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Round 10 Sep. S , 2004 AMA SUPERBIKE Repsol Superstock S eries ...maybe a little farther back. I was in there, trying as hard as I could, as well. Idefinitely needed a race win for any hope of it. But I just couldn't get it slowe d down up in there." Gobert's secon d place, coupled with a sixth-place fi nish by teammate Jamie Hacking, gave Gobert the top spot in the championship heading to Virginia International Raceway. Gobert has 293 points, five more than the 2B8 of Hacking and Tommy Hayden. "That was my goal," Gobert said. "I planned on trying to leave here with something, and I definitely wanted to leave here first place in points. That was definite ly the target whe n I came here." Hayden lamented losing the race . "I really needed to win that race ," Hayde n said. "That was my goal coming in... 600, I didn't necessarily have to win. That Superstock, I really needed to win. I fought there the whole way. I just couldn't get it done, really. " Hayden said he's not out of it by any means , but added: "I'm definitelygoing to have to win there to win the championsh ip, and I'm going to go in there with that attitude and try to do it. Hopefu lly it works out . If not , it won't be for lack of effort." Hacking was alone in sixth, struggling with a duff shifter and physical issues. Hoot ers Suzuki's John Haner got the best of lion Racing's Jacob Holden for seventh. Then came the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R7S0s of Vincent Haskovec and Steve Rapp. eN By HENNY RAy ABRAMS PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NE LSON AND TOM RILES ,, I d like to dedicate the win to - th is goes to nobody but him - to the mechanic at Yamaha who said I can't win a race witho ut leading into turn one ," an impish Ben Spies said after winni ng the Repsol Superstock race at Road Atlanta. "I did it, and that 's kind of in your face." As was the win. Spies patiently waited until the time was right and then took the lead on the 12th of IS laps and instantly pulled away. He won his second Superstock race of the year by 2.223 seconds. "My whole goal was to either get the holeshot and chec k out or follow and save my tire ," he said. "I got a really crappy start , so we went to plan B immediately. Just got on the back of everybody. The pace was pretty quick. It wasn't super fast. It was just fast enough where I could stay back there without using my tire up. And I was real stro ng on the brakes into [turn] 10. And then I just passed everybody for second and then passed Aaron [Gobert on] the next lap into first and put my head down." Graves Motorsports' Aaron Gobert had led the fi rst five laps, and the n laps 10 and I I, ceding midrace to teammate Jason DiSalvo. The race was among either four or five riders at the front, with Kawasaki's Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden in the mix, Roger Lee off the back of the group in the early going and most ly mixing it up with DiSalvo once the Yamaha man lost the leaders . ROAD ATLANTA BRA SELTON, GEORGIA RESULTS: SEPTEMBER S, 200 4 ( ROUND 10) REPSO L SiS TK: I. Ben Sp;es (Su, ); 2. AMon Gobert (Yam): 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 'I . Roger Lee Hayden SPIES' WINS, GOBERT SCORES Spies had taken the lead on lap 12 by setti ng the fastest lap of the race and the n bettering it a lap later. "I just kind of bumped it up about 10 percent on all the corners and just kind of checked out pretty good with a couple of laps to go," Spies said. That put Gobert on the defens ive, with Hayden close by, having been in third every lap of the race . "When I saw Tommy [Hayden] was hanging in, I thought, 'I've got to beat this guy,''' Gobert said. "And that was my one goal. If I can't win, I'm risking everything to chase Ben [Spies]. I'll just fight it out with Tommy." Hayden went under Gobert in turn six on the final lap, with Gobert using the draft to retake seco nd as they sped 38 Ben Spies rides to victory, but Aaron Gobert scores big through the high-speed turn-nine kink on the back straight and into the chicane. "There' s no way anyone was beating me into that chicane in the end when I passed him," Gobert said. Then DiSalvo tr ied to make a move on Tommy Hayden, but was too hot into turn 10, clipping his rear tire and running off the track . That let Roger Lee Hayden scoot into fourth, with DiSalvo recovering for fifth . Tommy Hayden wasn't happy about being run into, something DiSalvo had done to Roger Lee earlier in the season at SEPTEMBER 15,2004 • CYCLE NEWS Pikes Peak International Raceway. "I would hope a guy wou ld have a litt le more respect for the people battling for the championship, but obviously he didn't," Tommy Hayden said. "I don't know what he was doing, really. He came and bumped me in the last turn. Me and Aaron are batt ling for the championsh ip there. I didn't really, I guess, think it was the right thing to do, but everyone races their own way." DiSalvo's response was: "Well, last time I checked before this race , I was right behind Tommy in the championship, 40th A nni versary (Kaw) : 5. jason DiSalvo (Yam): 6. Jamie Hacking (Yam); 7. John Hane r (Suz): 8. Jacob Holden (Suz); 9. Vincent Haske v ec (Suz): 10 . Ste ve Rapp (Suz): I I. Joshua Kurt Hayes (Kaw ): 12. Alex Gobe rt (Han); 13. Jesse Janisch (Suz); 14. J.J. Rcetlln (Suz): IS. Jeffrey Tigert (Han) : 16. Jason C urtis (Suz): 17. James Kerker (Hon) : 18. Montez Ste wa rt (Yam): 19. Kevin Pate (Yam 20. Jason Pridmo re ): (Suz): 21 . Eric Wood (Suz): 22. Scott Gree nwood (Suz): 23. Damon Buckmaster (Yam). Tl me: 21 min ., 2 7.58 sec . Dista nce : 15 laps. 37.8 miles Ave ra ge speed: 106.525 mph Margin of victory: 2.23 sec . REP SO l S UP ERST OCK C'S HIP POI NTS STANDI NG S (After 10 of I I rounds ): I. Anthony Gobert (29311 w in); 2. (TIE) Jamie Hacking (3 wins)ITommy Hayden (288n wins); " .Jason DiSatvo (274/ 1 win); 5. Roger Lee Hayden (268); 6. Ben Spies (26512 wins); 7. Steve Rapp (222); 8. josh H.Y'" (2 12); 9. JK ob Holden (206); 10. Anthony Gobert (185); I I. J""" Pridemore ( 176); 12. Vincent Haskc vec ( 169); 13. John Haner ( 167); 14. Eric wood ( 154); 15. J.J. Roetlin (134) . UPCOMING ROUND Rounds 11 : Acton, V irginia, September 19