Jr. (17); 15. Eric Erling Haugo (16); 16. John Scott Wilson (15): 17. Jeff Bostrom (14): 18. Tyler AlexlInder (13): 19. Bob Siebenhaar (12); 20. Jeremiah Johnson (11 ). Cellfomie Speedwey Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Sonoma, California, May 4-5 Round 4 - Braselton, Georgia, May 18-19 Fanlllne, C8Ufomle Results: April 7. ZOOZ [Round 1 of 81 Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Round 2: California Speedway By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY BLAKE CONNER FONTANA, CA, APR. 7 awasaki was the only Big Four . brand that had not yet scored a win at California Speedway when the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock final rolled to the grid after the big Superbike event Sunday. Team Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden changed that, though. The Kentucky rider made sure that Team Green was not only represented in the win column but also on the series leaderboard during a weekend that essentially takes place in the back yard of the motorcycle industry. He easily outpaced Attack Suzuki rider Ben Spies and a gaggle of 750cc entries in the event, which had to be tacked on as the show-closer after being bumped from the Saturday program by foul weather. Hayden failed to lead only the first of the 17 laps during the race, and that was only because EMGO Suzuki rider Chris Caylor jumped the start and thus gained a healthy advantage. Caylor did not get away with it, as AMA officials slapped him with a stop-and-go penalty, which dropped him out of contention. Hayden had already passed Caylor anyway, and he began building a clear advantage over second-placed Spies as early as lap six. Hayden simply pulled away aboard his factory Kawasaki ZX6R, running lap times that averaged a tick over one minute, 30 seconds. He K crossed the finish line with an 8.991second margin of victory. "I just tried to put my head down and get some laps in, but I was a little ragged early," Hayden said. "I just got into a rhythm and tried not to make any mistakes. I just started counting the laps down." Like Hayden, Spies was aboard a 600, and it seemed to be the hot ticket as he pulled clear of the traffic behind him to earn a rather lonely runner-up finish. "It was good," Spies said. "The first four or five laps, I was right on him [Hayden]. I closed in on him for a little bit, and I thought I would have something for him, but then I got tired from this being my third race of the day. Even if I wouldn't have been tired, he wasn't making any mistakes, so I don't know what I could have done with him. I'm just happy to get second." Spies said that he had ridden three races in one day before, but that they were six-Iappers. "This was harder," Spies joked. "I need to get back in the gym." The best race on the track was the dice for third, between Corona Ebsco Suzuki's Jordan Szoke and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Chris Ulrich, both riders coming through the pack after suffering poor starts. Ulrich led the way, coming from 12th on lap one to run third by lap 12, with Szoke right behind him. The battle escalated as Szoke passed under Ulrich in the turn Tommy Hayden stonned to victory in the Superstock class on hIs 600cc Superspolt Kawasaki. 12/13 chicane in the infield on lap 15. Ulrich motored right back by Szoke on the front straightaway. Szoke made another pass in turn nine, with Ulrich then appearing content to wait it out and attempt a draft-pass at the finish line. Unfortunately, the pair came upon Szoke's Corona EBSCO Suzuki teammate, Jimmy Moore, in the final few laps. The defending series champion and 2002 Daytona event winner, Moore had crashed early in the race but had restarted and was now running 28th - a lapped rider. Szoke used Moore to his advantage on the final run to the line, getting a tow to cue I • the stripe to keep Ulrich at bay and claim third place. "We didn't qualify well, but I just tried to get a good start and stick with the crew," Szoke said. "The second or third lap, Jimmy [Moore] low-sided in the hairpin, so I just put it in safe mode to make sure that everything was precise. I knew that, with Jimmy out, I had a pretty good chance to take over the points lead. The bike felt great. Everything felt good, and we were picking guys off left, right n e _ s • APRIL 17, 2002 23