AMA Road Racing: Graves Yamaha Extended Service Team Announces Tommy Hayden to Ride Remainder of Season in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Series

Tommy Hayden on the #22 Muzzy's Kawasaki/Dunlop/Bel-Ray/SBS-sponsored ZX-6 leads eventual event winner and soon-to-be '98 AMA 600 SuperSport Champion Steve Crevier on the #4 American Suzuki/Yoshimura USA/Dunlop/American Showa-backed GSX-R600 early in the AMA Pro Road Racing Kerker 600 SuperSport Series final at Mid-Ohio in July 1998.

Crevier would go on to best Tommy Gun and a field full of AMA Superbike Championship regulars (Hayden was in his second season of also riding the Muzzy ZX-7 Superbike) in his only win in the series for the season, but with his consistency throughout the season-long series was able to win his only AMA Pro Road Racing championship, to add to his bevy of Canadian Superbike and SuperSport championships.

Hayden, the oldest of the Hayden Clan out of Owensboro, KY. would go on to win a pair of 600 SuperSport Championships ('04-'05) while riding for the factory-based Kawasaki Motors Corp. team, winning seven events and 10 additional podiums over the course of the two seasons. 

In the '07 season, Hayden would leave the Kawasaki team(s) that he had been so-long associated with to ride for the Yoshimura Suzuki team as a team mate to multi-time champs Mat Mladin and Ben Spies, and splitting time in the 600 SuperSport series, where he would finally break through with his virgin AMA Superbike win during the 2010 season.  But, by the end of the '11 season in spite of winning races and finishing in the top-3 in points during the '10-'11 seasons, Hayden was out of a job due to the still-struggling economy in general, and in racing in particular.

Heading into the season-opening round at Daytona in March '12, it looked like Tommy Gun was going to be on the fence for the new season, a victim of the economy.  But just two days before the Daytona 200, Graves Motorsports Yamaha Extended Service regular rider Garrett Gerloff was unfortunately injured in a practice crash for the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Series, and Hayden was called into last-minute duty to fill in on the #8 YZF-R6 for the team, where he brought home a solid 7th-place finish on the day.

Since that time, Tommy has been garnering great results for the team in Gerloff's absence and now sits in the 4th-place spot in the 2012 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Series championship on the #8 Graves Yamaha, just a few points out of the 3rd-place spot.  After the Road America round 5 event last weekend, it still wasn't known if Hayden would still have a seat after Gerloff's return in the near future.

But great things happen to great people, and in the case of Tommy Hayden his patience and his results have paid off as today Yamaha Racing team manager Keith McCarty made it official that he would be staying on the team through the end of the '12 season and for the rest of the year would be riding his his familiar #22.  Gerloff's return is still uncertain but at this time Yamaha is still expecting him back before the end of the season.

This is great news for Tommy Hayden and his fans, and you can read the full release from Yamaha below!

Thanks to Dean Adams and his rockin' SuperbikePlanet.com for this great news about Tommy Hayden getting a full-time ride for the rest of the 2012 season and also being able to race again with his most familiar #22 number plate for the rest of the year:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120608-22.htm

AMA Road Racing: Complete Mid Ohio Round 6 AMA Superbike & AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Results, Rundowns and Videos

Tommy Hayden's #22 Kawasaki Motors Corp.-sponsored ZX-10RR AMA Superstock machine sits in the team's garage at Mid Ohio in front of his #1 Kawasaki ZX-6RR AMA Supersport Championship machines during a break in the action of the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire in July 2005.  The '04-'05 AMA Supersport Champion was also the '97 AMA Superbike Championship Rookie of the Year, and currently sits 3rd in the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship after winning race two yesterday afternoon over team mate Blake Young and little brother Roger Hayden.
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Good Day to be a Hayden in Sunday AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Action

LEXINGTON, OH (July 10, 2011) - Sunday was a very good day to be a Hayden at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger matched or scored their best finishes of the 2011 season in arguably the most exciting battle the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class has seen yet. Tommy earned his second victory of the year, while Roger bested Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes to take third.

