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AMA Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series Aaron Votes (20) was hounded by Roger Lee Hayden (95) throughout the Superstock race, but he held on for the win. YATES CLOSES IN AARON YATES WINS, TITLE TO COME Bv HENNY RAy ABRAMS ust make the check out to Second Chance Auto Sales," Earl Hayden, Roger Lee's father, joked to Lucky Yates, whose son Aaron had just won the red-nagshortened Repsol Superstock final late on Sunday morning at Virginia International Raceway. Why did Earl deserve a cut? Not sure about that. But as for Roger Lee, his would be a reward for getting between Yates and Yamaha's Jason DiSalvo, Yates' main contender for the Superstock crown. By taking second over DiSalvo, Roger Lee boosted Yates' points take by three - the difference between second and third - and increased Yates' lead to 21 entering next week's championship finale at his home track of Road Atlanta. "I feel a little more comfortable, and it's really good to come out with a win," Yates said as he headed for home with a 301-to-2BO cushion. "Next week we'll " 22 see. A couple of extra points is good." Yates was hounded by Roger Lee from the start to the red nag on the 14th of 17 laps. The Georgian, who this weekend resigned with Yoshimura for the 2006 season, led every lap, though never by much. At the end of the 13th lap, that lead was .574 seconds, the largest of the day, and more than once it was under a tenth. Roger Lee's strategy was to wait until the final two laps. He knew he couldn't pull away, so he was content to sit on Yates, waiting for either a mistake or a worn tire or something that might give him a chance. But his plans were derailed when Lion Racing's Jake Holden ran into the back of Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki's Jason Pridmore just past the start/finish line on the 14th lap. Holden was likely going in excess of 165 mph when he rammed Pridmore's rear tire from behind. A still photo from the AMA:s finish-line camera shows smoke coming off Holden's front tire at the moment of impact. Holden was transported to the local hospital, where he was reported to have SEPTEMBER 7,2005 • CYCLE NEWS a broken thumb, a broken foot, and a concussion. Yates said he was surprised that Roger Lee was hanging on. And he knew there were spots where he was vulnerable before his front end wasn't perfect. "The thing's bouncing off the bottom in the corner, right before I let off the brakes and tipped it in, so I was kind of cautious," Yates said. "I started kind of trying to pick the pace up a little bit there. The lap that the red nag came out, I kind of fell back into the 27's and was just taking a little break and just thought he'd come by. And I'm kind of glad he didn't, because the race got cut short. He might have ended up with the win." "I'm going to wait till two laps to go, and try to pull it off with two laps," Roger Lee had said, and there were a few spots where he thought he could make the pass. "He would spin a little bit out of turn one. I thought maybe I'd get him getting in. Also, I was a little bit better than him in one and the turn up the hill. And he was better than me in the midsection. So those were the two spots I might be able to try something the last couple of laps the last lap, for sure. Also, in the back of my mind, he's going for the championship." But the end came too soon, and none of his strategies would play out. "I'm just kind of bummed that the best race of the year, it kind of got cut short," he said. "That's the way it goes." The leaders had quickly separated themselves from the rest, with the Graves Motorsports Yamahas of DiSalvo and Damon Buckmaster fighting over third. Both were wounded; DiSalvo had hurt his knee in practice, and Buckmaster was suffering a numb left hand from carpal tunnel syndrome. Buckmaster's was the worse of the two ailments, and he fell from the fight over third to a safe fourth. DiSalvo settled into third, the best he could hope for after banging his knee on a curb during practice on Saturday and a crash on Friday. "I kind of held with those guys in the beginning, then they got away," DiSalvo said. "It's not like the tires really went off that badly." The weekend started with DiSalvo crashing in Friday Superstock practice. Next was a front-fork problem. ''After having Friday be a total writeoff, come back Saturday starting completely fresh, and then when that happened on my knee..... said DiSalvo, who caught his knee on a curb, splitting open his leathers and sending himself on a precautionary ride to the hospital. Fortunately, there was no damage to the knee or anything else, and he was able to ride, though at a reduced ability. eN VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY ALTON, VIRGINIA RESULTS: AUGUST 28, 2005 (ROUND 10) REPSOL SUPERSTOCK: I. Aaron Yates (Suz); 2. Roger Lee Hayden (Kaw); 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam); 4. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); S. Geoff May (5uz); 6. Aaron Gobert (Yam); 7. Steve Rapp (5U2); 8. Jason Pridmore (5uz); 9. Jacob Holden (5U2): 10. John Haner (5U2); II. Michael Bames (Suz): 12. Eric Wood (Suz); 13. Matt Lynn (Suz): 14. Blake Young (5uz): 15. Jason Perez (Yam): 16. Tony Meiring (Suz): 17. Akira Tamitsuji (5uz); 18. Heath Small (Yam); 19. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 20. Chris Ulrich (Suz); 21. Lee Acree (Suz); 22. Adrian Jones (Suz); 23. Jeremy Haiduk (Yam); 24. J.J. Roetlin (Suz); 25. David Loikits (Suz); 26. Kenny Rodriguez (Han); 27. Brad Puetz (Suz); 28. Tim Rinaldi (Suz); 29. Montez Stewart (Suz); 30. Brent George (Suz). Time: 18 min., 53.551 sec.. Distance: 38.25 miles Average speed: 93.307 mph Margin of victory: 0.57-4 sec. REPSOL SUPERSTOCK C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 10 of II rounds): I. Aaron Yates (301/5 wins); 2. Jason DiSalvo (28011); 3. Steve Rapp (230); 4. Jacob Holden (206); 5. Roger Lee Hayden (205); 6. John Haner (195); 7. Aaron Gobert (197); 8. Tommy Hayden (16811); 9. Damon Buckmaster (165); 10. Geoff May (160); II. Jamie Hacking (156/1); 12. (TIE) Eric Wood/Lee Acree (142); 14. Jimmy Moore (138); 15. Blake Young (125); 16. J.J. Roetlin (116); 17. Brent George (113); 18. Michael Barnes (106); 19. Jason Pridmore (97); 20. Vincent Haskovec (88). UPCOMING ROUND: Round 11 . Brasellon, Georgia, Seplember