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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship Round 1 0: Road America don't have anything for any of them.' Roger [Lee Hayden] goes down and then I couldn't believe it when I saw those guys [Zemke and Buckmaster] touch at the end of turn five. All of sudden, I went from thinking I was going to finish third to, 'I wonder how far the next guy behind me is?' because I wasn't really watching my board that well." Hale, like Pridmore, wasn't questioning his good fortune. "My day ended great, a lot of luck on our side, so we'll take it," Hale said of his best finish of the year, and first podium in years. "A lot of what Jason [Pridmore] said, we feel the same way, but we'll take it." Hale said he was having trouble in the Carousel and that he would lose half a second a lap on the leaders. "It seemed like I would reel in Jason a little bit in the rest of the track," Hale said. Fergusson was up to third with all the excitement, happy for the race to run out after a vibration developed in his Suzuki GSX-Rl000. "I tried to stay with the front guys as much as possible, but in the end I sort of went into conservative mode just try to bring it home," the Australian said. "Unfortunately for the other guys, but luckily for me, a couple of guys fell by the wayside and allowed me to get onto the top three get onto the podium again." Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies was fourth, his Suzuki GSX-Rl000 having topped the AMA radar charts at 182 mph on Friday. "I was little intimidated by it," Spies admitted after his best FX finish of the year, achieved with a last-lap pass of Lance Isaacs. "We couldn't get the bike working through the two major parts of the track and that's why I think I was suffering so bad. We got fourth, we got points, everyone hit the ground. We moved up in the points." Isaacs also carded his best Formula Xtreme finish of the season in fifth, though he knew he was down on power to the leaders. "My bike was real good on the infield where it mattered, through the turns, but it was just in a straight line we didn't have the horsepower like the front guys had," he said. "It's just unfortunate that Ben [Spies] got me on the last lap. It was a bit tough. He got me on the straightaway. He went by me like I was riding a 600. We're only getting 160 horsepower on our bike. I've been led to believe they're getting 180 or 190." eN LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME: 1. Jason Pridmore (Suz): 2. Mike Hale (Hon); 3. Ad.m Fergusson (Suz); 4. Ben Spies (Suz); 5. umce (salles (Yam); 6. Memn Craggill (Suz): 7. Alex Gobert (Hon); 8. J.ke Zemke (Hon); 9. Sh.ne Prieto (Suz); 10. JllIson Curtis (Yam); t 1. Mike Luke (Sm): 12. Dougl.s Du.ne (Sm); 13. Jeff Purl< (Suz); 14. Jamie Thompson (Sm); 15. Leo Veneg. (Sm); 16. Kenyon Kluge (Sm); 17. Scott Ruehle (Yom); 18. Jeremy Gordon (Hon); 19. Brian Boyd (Suz); 20. JllImes Bonner (Vern); 21. Demon Buckmaster (Yam); 22. Roger lee Hayden (Hon); 23. Jemes Compton (Sm); 24. Tom Kipp (Sm); 25. Steve R.pp (SU1); 26. Jeff Bostrom (Suz). TIme: 22 mins.• 1.181 sec. Distance: 10 laps, 40 miles. Average speed: 108.993 mph. Margin or victory: 1.483 sec. LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA FORJ\lULA XTREME C'SHlP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 9 rounds); 1. JlIson Pridmore (154/2 wins); 2. Demon Buckmoster (148/3); 3. J.ke Zemke (146); 4. Mike H.le (135); 5. Ben Spies (128); 6. Alex Gobert (92); 7. J.son Curtis (84); 8. M.rtin Croggill (81); 9. (TIE) JlImes ComptonlTom Kipp (80); 11. Lance ISll8CS (78); 12. Roger Lee Hoyden (68); 13. Adam Fergusson (58); 14. Jeff Bostrom (51); ~ Kenyon Kluge (50); 16. J.mie Thompson (45); 17. Clint McBain (41); 18. Eric Erling Haugo (35); 19. John Scott Wilson (30); 20. (TIE) Steve Smith/Jordon Szoke (25). RaId America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Results: June 8, 2002 [Round 51 Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Brainerd, Minnesota, June 29 Round 7 - Monterey, Califomia, July 12 AMAIGenuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series Round 6: Road America By HENNY RAY ABRAMS PHOTO BY BRIAN J. NELSON ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 8 ason DiSalvo had seen this kind , of racing before. When he campaigned in the European 125cc