Between them in the winner's circle was a reasonably happy Blake Young, who -- if he couldn't himself earn the win -- was at least glad the points had gone to his teammate instead of championship rival Hayes.

Hayes and Young swapped the lead furiously as the halfway mark came and went, while Roger maintained an almost defiant chokehold on third. With big brother Tommy just off Roger's rear wheel, the lead four tore through the second half of the race covered by six-tenths of a second, a changing of the guard coming as first Roger then Tommy slipped past Hayes, relegating the Yamaha rider to fourth. Tommy was far from done advancing, however, sliding unstoppably past first Roger then Young, claiming the lead from his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate.

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Race two winner Tommy Hayden #79 leads 2nd place finisher Blake Young #79, with 3rd place finisher Roger Hayden #54 to the flag at Mid Ohio on July 10 during the AMA Superbike Championship final event.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Tommy and Young traded positions several times as the quartet blazed through the end laps, but it was Tommy whom the final corners forced to defend the position with every ounce of skill and courage in him.

"Once I settled in," said Tommy post-race, "I could tell it was going to come down to the last lap, and Blake pushed me all the way to the end. There was a point there, coming on to the front straight for the last time, where I was totally committed -- I couldn't do anything else. And Rog, I followed him for ten or twelve laps, and he was in that back straightaway deep. It was just tough - that big of a battle, and this place is tight; it's hard to make passes. I'm just happy I was able to get through those guys and make it happen today, which I haven't been able to do the last few races."

"I was glad to see my teammate come by," Young agreed, "and it definitely helps as far as points are concerned. There are no team orders, and what happened to Tommy at Barber [engine failure] could happen to anyone. He knows that, and then again, he could be right back here again at any weekend. First and foremost, though, I'd like to thank my team -- those guys keep impressing me; every time I go out, the bike is great. I think we'll take this momentum into the next race and just continue to try to lead the points."

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Blake Young, Tommy Hayden and brother Roger Hayden celebrate on the podium after the AMA Superbike Championship race two at Mid Ohio on July 10.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Roger, who used a harder tire in today's race and expressed regret at not having done so in yesterday's contest, said, "The race was pretty good for me; I felt like I had a pretty good rhythm going, and in the beginning Josh was kind of making it easy because he and Blake going back-and-forth definitely slowed the pace up. I couldn't get out of the Keyhole good enough to make a pass on anybody, but I did twenty-one good laps and this is something we can build on and hopefully be here every weekend. A couple races this year, I felt like I left a lot out on the track after the weekend was over, so I'm trying to push it a little harder, come out of the gate faster, and be competitive."

M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas followed Hayes across the line in fifth, heading Jordan Suzuki's Ben Bostrom, who came out on top of a race-long battle with Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing BMW rider Larry Pegram. Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki's JD Beach was eighth, followed by Factory KTM/HMC Racing's Chris Fillmore and EBR Racing's Geoff May, the latter piloting the new 1190RS in its debut AMA Pro SuperBike weekend.

Young now leads the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship chase by 11 points over Hayes, with Tommy Hayden, Cardenas, and Pegram rounding out the overall top-five. 

The AMA Pro Road Race Championship next heads to Monterey, California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Round 7 on the season calendar, run as part of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP weekend. For tickets and information, visit mazdaraceway.com or call (800) 327-7322.

To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.    For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Eslick Reclaims Top Spot on Podium and Daytona SportBike Points Lead

LEXINGTON, OH (July 10, 2011) - As AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Race 2 winner Danny Eslick spun up side-by-side burnouts with runner-up Tommy Aquino, the GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki rider was celebrating more than just his second win of the season. Today's hard-earned victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course broke Eslick's points-tie with Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rival Josh Herrin, allowing the Oklahoma pilot and 2009 class champion to reclaim the clear lead in the overall Daytona SportBike Championship.

Second-place finisher Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha's Aquino, ecstatic with his first podium result of the 2011 season, was followed across the line by JHR/RidersDiscount.com's Cameron Beaubier, who -- as in yesterday's Race 1 -- again turned the quickest lap of the contest. Beaubier combined those fast laps with a last-corner error by Herrin to take his second career class podium, having fought through Team Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo and fended off Vesrah Suzuki's Cory West and M4 Suzuki's Race 1 winner, Dane Westby.

The race was red flagged almost immediately off the start, Santiago Villa (M4 Suzuki) and Michael Morgan (Autolite RIM Racing) both went down, triggering a ten-minute hold. Off the restart, Eslick put his head down and was quickly past DiSalvo into the lead.

"Yesterday I tried to conserve on first few laps," Eslick said after the race, "but after looking at what Dane did [yesterday] coming from that far back, he definitely didn't take it easy on the tire. So I just threw the hammer down from the get-go and figured, 'If we get away, we get away. If not, protect where I can and be strong in other places.' Josh got up there next to me a few times and even lead a lap, but I knew where he was going to make his move at the end, and I wasn't going to make that mistake again. It was an awesome race: hot, greasy, sliding around ... it was a lot of fun."

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Cameron Beaubier, Danny Eslick and Tommy Aquino celebrate on the podium at Mid Ohio after the AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Series race two action on July 10.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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"Everybody was riding such a face-paced race," said Aquino, 19. "If I could have passed somebody earlier, I would have done it, but Danny was setting an incredible pace and Josh was following, so I just had to do what I had to do. I wasn't going to get a fourth or third, so I put it in there on the second-last turn and Josh countered a little bit, but then I think he might have tucked the front a bit, and man, I was so happy when I crossed the finish line. I've had a number of thirds and like a thousand fourths coming into this race, so I'm really happy about it. I really had to work for it in some of the more technical passing spots, and I really have to thank all my guys. They've done so much for me and believed in me -- it's incredible."

Eighteen-year-old Beaubier, beaming throughout the post-race press conference, said, "Danny and Josh, I didn't have anything from them, but it was an awesome race that went down to the wire. Josh made a mistake and I got by the outside of him, which was pretty cool. My mechanics did an awesome job again and gave me an awesome bike, and it's a really good feeling. I was pushing pretty hard at the end and didn't really know what lap we were on, but when I put my head down and went around the outside of him, it was pretty cool. Or it felt cool, at least."

Westby led the rest of the field across the line in fourth, followed by Herrin, West, DiSalvo, Paul Allison (Triple Crown Industries), Taylor Knapp (Vesrah Suzuki), and Tyler O'Hara (GP Bike Parts Racing).

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Danny Eslick #69 leads Josh Herrin #8 during AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Series race two action at Mid Ohio on July 10.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Eslick now leads Herrin in the championship standings by a 15-point margin; DiSalvo, Aquino, and West round out the top-five overall.

The AMA Pro Road Race Championship next heads to Monterey, California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Round 7 on the season calendar, run as part of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP weekend. For tickets and information, visit mazdaraceway.com or call (800) 327-7322.

To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.   For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Young Takes Emotional SuperBike Victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course


LEXINGTON, OH (July 9, 2011) - While a Lap 8 red flag changed the fortunes of many, Saturday's AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike winner Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and runner-up Josh Hayes (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) ran down to the wire in a contest that was clearly inevitable. The lead pair were hunted throughout the race by the field's strongest would-be challengers, including third-place finisher Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden, but Young had extra motivation pushing him toward today's victory.

"Today is the fifth anniversary of my dad's passing," said Young, "and that put a little bit extra on me today. This place is pretty special to me -- I won my 2005 Horizon Award here with him, and I really wanted to get the win today and dedicate it to him. Hats off to Josh, he rode really, really good. When I was back in fourth place, I thought, 'Is this one of those days when we ride aggressive to the front, or do we let him go?' But I came into this race just really wanting to win it for my dad's fifth anniversary, and that's what we did."

