Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 P123 bike to carry him to second. Interestingly, Yvon Du- Hamel came out of retirement to race and finished fourth at Brainerd. Nobles built on his series lead with a command performance in the rain at Loudon over Zampach. Gale crashed, seriously hurting his chance of retaining the title. It was Zampach coming back and taking his second victory of the season on his home track of Road America, closing to within two points of Nobles in the standings. "I told those guys at Loudon that they might as well not think about winning at Elkhart," said Zam- pach after his Elkhart Lake win. "This is my track and I really want to win this series so I can tell my grandkids about it someday." Nobles bounced back with victory number three on the high banks of Charlotte. It was a contro- versial race with Nobles drafting Zampach at the last second as the two crossed the finish line side by side. Half of those watching thought Nobles won; the other half said it was Zampach. A video was produced that showed Nobles crossing the line barely ahead, but the Zampach camp wasn't convinced, claiming the angle of the camera to the finish line might have given an illusion. With such a closely fought championship, passions were high as even midway through the series it seemed the two teams understood that every point would count in the end. Zampach bounced back in a big way, going on a three-race winning streak. He narrowed Nobles' lead to two points with a win at Mid-Ohio. "I've been carrying the emotion of the Charlotte controversy with me," Zampach said after the race. "It feels great to get this win; it will help me get Charlotte off my chest." Nobles rode hurt at Topeka having crashed while chasing contingency money at a club race. Still he was strong enough to finish second. A third-straight victory for Zampach came at Texas World Speedway in another close one over his archrival. The series came back to Daytona for the penul- timate round. Nobles knew he needed a victory to have a real shot at the title and he did just that. The Harley-Davidson Twin Sports Series came down to a final battle between Zampach and Nobles on the street course of Miami. Whoever won the Miami final would be crowned champion. Both Zampach and Nobles were hungry for the title. Nobles had never won an AMA National Series and wanted to make his mark in the history books. Zampach, already an AMA 600 Supers- port champ, wanted to add to his legacy. One of the things that Zampach learned during his years of racing was that sometimes it's the little things that can make the difference between winning or losing. Since Zampach was entered in only two races for the weekend, he decided to go out with his dad and study the circuit. "Rather than sit in the pits and stare at my bike, I went out to watch the other races," Zampach said. "I learned about every inch of the track." With that knowledge in hand Zampach entered the Pro Twins race to warm up for the 883 final; it was a good thing he did. In the Pro Twins race a plug wire broke on his Don Tilley-tuned Harley. "If that would have happened during the Twin Sports final that would have been the season, Tripp would have had the title," explained a fortunate Zampach. Nobles led the season finale in the opening laps. The Z-Man then got around Nobles and went on to a six-second win. "There were certain sections of the track where I knew I was faster," said the newly crowned champ after the victory. "Once I got past him I figured the race was mine." While Harley-Davidson 883 racing almost always produced close racing, the head-to-head battle between Zampach and Nobles will always be remembered as one of the high-water marks of the series. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

• Cover