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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 13/14: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course bit, but Eric and Aaron and I were all pretty close. It looked like it was going to be a decent race of it. But certainly, in that race [the second portion], the pace was a little bit harder, and I just couldn't keep up. If the pace was the same as the first race, then I probably would've been there, but I just couldn't keep up." As for Hayden, the victory was somewhat of redemption from his bitterly close loss the day before. It was his eighth win of the season and, barring a problem at the next round, he should be crowned Superbike Champion in Virginia in a few weeks. "It was a really nice win," Hayden said. "On the first start, I felt really good - felt great, real comfortable and stuff. And, you know, I hated to see the red flag. And then after the red flag, I didn't get the start I wanted and just kind of caught up to Eric. But obviously I think we were going faster, and I could tell he looked more comfortable in the second leg. I knew it was going to be a lot tougher from there. I seen he had good grip, and I was just thinking in my head, hopefully, maybe he's got on a soft tire, maybe he would even go to like a [Dunlop] 555 or something. And I just wanted to keep pressure on him. It seemed like after yesterday that my bike gets a little better as the runs go on here. It was getting close, and I knew if I wanted to win I had to make something happen. So it feels really good to get a win. The last few races Eric's been beating us pretty good, so it's just real nice to beat-him here today. I want to think about the championship, not do anything silly, but I wanted to go for it today and really ride hard and ride aggressive with him, and it was just nice to get a win. I'm pretty happy." Behind Mladin came Roberts, getting back into the swing of things after missing the majority of the season with an injury. "It's getting better," Roberts said. "We were behind the eight ball the whole weekend. It's hard with these doubleheaders to catch up, especially with the rain we had. I just haven't got it to the point where I can ride it 110 percent like I need to. We get three hours to get things sorted out, and they've had three months. I think with a little better start, I could have run with Mat [Mladin]. We made some changes for the second part of the race. The rear shock was too stiff and that caused a traction problem. It got a lot better." Chandler was a close fifth, hounding Roberts throughout. He'd had a somewhat disappointing weekend. "We had a good bike straight away," Chandler said. "But we always had little gremlins somewhere. It's real frustrating. In this race, the clutch wouldn't engage and I had to jump to the other bike. After the red flag, I think the tire must have spun on the rim because it got a hop in it. It was just dumb little stuff the whole weekend." Hacking had improved from the day before, his fast start after the restart putting him with the fast guys. A new rear tire and his determination kept him there. "I'm not better by all means," the beat up Hacking said. "I used a different tire in the second part. We came in and I was beat. When the thing was red flagged, I was like, 'Thank, God.' I wanted to try another tire, but we didn't have one. Yates' guys had a 305 and we put that on. I got a good start and those guys weren't doing much. I was doing 28s, but I just got fatigued again with my back and foot. I was late-apexing everything. I was just sitting on the bike and riding it. I couldn't put any input into it at all." DuHamel was the final factory rider to cross the line, pleased with the fact that he'd padded his points cushion on the crashing Yates for third in the title chase. "It went pretty good," DuHamel said. "Coming in here with the injury with the foot. It's healing real good. Every day it's getting a lot better. Today, our lap times were quite a bit faster, but everybody stepped it up a bit. At least we were pretty hanging in there and our group caught up to [Mat] Mladin at least - almost. The point is, I got some good speed out of the bike. The guys worked really hard. AI [Ludington, his crew chief] made some really good changes. I've got to mention the team because they're working a lot and they're not getting a lot of out of this. My lap times were good in the second race. I got caught up in some lappers and we need to get some blue flags out here, so they know when we're coming and they can step aside. In my state, I was riding on eggshells a bit, being injured. And having Aaron [Yates] out of the race - I hope he didn't get hurt too bad - I've got a 30point lead for third place." IlN Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio Results: July 27-28, 2002 SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING: I. Nicky H.yden (1:27.130): 2. Mot Mlodin (1:27.820); 3. Eric Bostrom (1:27.894); 4. Aoron Votes (1:18.012); 5. Doug Chandler (1: 18.156); 6. Anthony Gobert (I :28.407); 7. Kurtis Roberts (1 :28.442); 8. P.scol Picotte (I :28.653); 9. Miguel DuH.mel (1 :28.709); 10. Jamie Hacking (1 :29.201); 11. JlIIson DiSalvo (1:31.021); 12. Chris Coylor (1:31.946); 13. Jimmy Moore (1:31.988); 14. Robert Jensen (1:32.029); 15. Ty Howord (1:32.107); 16. Chris Ulrich (1:32.246); 17. John Haner (1 :32.388); 18. Brian Livengood (I :32.542); 19. Vincent H.skovec (1 :32.726); 20. Brilln Parriott (1 :32.745); 21. Craig Connell (I :32.922); 22. Adom Fergusson (1 :33.0 14); 23. Rich Conicelli (1:33.014); 24. Lee Acree (1:33.197): 25. Mlch.el Hlmmelsb.ch (1 :33.214); 26. Christopher Rankin (1 :33.409); 27. Dean Mizdal (1:33.416); 28. John J.cobi (1:33.576); 29. Shone Clarke (1:33.701); 30. Andrew Deatherage (1 :33.739); 31. J.mes Compton (I :34.044); 32. Alan Schmidt (1:34.156); 33. Scott Jensen (1:34.230): 34. Douglos Duane (1:34.294); 35. Justin Bloke (1 :34.436); 36. Eric Spector (l :34.586); 37. J.cob Holden (1:34.771); 38. J.J. Roetlin (1 :35.399): 39. Anthony Fania Jr. (1 :35.428); 40. James Doerfler (1 :35.431); 41. Scott Carpenter (1:35.526); 42. Scott Vanscoik (1:36.075); 43. Robert Christman (1 :36.152); 44. Marco Martinez (1:26.293); 45. D.vid Ebben (1:36.469); 46. Mike Walsh (1:36.667); 47. Scott Hermersmann (1 :36.987); 48. Eric Erling H.ugo (1 :37.095): 49. Todd Snyder (1:37.428). RACE ONE: 1. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 2. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 3. Aaron Vates (Suz); 4. Pascal The podium for race two was made up of Bostrom, Hayden and Mladin (left to right). Picotte (Duc): 5. Mat Mladin (501); 6. Kurtis Roberts (Hon); 7. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 8. Jamie Hacking (Suz); 9. Brian Uvengood (501): 10. Anthony Gobert. (Vem); 11. Jason DiSalvo (502); 12. Robert Jensen (Suz); 13. Andy Deatherage (Suz); 14. John Jacobi (SUI); 15. Vincent Heskovec (Suz): 16. Brian Parriott (502); 17. Jeff Haner (Suz); 18. Chris Rtmkin (Suz): 19. Scott Jensen (Suz); 20. James Compton (SUI); 21. Justin Blake (Suz); 22. Doug Duane (502); 23. James Doerfler (SUI); 24. Scott Carpenter (SUI); 25. Marco Martinez (SUI); 26. Jacob Holden (Suz); 27. Robert Christman (Suz); 28. Anthony Fanie (Suz); 29. Scott Vanscoik (Suz); 30. J.J. Roellin (Suz). Time: 38 min.. 46.881 sec. Distance: 26 laps. 62.4 miles Margin of victory: 0.0341 sec Average speed: 96.541 sec. RACE TWO: 1. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 2. Eric Bostrom (Kaw): 3. Mat Mladin (SUI); 4. Kurtis Roberts (Hon); 5. Doug Chandler (Duc);- 6. Jemie Hacking (Suz); 7. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 8. Brien Uvengood (Suz); 9. Jason DiSalvo (Suz); 10. Roben Jensen (501); 11. Vincent Haskovec (502); 12. Chris Ceylor (SUI); 13. Micheel Himmelsbach (Apr); 14. Andy Deatherage (501): 15. John Haner (Suz); 16. John Jacobi (Suz); 17. Christopher Rankin (Suz); 18. Brian Perriott (Suz): 19. Jacob Holden (Suz); 20. Doug Duane (Suz): 21. James Compton (Suz); 22. J.J. Roetlln (Suz); 23. Marco Martinez (Suz); 24. Robert. Christman (Suz); 25. Justin Blake (Suz); 26. Scott Jensen (Suz); 27. James Doerfler (Suz); 28. Rich Conicelli (Suz); 29. Scotty Vanscoik (Suz); 30. Anthony Fania Jr. (Suz); 31. Pascal Picotte (Due); 32. Scott Cerpenter (Suz). Time: n/e due to red flag Distance: 26 laps. 62.4 miles Margin of victory: 1.616 sec. Average speed: nla AMA SUPERBIKE C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (Alter 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Nicky Hoyden (450/8 wins); 2. Eric Bostrom (415/3 wins); 3. Miguel DuHamel (346/2 wins); 4. Aaron Vetes (316); 5. Pascel Picotte (304); 6. Brian Parriott (263); 7. Mat Milldin (262); 8. Jamie Hacking (256); 9. Brilln Livengood (246): 10. Doug Ch.ndler (235); 11. Andy Deatherage (209); 12. Vincent Haskovec (182); 13. Rich Coniceili (165); 14. Anthony Gobert (163/1 win); 15. Jason DiSalvo (148): 16. Robert Jensen (135): 17. Deon Mizdal (122); 18. John Dug.n (113): 19. Alon Schmidt (110); 20. M.rco M.rtInez (109). Upcoming Rounds: Rounds 15-16: Alton, Virginia, August 10·11 Pro Honda Oils Supersport Round 9: Mid-Ohio Sports Car course STORV AND PHOTOS BV HENNY RAY ABRAMS LEXINGTON, OH, JULY 28 ." aron Yates didn't have to ride Athis hard. He came to the MidOhio Sports Car Course with a mas· sive points lead and, in a worst-case 16 AUGUST 7.2002 '. • eye I e scenario, had to finish ninth or better to win the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship. Considering that he hadn't finished worse than fourth all year, and had won four races, that wasn't likely. The Blimpie/Yoshimura Suzuki rider likes Mid-Ohio. He likes the n e _ os variety of. corners, the elevation changes, the fact that power isn't absolute. Two years ago, he won both legs of the Superbike doubleheader. So it came as no surprise that, when the Supersport race began to resemble a street fight, Yates was in the thick of it. And when race leader Tommy Hayden had to punt a lapper out of the way on the penultimate lap, Yates was there to slide through. From there, he sped away to win the race by 1.526 seconds and take the championship, Suzuki's first since 1998, with one race remaining. "Mid·Ohio has always been a real