The win didn't come easily for Young -- he crossed the finish just .177 seconds ahead of Hayes -- and the closing laps saw frequent lead changes as Hayes attacked for P1 again and again. "I rode a little rough in the beginning," said Hayes, "and made a lot of mistakes. The restart was probably the best start I've gotten all year, but ... I don't know if I've ever had a front end move around that much in a race, and I just didn't have the confidence to stick it in there. So that's what we had today, and I think tomorrow we'll try to sort out a solution for the front end to be a little big stronger. [Blake and my] strengths are different, and right now he seems to have the trump card. So we'll keep working to come up with something we can beat him with."

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AMA Superbike Championship race one winner Blake Young #79 waves to the crowd on the cool down lap at Mid Ohio on July 9.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Tommy Hayden -- who'd earned a fifth-place grid position after struggling in qualifying -- crossed the line third, having stuck close behind the lead pair on the restart. A terrible first start had forced him to fight his way up from eighth to fourth, "but once we got going," said Hayden, "even on the first start, I thought I had the speed to run with these guys, and I felt pretty smooth. With five to go I really thought I was going to win that race; I felt hooked up pretty good and it seemed like I could make it happen. But the last couple laps Blake seemed to step it up a little bit, and Josh was sticking his wheels in, and with the tires getting greasy I couldn't really send the front in there. Overall we've been struggling a little bit this weekend, so I felt the race went pretty well given all that."

While Roger Hayden was able to stay solidly in the lead pack both before and after the red flag, ultimately finishing fourth, his Jordan Suzuki teammate Ben Bostrom -- who'd run as high as third prior to the flag -- went wide shortly after the restart and was relegated to a disappointing fourteenth.

On the emotional flip side, Chris Fillmore piloted the KTM/HMC Racing RC8R to an impressive seventh-place finish in the OEM's factory AMA Pro SuperBike debut, besting San Diego BMW's Steve Rapp after a race-long battle. Ahead, M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas led the chase group across the line in fifth, followed by Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing's Larry Pegram. David Anthony (ADR Fly Racing) and JD Beach (Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki) rounded out the top ten, respectively.

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Tommy Hayden, Blake Young and Josh Hayes hoist their wares after race one action in the AMA Superbike Championship Series round at Mid Ohio on July 9.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Iron Horse BMW/ESP rider Chris Peris, whose crash in the Keyhole brought out the red flag, was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. His team has reported the Canadian is basically okay.

Young's Race 1 victory moves him into the overall AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship lead for the first time, just three points ahead of Hayes. Tommy Hayden, Cardenas, and Pegram round out the top five in current standings.

To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.    For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Westby Earns First Win in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike

LEXINGTON, OH (July 9, 2011) - The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class saw a brand-new winner today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as M4 Suzuki's Dane Westby staged a brilliant, aggressive ride that took him from ninth to first through some of the toughest riders in the series. For Westby, it marked his career first AMA Pro sprint race victory and a whole new chapter in premier-class-level competitiveness.

"I've never really led at the end before," said Westby after the race, "so it was kind of gnarly the last couple laps. These are the big dogs, so I knew Danny would be right there on the last lap, coming on the braking zones, and he's not playing around. I just tried to be conservative on the inside, and it just barely worked out; I was able to cut him off there at the end on a right-hander and pull it off. This is great," Westby continued, shaking his head and smiling. "At the beginning of year we had some bugs to shake out, but we got some stuff worked out and the bike will pretty much go wherever I want. I could just carve right up the inside."

Carve he did -- after finally getting by Vesrah Suzuki's Cory West, Westby set off after Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo (then the last rider of the lead pack), faced with the task of making up several seconds. Through a series of deep-braking maneuvers and what Westby himself labeled "a couple of hairball moves, but with no contact," he spun a mediocre start into an unforgettable race.

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Dane Westby #5 leads Danny Eslick #69 to the line to win his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race at Mid Ohio during race one action on July 9.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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The rest of their pack, too, did more than their fair share of adding to the gasp-worthy excitement of the overall contest, DiSalvo getting things started off the line by blasting past Josh Herrin (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) to take the holeshot and early lead. While Herrin systematically tested the inside and outside of DiSalvo's lines, he was himself hunted by a hard-charging Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki), Tommy Aquino (Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha), and JHR/RidersDiscount.com's Cameron Beaubier.

