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gural year in the U.S. Bostrom said Mladin had been consistently faster down the hill leading to the front straight all day, "And I followed him right out of the corner, and basically damned near hit his rear tire in the draft, because I knew that it was going to be - if I was going to lose, it was going to be by a couple of thousandths - because I knew we had a little motor on him - and if I was going to win, it was only going to be that much. So I just tried to cut it as close as I could," he said. Aaron Yates, Mladin's teammate, was third the hard way. Yates was taken out by Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts in a crash and burn that brought out the second red flag. The Georgian playfully ran onto the track and laid down, an old dirt tracker's trick, but one the AMA was scrutinizing, and may penalize him for. With Roberts' RC-51 on the track and on fire, a red flag was certain to fly, but it hadn't yet, making Yates' stunt appear ill-conceived, though he wasn't apologizing. "It was just, hey, I seen ... .! got to thinking, you know, I seen it before," Yates said. "That's what guys do at dirt tracks." On the second restart, third start overall, Yates was forced to start from the pit lane while his crew replaced all the bodywork and the steering damper. When the third red came Eric Bostrom (32) pulled off a lastsecond pass of Mat Mladin 11) to win Sunday'. Superblke final, thus rubbing the ou1golng champion of his last chance for a Superbike win In 2002. out, he'd made his way to fourth, landing a front-row starting spot for what would be an eight-lap sprint to the finish. He was 4.357 seconds behind Bostrom at the finish. Next was HMC Ducati's Chandler, who was frustrated by the constant stopping and starting and had a skittish front tire at the end. The best privateer placing of the year belonged to Cruise America's Jason Disalvo, the Suzuki rider taking fifth. Hayden (69) won Saturday's Superbike after several top runners, Including Mat Mladin and Eric Bostrom, suffered difficulties. Hayden cruised to the checkered flag with over eight seconds in hand. A day after clinching the title, Nicky Hayden lost the front end and crashed out of second on the seventh lap, the fire from his RC-51, and lax response by emergency personnel, causing the first red flag. Blimpie/Yoshimura Suzuki's Jamie Hacking may have run his last race in Suzuki colors. Hacking's Suzuki GSXR750 dropped a valve in Saturday's race, then he crashed in Sunday's Pro Honda Oils Supersport race while in second. The worst of the injuries was DUD I • to his right arm, which didn't allow him any grip strength. "There was no way he could hold on to the thing," crew chief Tom Houseworth said. Hacking sat out Sunday's Superbike race. Hayden had gotten away fourth in Saturday's race, led by Bostrom from Yates and a resurgent Mladin, the three-time champion putting his return to competitiveness on the acquisition of much-needed suspension pieces. Yates crashed early on lap eight, unhurt. Bostrom's engine expired a lap later, causing him to tip over. Mladin's rear shock malfunctioned, then his rear tire started vibrating and finally chunked, a melon-sized piece leaving the carcass. It was lap 13, and the title was nearly Hayden's, Hacking second for a few laps until his motor dropped a valve, the same ailment that had done in four motors at Brainerd a month earlier. With Hacking's retirement, all of the Japanese factories, except for Honda, were out of the race. (Yamaha's Anthony Gobert sat it out with health problem.) Once Hayden earned the point for most laps led, on the 21 st lap, the championship was his. When he crossed the line, he had an insurmountable 74point lead over Bostrom, who was assured second in the championship. n e vv S • AUGUST 21, 2002 9