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scored a sixth at Mid-Ohio. Then his breakthrough pro race came at VIR in the 2002 AMA Superstock season finale. In that race, Caylor earned his first pro podium finish with a runner-up result behind Yama- ha's Tommy Hayden. But it was almost even better. Caylor came oh-so close to winning the race. He actually led Hayden across the start-finish line several times. That was the year Hayden was racing a factory Yamaha R6 against the Superstock field of mostly Suzuki GSX-R750s. Cay- lor was able to motor by Hayden, only to be outbraked by Tommy each lap going into turn one. On the final lap Caylor's Pirelli tires were greasy and he couldn't quite make the pass on the white-flag lap and that was about the only hope he had to win the race. He rode his heart out on the final lap but came up just 0.6 of a second short. "I didn't even know how to open the champagne," Caylor remembers, laughing about his first AMA podium. "Tommy [Hayden] had to show me how to do it. Even though I didn't win, it was such a great feeling sharing the podium with Tommy. I re- spected him and his whole family so much. It also made me realize I belonged and was capable of running with the top guys." It was another near miss in the AMA Superstock race at Road At- lanta in 2003. In that race Caylor hooked up with Vincent Haskovec and together they closed the gap on leader Josh Hayes. Caylor was the quickest rider on the track in the final laps, and it came down to a last-lap shootout with Hayes and Haskovec. But then the trio came upon a backmarker in turn six. Hayes and Haskovec got through cleanly, Caylor didn't. "The rider I got caught behind was John McGarity, I'll never forget it," Caylor said. "Here we were lapping him, and he actu- ally pulled me down the back straightaway, I couldn't believe it. But coming into the turn at the end of the straight he lifted early, and I had to veer left and that cost me any hope of catching Josh and Vincent." In 2004, Caylor scored a trio of top-10 Superbike finishes, during a period that featured over a dozen factory riders. He was also one of the leading AMA Formula Xtreme riders in 2005, scoring top-10 results in six rounds and finishing ninth in the championship. He quit AMA Pro Racing after the 2006 season but continued to race select endurance events and other road races through 2019, even winning a pair of WERA National Endurance titles along the way. Today, Caylor still gets on the track on occasion and oper- ates Taylor-Made Motorsports in Marietta, Georgia, that specialize in sport bike repair and mainte- nance. He also helps up-and-com- ing racers when he can. One rider he sponsored was Stefano Mesa. He looks back with fondness on his entire racing career and especially that epic weekend at the WERA GNF in '01 that brought Caylor to the attention of road racing fans across the country. CN CN III ARCHIVES P114 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives Chris Caylor came up just short of winning the AMA Superstock National at Virginia International Raceway in 2002. He shares the podium with winner Tommy Hayden and third-place finisher Adam Fergusson. PHOTO: BRIAN J NELSON