Within a handful of laps it was Eslick who'd moved taken over the lead, kicking off some of the most intense passing, re-passing, position shuffling, and door slamming the class has seen yet, Eslick, Herrin, DiSalvo, and Westby each desperately determined to claw their way to the top of the Race 1 podium. Herrin and DiSalvo were both resurgent in the final laps after seeming to slip back somewhat in intensity, but the last corners of the last lap were all about Oklahoma boys Westby and Eslick.

"I just kind of got settled in at the start," said Eslick; "Jason had a good pace and I knew it was going to be hot and that tire wear would be an issue, so I stepped back a bit and tried to just get in the groove of things. I got into the lead and put my head down, hoping to get away there, but everybody's so close when they're dialed in -- there's always four or five guys right there.

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Josh Herrin, Dane Westby and Danny Eslick celebrate on the podium after race one at Mid Ohio in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship Series on July 9.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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"We went back and forth a couple times," Eslick continued, "and for four or five laps no one stuck a wheel on me, but then Josh would come by or Jason would stick a wheel in. And then, with three of four to go, here comes Dane. I thought, 'Whoa -- where'd he come from?' I never saw Dane until that moment, and it kind of threw me a curveball; I wasn't ready for him. I made a countermove after a while and passed him, and then you saw a bunch of stuff that doesn't usually happen [at this track]. It was good, fun racing."

Herrin, who appeared to be sticking to the watch-and-wait strategy that's served him well in recent races, may have stuck to it a little too well in today's contest. "I was just trying to sit back there and see how the pace was going to be," he said, "and what everybody else was doing, and the bike was working good. I just waited too long to make a move, I think. I made an error there on the last two laps, and I need to pay a little more attention to what we're doing and make sure those things don't happen again. Tomorrow should be a little bit better. Dane rode a really good race, and congratulations to him on his first win."

The overall AMA Pro Daytona SportBike points chase continues to tighten, with Herrin and Eslick now tied in points. DiSalvo, West, and Aquino round out the top five.

To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.   For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Results from AMA Pro Road Racing for round 6 at Mid Ohio

Round 6 results from Mid Ohio (standard version, with drop-down to view all classes):

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011130&discipline=RR&class=DS&type=F&rnum=1&class_sort=all

Complete event results for Mid Ohio (PDF version, includes all entries, class breakdowns, etc.):

http://results.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/rr/2011/R1130/default.aspx
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Stories of the races over the weekend at Mid Ohio, thanks to Henny Ray Abrams and Cycle News.com.

Mid Ohio AMA Superbike Championship race two rundown:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/10/hayden-young-hayden-hayes-at-mid-ohio/

Mid Ohio AMA Superbike Championship race one rundown:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/09/young-takes-points-lead-with-mid-ohio-win/

Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship race two rundown:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/10/eslick-gets-the-win-and-the-points-lead/

Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship race one rundown:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/09/westby-gets-his-first/
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Video highlights from round 6 at Mid Ohio, courtesy of SpeedTV.com

Mid Ohio AMA Superbike race two:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-sbk-mid-ohio-race-2/

Mid Ohio AMA Superbike race one:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-sbk-mid-ohio-race-1/

Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race two:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-dsb-mid-ohio-race-2/

Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race one:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-dsb-mid-ohio-race-1/
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AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike Championship Action From Infineon Raceway Sees Josh Hayes & Tommy Hayden Split Race Wins

Tommy Hayden on the #22 Team Kawasaki ZX-10R leads Josh Hayes on the #1 Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-10R during the AMA Repsol Moto Superstock Series final at Road America in June of '04.  Hayes led 9 of the 10 laps of the final event before Tommy Gun got around him to lead the last lap and pull out the win by just .018 seconds.  Tommy would go on to win the '04-'05 AMA 600 Supersport Championships while Graves Yamaha's Aaron Gobert would clinch the '04 AMA Superstock Championship.

