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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I n 39 seasons a total of 54 riders have won an AMA Superbike National. Of those, 13 of them earned just a single victory. These riders are the one hit wonders of AMA Superbike, but never to be forgotten since their names are permanently etched in the record books. Of the 13 one-race win- ners, none are still active and one of them even reached the pinnacle by winning the AMA Superbike Championship. While being known as the Vanilla Ice of Superbike racing doesn't sound so great on the surface, the reality is that hun- dreds of road racers would trade places with these guys. Having the title of former AMA Superbike winner puts you on a short and prestigious list. Here is the story of a few of AMA Superbike's one-hit wonders. RICHARD ARNAIZ ROAD AMERICA 1989 Many considered Rich Arnaiz's victory at Road America in 1989 a gift. He was riding his privateer Team Motor Sport Yamaha FZR750 by himself a distant third to the Yoshimura Suzuki when the pair of Jamie James and Scott Russell tangled on the final lap of the race and went down in a high-speed blue and white heap. "I looked over and saw the bikes but it didn't click that it could be [Jamie] James and [Scott] Russell," Arnaiz said. "I pulled up to the po- dium and thought that I must have been so far behind and that Russell and James had already left." Unfortunately, Arnaiz didn't live up to the expectations that were expected of him after winning the European Superbike title in 1990. He came back to the AMA series in 1991 and seriously injured his hand in a Daytona crash and it nev- er got much better. After a short and unsuccessful stint in World Superbike in 1992 Arnaiz decided to call it quits. JAMIE HACKING ROAD ATLANTA 2001 Back in May of 2001 Jamie Hack- ing passed and held off Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin in the first race of the Road Atlanta doubleheader to win his first, and last AMA Superbike race. Hacking waited three years and 37 races to finally earn his first win. After taking the pole and lead- ing much of his very first AMA pro event – the Phoenix Supersport race in 1997 – much was expected of Hacking. No one figured it would take so long for him to breakthrough and he was pretty emotional after finally earning the victory and held back the tears on the winner's podium. "It's about time. I still can't be- lieve it," Hacking said after winning the race. "I needed this for me and for Suzuki. It's a big step in my career. I needed a Superbike win. This means a lot to me. It's here at home, among all my supporters, all my friends, it's unbelievable." HARRY KLINZMANN LOUDON 1978 In 1978 the old Bryar Motorsports Park hosted two AMA Superbike Nationals – the traditional Loudon Classic in June and another in September. In the September race local heroes Mike Baldwin and Rich Schlachter were heavy favorites coming into the race. Instead it was the California pair of Harry Klinzmann and Dave Emde who carried out an intense battle for the victory. Klinzmann was on a San Jose BMW and Emde on a Mel Denison Kawasaki. Both were hoping to win their first AMA Superbike race. "I watched Dave [Emde] for a while to size him up," Klinzmann said. "When I made the pass I pushed that Beemer like I never had before and I prayed that the engine would hold together to the finish." It held and Klinzmann earned his only career victory. Klinzmann raced through 1983 and came close a number of times, but never won again. SAM MCDONALD – LOUDON 1984 If you didn't have an HRC-kitted Honda VF750 during the 1984 AMA Superbike Series you were up the creek without a paddle. Then 21-year-old Sam McDonald was one of the riders fortunate to P132 AMA SUPERBIKE'S ONE-HIT WONDERS – PART 1