wars, there'd be 15 riders going nose-to-tail right to the checkered flag. Good, hard, close racing that DiSalvo enjoys. '" like it, but it always comes down to who's going to be nuts on the last lap and just try to stuff it up inside on the last corner. I guess that was me today," the New York teenager said. Indeed it was. Stealing the lead back from class champion Jimmy Moore, of the Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki team, a handful of corners from the end, Cruise America's DiSalvo won his first AMA National road race - the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock class over the determined and experienced, and ultimately disconsolate, Moore, late on a cloudy Saturday afternoon at Road America. Mike Smith continued to re-introduce himself to race fans with a close third on the improving Marietta Motorsports Suzuki GSXR750, the weapon of choice for all but a few in the 40-rider field. "I love racing against both of these guys because they don't give an inch and that's the kind of racing I like," DiSalvo said after beating Moore by 0.131 of a second. "In the end, it worked out. [II timed everything right and came away with a win." Moore, meanwhile, cut into the championship lead of Arclight Suzu- 11 16 JUNE 19, 2002' cue I e ki's Lee Acree, fourth today and just a tick ahead of Moore's teammate Adam Fergusson. With four rounds to go, Acree leads Moore, 172-162. Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, whose Kawasaki ZX-6 was overmatched on the long Road America straights, sits third with 146 points after today's seventh-place finish. The first attempt at starting the race lasted less than three laps. HSA of Sanford's Rich Conicelli was in second place behind Moore when he slid off at the high-peed, right-hand kink, exploding the hay bales and causing a red flag. Conicelli was quickly up, but there was much cleaning up to do. A number of riders, including Smith, made changes in the interim and were better eqUipped for the restart. "We made some adjustments. Fortunately for me the red flag worked, 'cause I adjusted my suspension slowed it down a little so it would handle better coming off the corners," Smith said. Off the restart, it was Smith to the lead for the first lap, and hoping to hold on for a second one, with DiSalvo thinking otherwise. The 17-yearold came through on the inside in the slowing for the right-hand Canada Corner, a bend that would prove among his favorites for the duration. On the exit, DiSalvo ran wide and Smith was back in front, but not for long. By the stripe, it was DiSalvo in front, a spot he would keep until the fifth lap when Moore came by. At that point, the top three - Moore, DiSalvo, and Smith - had gotten slightly away from Fergusson, though the trio was running very much as one. DiSalvo was back in front on lap six, with Smith taking a run at the pair on the front straight starting lap seven. On the seventh lap, Moore took the lead back on the brakes in turn five, the same place DiSalvo would take it back on lap eight. Moore immediately answered with a ballsy inside move under the Toyota Bridge at the top of the hill - not a common passing alley. "There was places I really felt like I could put moves on if , needed to and that was one of them," Moore said. "I saw my teammate [Fergusson] do it on the first start. He made two spots up there and I just gave it a shot. It made it pretty slick." The scene played out identically on the ninth lap, DiSalvo in front in turn five, Moore taking it back in six. On the final lap, it was nearly identical, but for one important difference; DiSalvo took the lead in turn five, but Moore couldn't get it back. "He pushed me out wide and I came in," Moore said. "He sort of got out a little wide and I was stuck, I believe, on the outside of him. So it made it a little difficult to swing back out. You can only do it so many times before people catch on." Moore found another opening, this one in turn eight, the right before the Carousel. The run was to the flag, with DiSalvo positioned better than before. "Going down into eight, I held him off until the end, when he got by me," DiSalvo said. "He didn't really have Jason DiSalvo (4401 won the first AMA National of his young career when he held off series champion JImmy Moore (1) and Mike Smith (911) after a spirltecl battle. n B _ S