After an almost two month break in on-track racing, the AMA Superbike Championship Series kicked off a doubleheader round over the weekend at Infineon Raceway's West Coast Moto Jam in round two of the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Series.  And after the double wins by Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki's Blake Young at Daytona, the racing picked right back up where it left off at the end of the 2010 season with rivals Josh Hayes and Tommy Hayden taking their version of the slugfest for the championship into the new season.
Hayes looked to add to his 14 series wins, as well as his win streak at Infineon by setting fast pace and getting the point for the pole, in spite of crashing his 'A' bike in final qualifying on Saturday morning.  The Graves team pulled out the 'B' bike, which hadn't seen any action yet this year, and Josh showed why he has that #1 plate on the front of his YZF-R1 and went out and pulled off the race one win over Tommy by 7.355 seconds, and winning his 15th race in the premier class.  Newcomer to the Superbike Series, Martin Cardenas on the #36 M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000 (and 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Champion) bagged his first podium on the big bikes to come home 3rd on the day 20.135 seconds behind winner Hayes.  Daytona doubler Young finished 4th, .068 seconds behind Cardenas after a hard-fought race between the two Suzuki riders.

Of note, '98 AMA Superbike Champ Ben Bostrom on the #23 Jordan Suzuki slipped a chain and suffered a DNF while his team mate, Roger Lee Hayden on the #54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki, crashed out after being run into by David Anthony just 3 laps into the 22 lap race.  JD Beach made his debut on the big bikes after the retirement announcement of Eric Bostrom, to take the #10 Attack Performance/Cycle World
 Kawasaki ZX-10R to a fine 9th place finish in race one.  Taking advantage of the misfortunes of those in front of him, the youngster rode a smart race to finish 68.935 seconds behind winner Hayes and earn his first points in the premier series.  Bravo JD, great job!

Race two action on Sunday saw Tommy take the win after leading laps 1-3 and then 18-22 after Hayes bobbled, allowing Hayden around and to hold off the #1 Yamaha by a comfortable margin of 1.926 seconds.  Young improved a spot on his #79 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki by finishing 3rd in race two, 18.617 seconds back from winner Tommy Gun.  And Steve Rapp, in his first race in the premier class in a couple of years, came home 4th on the San Diego/Locust Powered by Lee's Cycle BMW S1000RR, 24.526 seconds behind the winner.  Larry Pegram rounded out the top 5 on his Pegram Racing/Foremost Insurance BMW S1000RR, 28.126 seconds back.

Of note, Ben Bostrom rode home in the 6th spot with team mate Roger Lee Hayden coming home 7th.  JD Beach was involved in a three rider crash and was reportedly run over by two of the other riders involved, but did not suffer any major injuries.  He reported at the end of the day on the FlatTrack.com forum that he was 'good to go' and would be in Springfield tomorrow for the test and tune session for the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series upcoming TT race.  He said he would be doing his best to 'try' and ride the test session tomorrow depending on how sore he still was.

The AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike Championship Series heads to Miller Motorsports Park for round three over the Memorial Day Weekend with a tight points race after two rounds and four races.  Josh Hayes has an early lead with 107 points, Young lies in second with 101, and Tommy Gun is in third with 99 points.  2011 is starting off with a big bang and the excitement in the premier road racing series in the United States is getting ready to amp up even further, so stay tuned!
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Round 2 Race Report: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, Race 2

SONOMA, CA (May 16, 2011) - Sunday's AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Race 2 at Infineon Raceway was red-flagged following two hugely dramatic first laps, which kicked off with Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden swooping into the lead while teammate Blake Young rubbed elbows with Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes immediately behind. Within a minute, however, the M4 Suzuki team had lost both its riders, Chris Ulrich suffering a nasty crash in Turn 2 and Martin Cardenas sliding out moments later, his bike coming to rest atop the AirFence. It was the second get-off for Cardenas in one day, as a crash in morning practice had left him with a dislocated left shoulder just hours earlier.


