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/128630
AMA/Prog re s s iv e In s u r-ance U .S. Flat T r-ack C h a m p io n s h ip s Round 1 1 : Illinois State Fair-g r-o u n d s fa irg rounds' spartan new rodeo arena . He th en d ispla yed a m azing , inc redi ble patien c e as h e whittled away a t Davi s ' five -length lead for most of the race before electrifying the more than 500 0 fa ns in a ttenda nce by go ing on th e attack around the outside of the two -time Da ytona Sh ort Tra c k winner on la p 19 . Ha yd en too k the lead on t he back straig htaway, b u t Davis fough t ba c k , sq uaring up underneath the kid a nd reta k ing the po int on lap 20. Hay den then got back underneath Da vis in turns three a nd four and held h im off for the re m a ining th ree laps to score a popu la r victor y , as was ev idenced by the screa m ing ovation o f the crowd. In winn ing the s ho rt track , Hayden a dded a n im porta nt Nationa l victo ry to his hal f mi le win a nd his Su perbike wins , m aking him a pot ent ial , albeit unlikely , c a nd idate to scor e an AMA g ra n d sla m (win s in Nat ion al road ra c e , mile , half mile , short tra ck , TT c o m pet ition) before h an g ing up h is le athers . As m any ins ide rs will con firm , the s hort track a nd TT a re the hard est -e arn e d pi e c es of th e p uzz le by virt ue o f the ir ra rity on the AMA B Y S COTT R OU SSEA U PH OT OS BY FLAT T RA K F OT O SPRINGAELD, IL, SEPT. 1 ith no road ra ces to get in th e way of his fun , Nicky Ha yd en made the tre k to Springfield, Illino is , to c r a m in thr e e ro u n d s o f th e AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S . Fla t Trac k Champ ion sh ips . By t he time the o pen ing round of th e IMDA-promoted La bor Da y Wee kend trip le h e ad e r wa s o ver , t h e 19-ye ar -old Hay de n , m o torc ycl e ra cing 's whi z kid , to ok a gia nt ste p tow ard writing a footnote in history. Ha yd en sco re d his s e cond c areer AMA G rand Nati ona l vi cto ry a t an event th at is likel y to qu ic kly bec om e a cla ss ic addit ion to a n al ready phe nom en al we e kend of dirt tra c k ra cin g at the Illinois State Fa irgrounds, the Springfield Short Tra ck Sh ootout. Ha yde n hu stl ed h is T om Cumm ings -tun ed , Michi gan Harley De a lers As soci ation /Rod Lak e -sponsore d Rotax past his te a m m a te Brett Lan des to file in behind race- long leader and short tra c k a ce Will Da vis on the tacky , cushion ed s ho rt tra ck a t th e W 36 S EPTEM B ER 1 3 , 2 0 0 0 · e y e • e n e vv s schedule a nd even more so be caus e o f th e fac t th at th e c u rre n t Gr an d Nationa l ros te r of regu la rs c ontains a few ve te ra n s - su ch a s Dav is and Texa s ' Terry Poovey - who ar e recognize d a s t wo -ton hea v y favo ri te s when a s hort track d oe s a ppea r on t he schedu le. As for th e TT? We ll, Hayden pro ved that he was a t lea st capable of a victory the la st time th at he contested the Peori a TT . "Winn ing roa d ra c es is fun, but it's kin d of like it's m y jo b ," Ha yden sa id . "Wh e n I c o me t o t he d irt tracks , I don 't th ink that a nyone expects me to win , so that ma kes it even more fun. I was so ha p py to win toni ght for Tom Cumm ings , a nd for Marlon Ha rt - one of my s po nsors who proba bly had as big a n im pa ct on m y c a reer as a nyb o d y o uts ide m y p a rents . He was he re to see this , and m y whole fam ily was her e. Tha t makes thi s re a lly s pe cial. "I ju st had a gr eat fe eling co m ing into the night," Hayden s aid. "I got a de c en t s ta rt and got up under [J.R.] Schnabel and a c ouple othe r gu ys in turn three, and that was money right ther e . If I ha dn 't made th at pass , no Nicky Hayden (69) and Wi ll Davis (21) waged a terrific bat1le at the Springfield Short Track Shootout, with Hayden going on to score his second career Grand National victory. way would I ha ve ca ught Will. I got by him , a nd he got right ba c k by m e , but I thin k m aybe my bike wa s working a little better than his." Fasthog. com /M oron e y ' s H-D backed Davis went o n to finish sec ond , with S ed a lia Ha lf Mile winn er J oe Kopp adding another po diu m finish to his season by comin g from row two to finis h third , ahead of Rich King a nd Brya n Bige low . Davi s was dea rly wo rk e d after fightin g h ammer a nd tong s . with Ha yd e n righ t u p t o t he c hecke red flag . "Tha t was a ba ttl e, m an ," Dav is s a id . "Th at's what we come to th ese things for, and I can 't th ink of nobody bett e r to do it w ith th an N ick y . I th ought t hat I c ouldn 't he a r nobody for a wh ile. I was tir ed , but I c o uld hav e raced 15 more laps . I d idn' t even kn ow whe n they were going to throw the wh ite flag , a nd I wa sn't sure wh e t he r I wanted it o ut or not . We