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o r n I 0 [') r A MAIGenuine Suzuki Acces sorie s S u p e r s t o c k Series R o u n d 10 : V irginia International Raceway luck y to stay on him as long as I did. Obviously , all seas on w e 'v e be en chas ing Be n [Spies], but I noticed probably fo ur laps in, five lap s in, I just co uldn 't ge t the same dr ive as he co ul d. I'm not sure if that was a bad tire or what th e deal was , but it just didn 't work for us today ." On lap seven Sp ies ' lead went up a t enth and th en to over a second o n th e eig hth , and Sp ies had hi s fifth win of the seas on. Bu ck master was passed by Erio n Ho n d a ' s Jake Zem k e o n la p e igh t when they encounte red a lapped ri der at th e end of th e esses . "It loo k ed like [the la ppe r ] co uld n' t deci de whi ch way h e wanted t o go , and at th e la st second he went t o the righ t , and I was already co m m itted to going t o the right, and we just dr ag rac ed down th e c o rn er, and I had a littl e m om en tum g oin g o ff: Zem k e sa id . " So I just laid bac k a little b it a n d got a goo d run . I j ust pull e d al ongsid e o f him a n d b r a k ed rea l good go ing in to the co rne r, but I had B y H E N N Y R A Y A B RA MS P HO T O BY B RI A N J. N E LSO N ALTON, VA, MIG. 30 T he Genu ine Suzuk i Accesso r ies Sup erst ock Ch ampionship will go d own t o th e fin al ra ce at B a rb er Motorsports Park . Kawasaki 's Tomm y Hay den made sur e of that. Wit h h i s c ha m p i o n s h i p h op es hang in g in the balanc e, Hayden kn ew h e h ad t o wi n t o keep t ho se hopes a liv e. Assis te d by a l a p p e d rid er , Hayd en t o o k th e lead fr o m Atta ck Suzuki 's J osh Hayes on the 12th of 17 lap s, th en edged awa y t o w in in re cord t ime and earne d a ch ance t o 18 SEPTEMBER 1 0 ,2003 ' c ue I the inside." Bu ckmaster's view was similar. At the "last minute I m oved to the righ t, b ut Jake [Ze mke ] a l re ad y had t he m omentum o n m e and like he sai d , j ust got m e on the br aking ." Having earn ed the pole po sition , led th e m ost la ps and wo n th e rac e. Spi es pocketed th e po ints haul of 3 8 and leaves Virgin ia, w it h o ne race to go, with a 30 · point gap o n Buck rn aster, 288 ·258 . Ze mke i s th ird with 249. If Buckmaster wi ns the final rac e at Barber Motorspo rt s Park, leads the m o st lap s and takes th e p ol e posi tion, Spies need s o nly to fin ish 23 rd o r better to earn th e c rown . " Pro bably goi ng in t here w it h the m ind set of just ch illing and run ning aro und and getting p oin ts , " Spi es said . T he b attl e f or f ourth b etw e e n Attac k Suz uki 's Josh H a y e s a nd Gr aves Mot ors ports Yama ha 's Ja m ie Ha c kin g we nt to Hack ing . Th e pas s ca me o n th e seve nth of 11 la ps, afte r race ano t her day. "I t was a t o ugh ra c e fo r sure , Hayden said after beat in g Hay es by 2. 046 sec onds u nd er thr e a t e n i n g sk ies at Virg in ia Intern at io nal Rac ew ay . " It wa s ha rd -fou gh t th e w ho l e way for m e. " Th e w i n , H a yden 's f irs t si nce begi nni ng th e seaso n wi th three co nsec uti v e v ic to r ies , a llow ed him t o c lose to within ei gh t po ints (29 8 to 290 ) of Hay es wi th one ra c e to go . Hoot ers Suzuk i's Vincent Hasko vec, sev enth today , is third with 279 . Hay den sta rt ed from th e po le with a new qualifyin g record , bu t it was Hayes to the lead off th e st ar t , w ith Hon da ' s Roger Lee Hayden crashed on the secon d lap . Hayd en escaped unhurt , but Prid m o re felt he m ay have brok en h is tib ia and fibul a and went t o th e re giona l hosp ita l in D anv ill e , Vir ginia, fo r trea tment. T he rac e had been shorte ned from 17 la ps to 12, and. wit h the red fl ag , it was cut by another la p to 11. On the second st art, S pi es w as awa y at the sta rt and was cha sed by Graves Motorsports Yamaha 's D am on Bu c k m ast er fo r th e fi rst hal f of th e rac e, Sp ies able to pull ou t hal f a sec ond on th e six th of 1 1 la ps . Spi es said he "put o n new tires and got th e hol esho t and ju st put m y head down , and th ey were on me t he who le rac e 'til we go t up to tra ffic, and I just tried to stay clean and do w ha t I had to do an d not m ak e too man y rnis takes ." Bu ckmaster said as th e rac e went on, he was ha vin g trouble wi th acc el eratio n g rip. "I j ust had no accelera tio