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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Round 12: Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca The lead was about 2.5 seconds halfway into the 17 -lap race and Zemke added nearly a second a lap in the final stages on his way to a record win. Zemke completed the 37.4-mile race in 25 minutes, 14.180 seconds at an average speed of 90.455 mph, eclipsing the previous mark of 89.8 mph set by Kurtis Roberts, also on a Honda, in 2000. Records are nice, but points are what count and Zemke added 37 to his total, moving by Attack Suzuki's Jason Pridmore, fifth today after another stop-and-go penalty, and into the Formula Xtreme points lead. With two rounds remaining, Zemke leads Pridmore, 217-209, with Buckmaster third at 208. Zemke said his big incentive for Winning was that he'd just bought a house and a friend promised him a lawnmower if he won the race. "It's time to pay up, buddy," he said. Buckmaster said he knew from the start that Zemke was on a mission. "Jake [Zemke] was riding pretty well: he said. "It was going to be tough to hang with Jake anyway. I basically consolidated for a position. It was good to get the Yamaha back on the box. It was well deserved after the problems we had earlier in the season." There was a trio of riders behind Buckmaster, first Pridmore, then Erion Honda's Roger Lee Hayden, then his teammate Mike Hale. Pridmore was the first to vacate after being forced onto the pit lane for a stop-and-go penalty - his second infraction of the year - after he was caught creeping on the start line. He came in on the fourth lap in third, rejoined the race in 12th, and worked his way up to fifth. Hayden was a secure second when he had a major engine failure on the 13th lap. That handed the spot to Hale, who'd taken fourth from Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Tom Kipp on the eighth lap before being gifted third. The Texan had chosen a harder setup for the hot race and it worked at the beginning, then went off. "Once I saw I wasn't able to run with Jake [Zemke] or Damon [Buckmaster], it was kind of the best I could do and I don't know what happened to Rog [Hayden]," Hale said. "We were able. to get into third. I felt like I was catching him before he had the problems. Once that happened, I was able to pull out a little bit and get a safe margin and pull it in_" Kipp hung on for fourth, five seconds up on a three-way battle for sixth that went to his teammate Josh Hayes. Hayes finished just in front of No Limit Motorsports' Lance Isaacs, with Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Aaron Gobert eighth in his first race since suffering serious injuries at Daytona. Gobert was moving through the field, up to seventh, when he ran off the track, losing two spots, one of which he gained back. Attrition was a factor in the race. Hayden wasn't the only non-finisher. Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki's Steve Rapp went out on the 10th lap while in sixth. Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies lost the front end in turn five on the 15th lap while in fifth. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Marty Craggill finished the race, but dropped from sixth on the fourth lap to 14th by the AMAIGenuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series Round B: Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca By PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS MONTEREY, CA, JULY 14 T ommy Hayden woke up as a birthday boy on a sunny Sunday at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Later, using all the maturity of his 24 years, Hayden bided his time in the Superstock final, sitting behind Craig Connell until the 13th of 17th laps before making his pass. But even then it didn't get any easier as he suddenly had defending series champion Jimmy Moore to deal with. Again, he maintained his edge, securing his second Superstock victory of the season despite being on a 600cc Supersport mount in the 750cc-dominated class. The win was quite a birthday present to himself, though Moore wasn't giving him much in the way of a break in the championship. Despite the fact that Hayden took the victory, Moore took home 33 points and continues to perform well in defense of his title. Hayden gained a little ground, but he still trails by 34. One of the keys to victory was a change in the front end, the team softening the fork from Friday's 600cc Supersport race in an effort to make it turn better. Apparently, it did. "It went pretty good, really: Hayden said after his win. "I ran the 600 24 JULY 24. 2002' c u e I e race on Friday, so I got some practice. I had one race under my belt this weekend, so I had a pretty good idea what the bike was going to do and what kind of pace I could run. My guys may have changed the bike and it was a lot better than the one I rode in the 600 race. I got a good start, put my head down. I couldn't get a good rhythm early and I got behind. J followed for a while and got my rhythm back and it looked like he [Connell] started sliding around a little bit. I saw an opportunity to make a move and the laps were running out, so I figured I'd better go for it. From there, I just tried to put my head down and keep a little gap." The man between Moore and Hayden in the title chase is Arclight Suzuki's Lee Acree, the big loser on the day in terms of his title aspirations. While sitting in fourth place late in the race, Acree slid off his GSX-R750 on the exit of the Corkscrew. Although he was fortunate to be able to remount and score 10th-place points, he went from just two points behind Moore to 14 behind. Third place in the race went to Acree's teammate Connell, the Australian leading most of the race before succumbing to both Hayden and Moore. Still, he earned a podium spot, his third third-place finish of the season on the Pirelli-shod GSX-R750. n ... _ so Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you••• Tommy Hayden won the Superstock final on his 24th birthday. end with an electrical misfire, mostly in left-hand turns. eN Muda Raceway Manterey, Callfamia Results: July 13, 2002 IRaund 71 LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA XTREME: I. Jake Zemke (Hon): Buckmaster (Yam); 3. Mike Hale (Hon); (Suz); 5. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 6. Josh FORMULA 2. Damon 4. Tom Kipp Hayes (Suz); 7. Lance Isaacs (Yam); 8. Aaron Gobert (Yam); 9. David Stanton (Suz); 10. Alex Gobert (Hon); 11. Chris Ulrich (Suz); 12. Mike Sullivan (Suz); 13. Robert MeSll (Suz); 14. Marty Craggil1 (Suz); 15. Doug Pitcock (Suz); 16. Jason Curtis (Yam); 17. Jeff Bostrom (Suz); 18. Tom Wertman (Suz); 19. Garry Combs (Suz); 20. Steve Smith (Suz); 21. Kevin Burgess (Suz); 22. Eric Erling Haugo (Suz); 23. Sean Fey (Yom): 24. Nathan Fester (Su.); 25. Mickey Lone (Su.); 26. Michael Kosta (Su.); 27. Bob Siebenhaar (Suz); 28. Bryan Edginton (Suz); 29. Gregory Glennie (Yam); 30. David Bell (Apr); 31. David McPherson (Yam); 32. Kenyon Kluge (Suz); 33. Ben Spies (Suz); 34. John Scott Wilson (Suz); 35. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 36. Shawn Reilly (Kaw); 37. Steve Ropp (Su.): 38. Michael Hanley (Suz): 39. James Compton (Su.). Time: 25 mins., 14.180 sees. Distance: 17 laps. 27.4 miles. Average speed: 90.455 mph. Margin of victory: 8.641 sec. LOCKHART·PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 7 or 9 rounds): I. Jake Zemke (217/1 win); 2. Jason Pridmore (209/2 wins); 3. Damon Buckmaster (208/3 Wins); 4. Mike Hale (187): 5. Ben Spies (153): 6. Mortln Cra9gill (134/ 1 win); 7. Lance I..acs (128): 8. (TIE) Alex Gobert/Jason Curtis (1J3); 10. Tom Kipp (107); 11. James Compton (101); 12. Jeff Bostrom (77); 13. Roger Lee Hoyden (68); 14. Kenyon Kluge (61); 15. Adam Fergusson (58); 16. Eric Erling Hauge (57); 17. Jamie Thompson (55): 18. Josh Hayes (49): 19. Dave Stanton (45); 20, Clint McBain (41). Upcoming Rounds: Round 8 - Lexington, Ohio, July 27 Round 9 - Alton, Virginia, August 10