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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 13/14: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course them, so I just hung out there a little bit," he said. Then his Honda "just started leaking oil. My boot had oil all over it. My foot was sliding off the peg." Hayden pulled in on the eighth lap. It was the fourth time in seven races that he's been unable to finish the race. "It's getting a little frustrating being with the lead group every week and something happening," he said. "We're a group. We're not going to give up. Just keep looking." eN Mid-Ohio Sports C.r Course Lexington, Ohio Results: July 28, 2002 (Round 8J LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME: 1. Damon Buckm!lster (Yam); 2. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 3. Adam Fergusson (Suz); 4. Jake Zemke (Hon); 5. Josh Hoyes (SUl); 6. Marty Croggill (SUl); 7. Steve Ropp (SUl); 8. Mike Hole (Hon); 9. Lance Isaacs (Yam); 10. Aaron Gobert. (Yam); 11, Alex Gobert (Han); 12. Jllmes Compton (Suz); 13. Troy Green (Yam); 14. Jason Curtis (Yam); 15. Mefco Martinez (Suz); 16. Jeff Bostrom (Suz); 17. Douglas Duene (Suz); 18. Chuck Allen (Suz); 19. Scott Carpenter (Suz): 20. Eric Erling Haugo (SUl); 21. Rick Narup (SUl); 22. James Bonner (Yam); 23. Kenyon Kluge (Suz); 24. Mike Johnston (Due); 25. Tim Falcone (SUl); 26. James Kerker (Han); 27. Roger Lee Hayden (Han); 28. Leo Venega (Due); 29. Tom Klpp (SUl); 30. Vlnecnt Haskovec (SUl). Time: 24 mins., 4.921 sees. Distance: 16 laps, 38.4 miles Average speed: 95.673 mph. M.argin of victory: 2.478 sees. LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 of 9 rounds); Upcoming Round: Final round - Alton, Virginia, August 11 Fergusson's first trip to Mid-Ohio, but he's a quick learner and he had the advantage of riding in two classes, Supersport and Formula Xtreme. Fergusson was buried in the pack at the start and it took much of the race for him to start harassing Smith. "At the end there, I knew Adam [Fergusson] was close. I kept hearing him run in there. I didn't look back. Just wanted to make him think I didn't see him. I would run in there and just try to do the best I could with what I had. "I've rode this track a bunch, so I know how to get by later in the race when everything starts to get a little loose, so I would just hit those points as much as possible through there." At the line, it was Smith by .2 of a second. Fergusson spent Friday chasing a handling problem that he nearly sorted out for Saturday's race. "It allowed me to ride quite a bit faster and a bit harder than I could before," Fergusson said. "The bike worked good and I rode pretty hard. Just, at the end, I just couldn't get past Mike [Smith]. I caught up to him, I just couldn't get past him." Fergusson saw that Smith had a couple of big slides at the end, but he wasn't close enough to capitalize." There was a slight gap to Ty Howard in fourth, having broken away from a five-rider pack, then came defending champion Jimmy Moore. Moore came to Ohio with a 14-point championship lead on Arclight Suzuki's Lee Acree. His job was to protect the lead, stretch it if possible, but make sure not to jeopardize it. "Mission accomplished'" he said after finishing fifth. "Whether it was the truth or not, I felt like this was a pivotal weekend in the championship. I wanted to bring it home with a respectable position and increase the points gap, and it worked." Moore heads to the final race of the season at VIR with a 26-point lead over Acree, 258 to 232. In order to 1. Damon Buckmaster (246/4 wins); 2. Jake Zemke (244/1 win); 3. Jason Pridmore 241/2 wins); 4. Mike Hole (210); 5. Morty Croggill (159/l win); 6. Ben Spies (153); 7. Lonce Isaacs (150); 8. Alex Gobert (133); 9. Jason Curtis (130); 10. James Compton (120); 11. Tom Kipp (107); 12. Jeff Bostrom (92); 13. Adom Fergusson (87); 14. Josh Hoyes (75); 15. Kenyon Kluge (69); 16. (TIE) Eric Erling Hougo/Roger Lee Hoyden (68); 18. Steve Ropp (57); 19. Jamie Thompson (55); 20. David Stanton (45). Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Round 9: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course backstraight on the fourth lap. Smith took over with Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies just behind, followed by Corona Extra/EBSCO Media Suzuki's Jimmy Moore and Ulrich. Ulrich made his way through the ranks, up to third on the fifth lap, second on the sixth, and into the lead on the eighth. "He was getting a really good drive," onto the back straight, Ulrich said. "I just teed up on him and tried to get on the gas before he did. I think I had my nose in front of him a little while after that and [reached] the four marker coming off the back, and no one's going by me there." Straight away, he began making ground on Smith, never slOWing, and pulling away to his first win. "I set pole in Road America and was looking good for the race but made a few mistakes, so I've really concentrated on being cool and coilected," Ulrich said. "Main thing is I had to calm myself down." After racing in a club event at Willow Springs last weekend, Ulrich flew to Mid-Ohio and took part in the Suzuki qualifying races that were part of the AMA's Grand National Road Race Championship. Smith has plenty of track time on a variety of equipment at Mid-Ohio, easily more than anyone else in the field. He knows where to push it and where to back off, and that experience secured his second, knowing he didn't have anything for Ulrich today. "I tried to run in the corners with Chris and just couldn't carry the speed he was carrying," Smith said. "He did a really good job. He didn't make any mistakes. Not one whatso- STORY AND PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS LEXINGTON, OH, JQLY 27 hris Ulrich's first victory in the 750cc Supersport race was a gift. He's not ashamed to admit it. It came at Laguna Seca last year, a race where a number of others failed, which led to his success. This season has been a series of frustrations. The high point was a fourth in the second race of the year, at California Speedway. The low point, a 37th-place finish at this year's Laguna Seca race, preceded by a 35th at Brainerd International Raceway, and a 16th at Road America, after he'd earned his first pole position. All of that was forgotten on a warm and overcast day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Valvoline/EMGO Suzuki rider taking the lead from veteran Mike Smith and racing to a clear-cut victory in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock final. Corona Extra/EBSCO Media Suzuki's Adam Fergusson was third. The difference between this win and his first one, "I earned this one," Ulrich said after slowing at the checkered flag and still beating Smith by 2.869 seconds. "Laguna was a gift. I earned this." It's true that Ulrich did earn this one, but he did get a small measure of help. Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo bolted off the start and was trying to pull away when he crashed at the end of the back straight in front of Mike Smith, the polesitter. "I had just got behind Bel) Spies and he [DiSalvo] ran it up in there and he was honking on it and I thought, 'Oh, I've got some work to do, because he's way up there .... Smith said. "I didn't think I could catch him. When he was going, he was going like Chris [Ulrich] and I thought, 'Man, that's awfully fast, he's really ripping on it" and he fell." DiSalvo went out at the end of the C 20 AUGUST 7,2002' ... U .... ever." Smith turned his attention to his pursuer, Adam Fergusson. This was Valvoline/EMGO Suzuki's Chris Ulrich (181 turned his up-and-down season around at Mid-Ohio with a convincing victory over Mike Smith (911 I. e nevvs