n gr ip like h e did , f or su re ," h e sa id . " I w as Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzu ki' s Ad am Fergusson so on t o pass th e Ka wasaki. F ergusson st aye d in sec ond un til early on th e fifth lap when he nearly highsided ou t of turn fo ur. T hat gave H a y d en an o p ening , a nd h e was through and out for Hayes, hoping it wa sn 't too lat e. Th e pair l eft th e f i eld b ehind , Hay es a f ew te nths in fron t o f Hayden , never a co m fo rt able g ap . But he had a strategy for kee ping Hayden at bay and conserv ing h is tires. "I was probabl y a little slo w m id co rner," Hayes said . " I was hop in g I co ul d ki nd of bot ch his dr ives a little b it and th en let the m otor in the Suzu k i pu ll me o ut of th ere and ma ke him re ally not be able to o ut brake m e. I kn ew th e enti re rac e wo u ld be pl us zero if I was in front. " " Jo sh was r id ing a re a ll y g o od rac e, " Hayden sai d. "He didn 't make m any m ist ak es . he only m ad e one, and I was able to use it to get by him. I tr ied to ca pita lize o n it and put m y head down the last few lap s." T he m istake ca me wh en th e pair c ame up on a lapped rid er. Hayes got a go od run on the la pper. " I go t i n th er e , and w h en ev er I st a b be d a t th e brak e s , t h e th in g jump ed ar ound a lit tl e bit, and I ended up co mi ng in here a littl e hard er th an 1 th ou ght," he said . "Just ran a litt le wid e. A nd it wa s just eno ugh f or T omm y [ H a yd en] to s neak ... n e vv s which Hack ing bu ilt up a seven -second cushion . Bru c e Transpor ta tio n G rou p's Marty Craggill ran alone in sixth for th e duration . eN Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia Results: September 1, 2003 IRound 91 FORM ULA XTREME FINAL: I. Ben Spies (Sua): 2 . Jake Zemke ( Hon); 3 . Damon Buckm aster (Ya m) ; 4 . Ja mie Ha cking (Yam ); 5 . Jos h Hayes (Suz); 6 . Ma rty Craggill (Hon); 7 . Cory Eaton (S ua): 8 . Doug Duane (Suz); 9. David Bell (Suz) ; 10. Rick Narup (Suz}: 11. Heath Small (Yam); 12 . Ja m es Bonn er ( Yam); 13 . Nathan Kern ( Suz); 14 . Jas on C urtis (Hon); 15. Shane Gonyea (Suz) . Time: 15 min.. 15.879 sec. Distance: 11 laps . 24.475 miles Average speed: 9 3 .43 1 mph Margin of victory: 1.066 sec. FORMULA XTREME C' SH IP POINT STANDINGS (Aft er 9 of 10 rounds) : I. Ben Spies (2 88/5 wins); 2 . D am on Bu ck m a st er ( 2 58 / 2); 3 . J a ke Z em k e (24 9/1); 4 . Jo sh Hayes (241); 5 . Adem Fergusson (2 12) ; 6 . Marty Craggill ( 19 2 ); 7 . Jamie Hacki nq " (1 81/1) ; 8 . Steve Rapp ( 176 ) ; 9 . Jason Pridmore ( 172) ; 10. Roger Lee Hayden ( 135 ); 11. Jason Curtis (1 12) : 12. J imm y Moore (III ); 13 . D. vid Bell (88) ; 14 . Doug Duane (74) ; 15. Chris Ulrich (73) : 16 . Aaron Gobert (70 ): 17. Vincent Hesko vec (63) : 18. T y Ho ward (6 1) ; 19 . Geo ff May (60); 20 . Craig Connell (55). Upcoming Round Fin al Round · Bi rm ing ham, Alab ama , September 21 thr ough . It w a s m y m i stak e. Th e wh ol e rac e c ould hav e gone dow n dif! feren t if I c ould have not made thai mi st ak e and stay ed in front , but he was ridi ng p rett y well ." Hayes had on e last chance , go ing after Hayd en in the first turn o n the 13th lap . "I got back by him com ing up the fro nt straightaway , and he got back next to m e on th e br ak es, and 1 said, ' O h, b o y , th i s is g oi ng t o be g ood down here in turn o ne;" Hayes sai d. "I was dete rm in ed to cut it ba c k u p und e rn e at h . He re all y h ad to sto p g o od . He k e pt it down ti ght, dow n th er e. He di d wh at he h ad to d o t o k eep up th ere." Hayd en , unlike Hayes befor e him, was able to pu ll aw ay. He had over a se con d w ith thr e e l a p s t o g o a n d padded it by the end. Part of th at was d ue t o Hayes ' reth in king his strategy . " Wh eneve r I knew 1 was m a kin g so me pretty b ig c h a nc e s, I h ad t o back it down a little bit ; I j ust c ouldn 't run his pace, " H a y e s sa i d . " Nex t wee k end it m ay be a d ifferent sto ry when we get t o Barber. Th is weekend I j ust had to be sma rt and still co me o ut o f h er e w i t h th e po i n ts l ead . T here 's still anothe r 16· 17 laps to go in thi s cham pionship ." Hayden's teammat e T ony M eiring chased Fergusson for the first six laps befor e passin g hi m o n th e se ve nt h . Meirin g lo st both k nee slider s in the o pen ing laps and had to adjust his