Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128614
Formula U S A/Wrench e a d .c o m P r o S in g le s Series S TO RY BY S COTT R OU SSE A U PH OTO S BY F LAT T RA K F OT OS AN D S COTT R OUSSEAU INDIANAPOUS, IN, MAY 13 [@ u:I. es pite th e disenchantment th at brought abou t a premature e nd to round two o f t h e F or m ul a USA /Wrench e a d. c om Natio nal Dirt Tra ck S e r ie s at t he Ind iana S t a t e Fairground s (see p a ge 28 ), at least one m a in eve nt was completed, and a young di rt -t ra c ke r-tu rned- roa d -ra c e r n a m e d Ha yd e n stepped up to grab the top hon o rs in the Wrenchead.com Pro Sing les class. If that soun ds familiar , we ll, just m a ke s ure yo u 've got the righ t kid . Th is ti me it was Mo ron e y' s Ha rle y Da vid so n ' s Ro g er Le e Ha yd e n , the youngest of the ra cing Haydens, who clai med his first professiona l win a nd a lso gav e team owner Pat Moron ey a th ird stra ight win in Wrenchead.com National Dirt Tra c k com pe titio n, this despite th e fa ct th at the 16 -yea r-old Kentuckian had to go up against many of th e stars w h o took pa rt in t he 400/600cc class' debut in Texas . Even so , he seemed to be the class of the field on this night , taking the lead right from the sta rt of the 15- la p feature and then st eadily pulling away from team- 26 MAY 24, 2000' eye I e m at e Will Dav is o n the Fa sthog .c om ATK, form er amateur d irt track riva l Bryan Smith and the r est of th e 18 rider field to secure the victory. "My bi k e was j ust wo r ki ng so good , you kno w?" Ha yde n sa id. "Pat Mo ro ney a nd the g uys at Mor on e y 's Harl e y -D a vidson buil t a great bike, and it just m ade m y jo b that m uch easier. I had a lot of fun ton igh t. I had fun racing Will in th e heat race . I though t that th e main event was going to be a litt le closer, but I was riding as hard as I could. I'm glad to win because I a in 't won a pro race since I turned 16 . I wa's starting to get down on myself, but this is a big con fidence booster." Th e Motion Pro /R e d Line O il/ JB Gra ffix-b a c ked Smith made his pro fess ional debut at Indy a successful one . Latest in a line of ready, willing a nd a ble Mich igan d irt -tr a c ke rs , the - 16 -y ear -old fo rm er AMA Am at e u r Grand Nat iona l Ch ampion ha s log ged a lot of mile s at Indy, and it sh owed, as he got off to a g re a t s tart in th e ma in e vent to c ha se Ha yde n a nd lead Davi s. Sm ith did his best to get by Hayden up the front st ra igh t during th e first fe w laps , but he never he ld the lead for long . After a brief battle e arl y , Ha yden pulled a way , Smith n e ..., s was left to fend off Da vis. A coup le of m ist a kes in three and four a llowed by Da vis to slip by in the mid dle portion s of the ra c e , but Smith ga me ly hung on to the veteran 's dr aft , riding it a ll the way to the podi um . "I tho ught I was going to be a ble to follow Roger an d get second , but this is cool, getting third. I almost got by Will, bu t this is cool. At first I thought that I m ight ha ve a s hot at Roge r, but he could run a litt le bit lower, down through the holes. I had to keep it up high. He just pla in-out beat me. They both outrode me." For Da v is , t h e r a c e was , once again, a chance to s how the kids how it is do ne, as he patie ntly waited for a mistake fro m Sm ith before making his m ove , which ca me off of tu rn four after S m ith bo bble d . And as the say ing goe s , old a ge a nd treachery... "T he s e k id s got m e by a bout 20 yea rs, man ," Davis said. "Ge ez, they k icke d m y butt here to nig ht. I hav e . Roger Lee as m y te ammate now, a nd I had his brother Nicky as my team ma t e with TCR a coup le of years ba ck. They 're su ppose d to be on m y te am for me to teach 'e m so m eth ing, but either I taught ' e m too good or th e y n e ed to teach m e something . But it .was fun racing with Roger Lee Roger Lee Hayden 1 SC) ran away 9 from teammate Will Davis (21) to score the first Pro class win of his career in the Wrenchead.com Pro Singles main event at the Indy Mlle. a nd Bryan Sm ith . In years to come, yo u're go ing to see these gu ys come up in th e V-tw in class . I was abl e to get Bryan righ t there at the end , but Roger Lee was go ne ." Ha yden go t the holeshot when the ligh t went green. Smith ra n second, hounded by Dav is, S&B Racing/ S ub ruban Moto rs H-D/ AirBo rn Coatings backed Bret Beye r an d Husaberg/Linea weaver Ra ci n g ' s Ken ny Noyes a mong others befor e he , Da vis a nd Be y e r bro k e away fro m t he m a in pack in an effort to c atc h the flee ing Hay d e n. Bot h Coziah r H-D /Shad es J ohnny Murph re e and Team Po w ell/Wes t Bend H-D/Sunoco Ra cing ' s dropped ou t early, pu lling out on th e se c ond lap. Murphree wa s cred ited with 17th, Schnabel with 15th . Brian Vinc ent crashed while com ing off turn four , but he was unhurt, and while many of th e riders waved for a stoppag e , PACE off icia ls deemed the downed bike and rider to be out of the racing line . and e lec ted to keep th e race under green.