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D D n I n AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Round 617: Road Atlanta road race original warm-up lap. The first red flag allowed the team to duct-tape a towel over the leak. For the final start, the bike was properly sealed, with an assist from teammate Mike Hale's crew. Hayden went out in the final race with cold tires, so he was hesitant to push from the start. "It may not have been the smartest thing," Hayden said, adding, "If I was smart, I probably wouldn't be racing bikes. "I was pushing hard the whole race and I was catching Damon [Buckmaster] and at one time we kind of stayed even," he said. "The last four laps, I put my head down and I was on him and I could tell I was a little better than him on the brakes. So, the last two laps, I just tried and ran out of a little bit of room." The win and maximum points went to Buckmaster, now with 113. That puts him 23 ahead of Zemke, who hung on, literally, to finish third. The crash had left Zemke with a badly swollen right hand. During the break, Zemke was able to ice his hand. Once he got going, it started to swell up and he couldn't hold the throttle. "I couldn't feel anything. The thing would start sliding around. I didn't have much control over the throttle or the brakes so I just had to chill out those guys were running a good pace out front." Zemke finished 8.55 seconds back, just in front of Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Marty Cragil!. A following trio came through five seconds later, Spies in front of Hale and Pridmore. "All the thanks goes to my crew," Spies said. "The bike, pretty much everything but the forks, frame, wheels, was trashed. When they were lining up for the grid, I was going to start from pit lane, but there was a problem and I got to start the race. "CN Roed AUenta Bruellon, Georgia Results: Mey 19, 2002 [Round 3 of 91 LOCKHART· PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME: 1. Demon Buckmaster (Yam); 2. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 3. Jake Zemke (Hon); 4. Mertin Cragill (Suz); 5. Ben Spies (Suz); 6. Mike Hele (Hen); 7. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 8. Alex Gobert (Han); g. Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock: Round 4 STORY AND PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS BRASELTON,GA,MAY18 ne rider had never been to America. One rider had come out of retirement. The third rider wasn't planning on contesting the entire Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Championship. Such was the makeup of the podium at the end of the Superstock race at Road Atlanta, where the championship was thrown wide open after a longdelayed, but ultimately exciting 15lap race. When it was over, a few hours after it started, Arclight Suzuki's Lee Acree had moved into the championship lead after winning his second race in a row, this time with a last-lap pass. Australian Adam Fergusson was second, having arrived on Tuesday for his first-ever visit to the U.S. to fill in on the Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki team for the visa-deficient Jordan Szoke, and having led much of the race. And Mike Smith, former HarleyDavidson, Ducati, Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki factory rider, was third on a very standard motorcycle he nearly packed up and took back to his nearby home in Conyers, Georgia after a dispiriting early practice. "They've opened up a track a little closer to my house than this, but this is probably still home to me, and I wanted it real bad," the North Carolinian Acree said after beating Fergusson to the line by 0.26 of a second. "Adam [Fergusson] almost snatched it away from me, but I snuck up on him. "We snuck into the points lead there, too," Acree said. The Arclight Suzuki team's primary objective is the Formula 16 MAY 29,2002' cue I e USA championship, but North Carolina's Acree said the team was changing its plans. "It's going to be tough, but I think we're going to make all of them, see if we can't keep this championship out of Kawasaki's hands." After four of 10 races, Acree leads Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, 12th today, 120 to 110. White Tip Racing's Brian Parriott, 10th today, is third with 98. Acree set a new race record of 103.884 mph, winning the IS-lap, 37.8-mile race in 22 minutes, 0.320 seconds. It seemed like the race wouldn't happen, at least not on Saturday. n _ _ so Water had begun to seep up through a spring in turn five even during the Superbike race. A brief delay became an hour, then more, and, while all manner of people stood over the seam watching it weep, the afternoon dragged into early evening. The delay was nearly two hours. From the second row, Hooters! Mountain Dew Suzuki's Larry Pegram jetted into the lead, soon to be passed by Acree, then Fergusson on the second lap. Fergusson took the lead on the third lap, and by the fifth there was a lead trio of Acree, Fergusson and Mike Smith, somewhat surprised he Mark Crozier (Suz); 10. Scott Carpenter (Suz); 11. Geoff May (Suz); 12. James Compton (Suz); 13. Mike Fitzpatrick (Suz); 14. Jeff Bostrom (Suz); 15. James Kerker (Hon); 16. Jllmie Thompson (Suz); 17. Timothy Falcone (Suz); 18. Chuck Allen (Suz): 19. Robert Hilliord (Suz); 20. Kenyon Kluge (Suz); 21. Mkhoel Honley (Suz): 22. Jomes Bonner (Yom): 23. Oovid McPherson (Yom): 24. Tom Klpp (Suz): 25. lance Isaacs (YlIm): 27. Adam Fergusson (Suz). TIme: NtA due to red neg. Distance: 15 leps, 37.8 miles. Average speed: N/A due to red nag. Margin or victory: 0.972 sec. LOCKHART·PHILUPS USA FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 or 9 rounds): L Damon Buckmaster (113/3 wins): 2. Jake Zemke (gO); 3. Joson Pridmore (82): 4. Mike Hole (79): 5. Ben Spies (78): 6. Ale. Gobert (67): 7. Mertin Crogill (56): 8. Tom Kipp (54): 9. Jomes Compton (51): 10. Jeff Bostrom (49): 11. Joson Curtis (43); 12. Clint McBoin (41): 13. Roger lee Hoyden (32): 14. John Scott Wilson (30): 15. Kenyon Kluge (28): 16. Lonce Isaacs (27); 17. (1lE) Jordan Szoke/Steve Smith Jr. (25): 19. Steve Ropp (24): 20. Oovld Stonton (23). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Fountain, Colorado, June 1 Round 5 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 8 was so close to the front after a problematic weekend. After running 23rd in practice, Smith had told his crew to pack up the truck. "People are blowing by me like I was sitting still," he said at that time. A trip to the dynamometer wasn't encouraging. "I found out what those things are good for. We had about 80 horsepower. " Local knowledge kept Smith in the hunt, however, and he was up to second on the sixth lap as the lead trio cleared out. Fergusson took the lead back on the eighth lap and appeared to be pulling away. Acree knew better. This _k's Au"'e Of The "-e In 750cc Superstock _s Adam Fergusson (322). In his first AlIA race end his first-ever trip to the U.S., Fergusson geve Lee Acree (184)e run for his money before coming up just shor1 at the finish.