Cycle News

ROUNDS 5-6/JUNE 22-23, 2014 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK/LEEDS, ALABAMA AMA SUPERBIKE P66 AMA NATIONAL GUARD SUPERBIKE SERIES Josh Herrin actually passed Hayes on Sunday, but couldn't make it stick. He ended up finshing third. took the point on lap 11 when his lead over Cardenas, who was third on the track, grew to over five seconds. But once out front Hayes didn't sprint away has he's done so many times before. This time Hayden was like a hungry pit-bull and wasn't letting go. He turned in his best ride of the season so far and stayed with Hayes the entire 21 laps. It came down to the My Own Race 11 CHRIS FILLMORE 5TH/7TH Chris Fillmore had his best weekend of the season so far on the factory KTM/HMC Racing RC8R and his fifth-place finish on Saturday's was his best result of the season. He followed that up with an exciting seventh on Sunday, where he came out on top of a race-long, five-way battle with Geoff May, Taylor Knapp, David Anthony and Aaron Yates. "I was struggling today," Fillmore said after Sunday's race. "We made some changes to try to go forward from yesterday and sometimes when you have something good to stick with it. Our changes didn't seem to work. The corners that I was better in yesterday seemed problematic today. I don't know how I did it [come out on top of the battle]. The bike was a handful today. [Geoff] May led me the majority of the race and I think I got him with about two to go. I just somehow held on to it; because it was hairball for me." 36 MARTIN CARDENAS Cardenas watched his series lead dwindle to just 10 points after finishing off the podium for the first time this season on Sunday. The Colombian pointed to the same issue he's had much of the season and that's rear grip. "We 3RD/4TH last lap and Hayden was playing out different passing scenarios in his mind for the final set of turns, but his rear tire wouldn't cooperate. "I was trying to get as close as I could to Josh," Hayden explained. "What little tire I had left I was trying to get a drive or squirt to the inside if he made a mistake, but he rode a perfect last few corners. This place is hard to pass, especially when you've got two guys that have the exact same speed." Hayes said the jump-start played on his mindset and his race strategy in the early going. "I wasn't 100 percent sure on the rule," he said. "In the past I have jumped the start. I gave way to the whole front row and were kind of struggling, the same places as yesterday, like getting off corners. The first part of the race I could be there, but when the grip went down a little I couldn't maintain the pace of those guys. We made some changes and they were better when the tire was good, but when the tire dropped a little we had the same issues. Hopefully, we can come to Mid-Ohio strong and hope for a good result." 72 LARRY PEGRAM 6TH/5TH Pegram dropped from fourth to fifth in the series standings at Barber, but overall he was pleased with the direction he and his Pegram Racing Yamaha team are headed. On Sunday he made a last-lap pass on Danny Eslick to secure fifth. "That was an old dirt track race, we were bumping and banging. I had a good last lap. The last four of five laps he slowed up a bit and I ran him down. He knew I was coming and he tried to block and that just made it a little bit tighter. So we got together on the back straightaway coming in there. It was fun. We came out on top, which made it more fun. I'm sure he didn't like it. I'm terribly unhappy with fifth place, but I'm happy that I finally got the bike suited much more to my riding style and it showed. The last half of the race I was able to do the fastest times I ran all weekend. It just took me to halfway through the race before I got confidence in the bike. Mid-Ohio is definitely a place I think we'll do well at, so I'm looking forward to it."

• Cover