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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE S unday, October 1, 2000, is a day that Eric Bostrom will never forget. That was the date of the final round of the Pro Honda Oils 600 Super- Sport Championship at Willow Springs Raceway. It became a day that will go down in in the record books with the series ending in the most dramatic fashion not only in 600 Superpsort, but one of the most dramatic of all AMA Pro Road Racing history. The championship came down the final lap. Points leader Eric Bostrom led a three-rider pack that included Honda's Kurtis Roberts and Yamaha's Jamie Hacking. Coming into turn eight of the nine-turn Willow Springs Raceway, Hacking swept under Bostrom, the two made contact and Bostrom was forced wide. Roberts snuck underneath both and took the lead. Even though Roberts' path to the victory was cleared, he still needed help from Hacking to hold off Bostrom to the finish line. Bostrom drove hard out of turn nine, but came up inches short of passing Hacking. Roberts and Bostrom ended the championship tied in points with 276 each, but Roberts won the title by virtue of winning the most races! It doesn't get any more intense than that. While ending the 2000 season with an empty feeling after losing the championship by just inches had to be a gut-wrenching experience for Bostrom, it was also all the inspiration he and the Kawasaki squad needed. The fuel of the anger and disappointment of the 2000 series served to fire up Bostrom and his squad in the next season. Bostrom returned more determined than ever to take the coveted 600 Supersport crown. The 2001 Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Se- ries set up to be an intense battle among one of the most talent-laden fields ever witnessed in the championship. All four Japanese makers entered factory, or factory-backed teams. Bostrom and Kawasaki would be facing a mammoth task of beating Honda's Supersport King Miguel Du- hamel, defending series champ Kurtis Roberts, along with Honda's young up-and-coming riders Jake Zemke, Roger Lee Hayden and Josh Hayes. Yamaha had the talented Australian brothers Anthony and Aaron Gobert, along with Tommy Hayden at the absolute peak of his ca- reer. Suzuki had the potent squad of Aaron Yates and Jamie Hacking, as well as young gun John Hopkins. And Bostrom was on his own with no fellow Kawasaki riders to assist. The racing season was also challenged by the 9-11 attacks on America that forced a cancelation of the penultimate round. Yet the racing and the country went on, determined not to let life be altered by an act of terror. The season didn't get off to the greatest BOSTROM SETTLES THE SCORE P132 PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS Eric Bostrom flew a checkered and an American flag after winning the 2001 Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Championship, just weeks after the 9-11 attacks.