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VOL. 55 ISSUE 11 MARCH 20, 2018 P141 Speedway in April. There, it was Buckmaster and Pridmore battling early, before Buckmaster pulled clear to a jaw-dropping 19.6-sec- ond victory. The race was some- what controversial in that Buck- master actually raced a Yamaha YZF-R7 hybrid (powered by an R1 engine) in the race instead of the R1. That bike was protested. AMA Pro Racing initially denied the protest and allowed the R7/R1 hybrid to be raced, but an appeal eventually brought the question a special appeals board. Buckmaster then won the next two rounds at Sears Point and Road Atlanta to open up a 23-point lead over Zemke. Prid- more, Hale and Spies rounded out the leading contenders after three rounds. The championship picture changed at Pikes Peak Interna- tional Raceway's round four. The R7/R1 hybrid Buckmaster rode to three-straight victories was determined illegal by an AMA appeals board, yet they allowed Buckmaster to keep the points earned on the bike. The Graves team feverishly built a new R1 race bike from scratch in just over a week. "Bucky" raced the new R1 at Pikes, won the pole, led early, but then faded to fifth before the engine on his bike expired on the final lap. Pridmore won the race on the Attack Suzuki and he and Jake Zemke (who was second at Pikes) narrowed the points gap to Buckmaster. At Road America, Buckmaster and Zemke took each other out with less than two laps to go while battling for the lead. Each rider blamed the other for the crash. Pridmore was the benefactor, be- ing handed the win and as a result a narrow six-point series lead over Buckmaster. Zemke was still very much in the title chase as well, just two points behind "Bucky." Young Ben Spies still had an out- side shot at the title at midseason. In spite of a painful broken foot, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Marty Craggill took the FX victory at Brain- erd (MN) International. Buckmaster, Zemke, Pridmore and Craggill each led at some point during the hotly contested 13-lap contest. Pridmore, Zemke and Buckmaster were sepa- rated by just eight points with three rounds to go. Zemke won over Buckmaster and Hale at Laguna and took over the points lead. Then Buckmas- ter bounced back and took all available points at Mid-Ohio (pole point, lap leader point and the win) to edge back into the lead with 246 points to Zemke's 244 and Pridmore's 241. The champi- onship would be decided in the season finale at Virginia Interna- tional Raceway. At VIR, Corona Extra Suzuki's Adam Fergusson upstaged the expected showdown by winning the FX finale after a race-long battle with Pridmore, but it was what happened further down the field that made the crucial differ- ence in the championship. Zemke ran off the track when he ran too hot into a turn and collided with Roger Hayden right in front of the entire field. Hayden crashed, but Zemke was able to get back on the track dead last. Zemke began a frantic charge through the field. Buckmaster ran third much of the race but suf- fered heartbreak for the second year in a row when his bike began to seize. All he could do was limp home to 21st. His Graves Yamaha team loaded up after the race in somber silence. Interestingly, Fergusson was prepared to help fellow Suzuki rider Pridmore should he need it, but with Buckmaster slowing, Zemke's impressive ride through the field ultimately found him 13 seconds behind Pridmore by the time he moved into third. Zemke needed to pass Pridmore to win the title. He narrowed it to four seconds, but that's as close as he could get. Both Pridmore and Zemke tallied 273 points, with Pridmore earning the championship by virtue of having two wins on the season to Zemke's single victory. It was a triumphant return for Pridmore from his 2001 injuries. "People don't know how hard it is to come back from some of the injuries I had," Pridmore said after wrapping up the title. "Racing's what I love to do and sometimes I want to win more for my team than myself. The competition with Jake and Damon, I knew this was going to be a wild and whacky week- end." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives