Cycle News

ROUNDS 12-13/SEPTEMBER 14-15, 2013 NEW JERSEY MOTOSPORTS PARK/MILLVILLE, NEW JERSEY AMA SUPERBIKE AMA NATIONAL GUARD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP My Own Race: 36 MARTIN CARDENAS I'm going to continue trying to do that every chance they give me." 3RD/3RD Martin Cardenas got a tough break on Saturday. The likeable Colombian had a solid lead when a red flag came out. Still he came back and led coming into the final turn only to be roughed up by Josh Herrin and end up getting shuffled back to third behind Herrin and Roger Lee Hayden. On Sunday he chased down and then battled back and forth with Herrin for second on the final lap. Cardenas also dropped from second to third in the standings going into the final round. He'll need something to go wrong with Herrin's bike at Laguna to have a shot at winning the championship. "It was a very long and hard race because I didn't have rest at any time," Cardenas said of Sunday's final. "I made a good start, but at the end of the first lap the two Joshes passed me. They were a little bit faster than me in the first few laps. Danny [Eslick] and Roger also passed me. I fought back and passed them back again, but by that time Herrin and Hayes had a little gap and I was all the race trying to close that gap. I was trying as hard as I could every lap and I saw it was coming down little by little. On the last lap I caught Herrin and tried to do my best to pass him and take the position, but I made an attempt and it worked but only for a little bit and he passed me back again and there was no other chance so I had to settle for third." 1 P72 JOSH HAYES 4TH/1ST Hayes crossed the line in first on both days, but a five-second jump-start penalty in Saturday's race relegated him to fourth and cost him valuable points in the championship. He was philosophical about the potential loss of his Superbike crown. "It's been a hard year," Hayes explained. "I think I've been out of it a couple of times. I was lucky to be back in it. At the end of the year I will have crossed the finish line first more than anybody and I'm proud of that. I think we're still a strong team and we're going to be hard to contend with again next year. I still like winning races and esses he [Cardenas] had a little wobble. I went to the outside going under the bridge and then went to the inside and when I got into the lead he kind of gassed it to go back in front of me and then I gassed it to go back in front and we ended up kind of on each other. I thought for a second we were stuck on each other, but luckily I was able to gas it and go back to the inside. It was one of those good last-lap passes that 54 ROGER HAYDEN 2ND/4TH 23 DANNY ESLICK 6TH/5TH Roger Hayden scored his sixth podium of the season on Saturday and then just barely missed getting another one by a few tenths of a second on Sunday. He continued to show enough speed on his National Guard Suzuki to run with the leaders, but is still searching for the final touches that could put him over the top to reach a victory this season. "It went pretty good," Hayden said of his weekend in New Jersey. "We made a few changes and the bike was a little better today [Sunday] than it was yesterday. Our times were faster. There in the middle of the race I was with [Martin] Cardenas, but I didn't want to race with him because I thought we could catch [Josh] Herrin and maybe have a chance for second. We caught him a little late and on the last lap I made a pass on Cardenas and got back up on the inside of me and I just couldn't make a move anywhere. It was a pretty good race. Fourth is not where we want to be, but we're there in the hunt and we have been since Barber, so I feel really good about it. I was beginning to think I was in the best seat in the house again [on Sunday when Cardenas was right behind Herrin], but they kept it clean." Danny Eslick was one of the riders assessed a five-second penalty on Saturday for jumping the start. He came back and ran a strong race early on Sunday, actually passing Martin Cardenas into third at one point before having an undisclosed issue with his Jordan Suzuki and falling back to fifth. "I got off to a better start today than on Saturday," Eslick said. "I guess I was ready and the starter wasn't on Saturday's race. In Sunday's race I picked through a couple of guys and kind of sat on Rog [Hayden] and Martin [Cardenas] for a minute. I made my move. I was into turn one a little deep, deeper than I wanted to be and I couldn't really get the thing stopped any more. It was one where you ease it off in there and take me and Martin out or kind of let off will be on the highlight reel." Even though by all reports the pass was ultra-aggressive, the unflappable Cardenas shrugged it off, in spite of the fact that it cost him a win and perhaps a real shot at the title. "He came to the inside of me," Cardenas said of the move by Herrin. "I tried to shut the door, but it was too late. I ended up on the rumble strip and ran out of room and had to shut off." Hayden had the best seat in the house when Herrin and Cardenas made contact. "It was an aggressive pass," said Hayden, who benefited a position from the clash in front of him. "But it's racing, the championship's on the line. I think Martin would have done the same and if I was going for the title I would have done the same thing. If I was in Josh's shoes I'd be happy, if I was in Martin's shoes I'd be

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