ROUND 3/JUNE 23, 2013
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK/LEEDS, ALABAMA
AMA HARLEY-DAVIDSON
P76
AMA VANCE & HINES HARLEY-DAVID
RAPP RULES
Part-time racer wins at Barber
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
R
etirement from full-time racing seems to
have worked out well for Steve Rapp. The
full-time airline pilot and part-time racer said
he's never had this much fun racing.
"I haven't won this much in a long time and winning is fun," Rapp said with a big smile on the podium after winning his second straight Vance &
Hines Harley-Davidson Series race Sunday aboard
his Suburban Harley-Davidson XR1200, this time
at the scenic setting of Barber Motorsports Park.
It marked Rapp's second Harley victory at Barber, the California veteran having won here in 2011.
Rapp missed practice on Friday, but still had
enough knowledge of the twisty 2.4-mile, 15-turn
central Alabama circuit to qualify second to defending series champion and pole winner Michael
Barnes.
In the race, speedy veterans Barnes and Rapp
had a good battle early on with Barnes, on the
Spyke's Harley-Davidson, leading the way. But
as the race went on Rapp took over the lead and
steadily pulled away to an eventual 5.454-second
margin of victory over Barney.