Cardenas regridded at the back, determined to grab some all-important championship points, but his misfortune was quickly overshadowed by a big crash on the restart that collected JD Beach (Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki), Tony Kasper (Team Iron Horse BMW), and Jeremy Burgess (ADR Fly Racing). All injured riders were treated at the at-track facility and released, save for M4 Suzuki's Chris Ulrich, who was transported by ground to the local hospital and is scheduled to be released today following treatment for two cracked lumbar vertebrae, a concussion, and internal bruising.

The track was cleared without bringing out the red flag, and Hayden tried to take advantage of his second holeshot to shake Hayes and Young, engaged in furious battle behind him. Hayes quickly bashed by Young, however, and set out after Hayden, passing via an aggressive move that nearly cost him. Once in second, however, Hayden didn't particularly seem to mind-he stayed close on Hayes' wheel through the following laps, periodically laying down a handful of the fastest laps the race saw and occasionally taking a look at the inside or outside of Hayes' line. When Tommy finally passed for the lead with just a few laps remaining, he put his head down and built some safety into his first National Guard SuperBike win of 2011, crossing the line with a margin of 1.926 seconds.

Hayes and Young brought their bikes home uneventfully in second and third, respectively, while several battles were decided behind them. Steve Rapp (San Diego BMWE) came out on top of his fourth-place battle with Foremost Insurance Racing's Larry Pegram, and Jordan Suzuki's Ben Bostrom, who'd diced throughout the second half of the race with National Guard Jordan Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden for sixth, took at least that version of a victory. Equally valorous, thought the results may not reflect it, was M4 Suzuki's Cardenas, who fought his way up to eighth from the back of the grid.
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AMA Superbike Championship Series race two action from Infineon Raceway sees Tommy Hayden on the #22 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 get the jump on defending champion Josh Hayes on the #1 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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The top-ten finishing order was Hayes, Hayes, Young, Rapp, Pegram, Bostrom, Roger Hayden, Cardenas, Chris Peris (Iron Horse BMW), and Chris Clark (Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha).

Young, 3rd: "I felt better on the first start. When I got up there on the second start, I thought, 'Maybe I can hang in here today and see where they go,' but I looked down at my lap timer and didn't think they were all that quick. I knew they were going to step up the pace, and I just don't think I was ready for it. I tried to keep my head down and ride my own race, but today I couldn't really stay there. I had to bring home third for my guys, at least get it on the podium, but I'm just looking forward to the next race already."

Hayes, 2nd: "Man, both of them just came off the line like rocket ships. I got a pretty good jump, but I just didn't get rolling as good as they did. I'm sitting here thinking about the race, and I really had a hard race. It's just, the bike was a bit of a handful today ... I think the red flag hurt me a little. Before that I felt pretty good, but on the restart, right in the beginning I had a couple of pretty big ones and I thought, 'Man, I've been this route before. I've been able to do pretty good laps, so I'm just doing to dig deep and ride this thing the best I can. Knowing Tommy, he's back there watching me, laughing at me, and getting ready to kick my butt,' which is what he did [laughs]."

Hayden, 1st: "Seemed like as the race went on it was coming to me a little bit. I made some changes for the race, so it kind of took me a couple laps to be 100 percent confident with what I had. About the time I was feeling decent, Josh came by, and I kind of settled into that. It was tough for a few laps, but then my bike really started working good-felt like it was working better and better. With about ten to go I was following pretty close; I had a couple looks in a few places kept kind of botching it up a little and falling back a couple of bike-lengths. I was close to going by a few times and didn't, and that hurt me a little bit, but I had two or three places I thought I could get by, so I was just trying to hurry up and do it and put my head down to the finish.
"This win today feels really good. I was really disappointed with my performance here last year, so I really challenged myself to come here this year and redeem myself, not give away the kind of points I did here last hear. That's not something you can do when you're racing guys like Josh and Blake, so this feels really good."

The AMA Pro Road Racing Series next travels to Utah's Miller Motorsports Park for the "Big M Weekend," where it will run alongside the World Superbike series in a combined May 28-30 event. For tickets and information, visit www.bigmweekend.com.

To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit http://www.amaproracing.com/  and join us via facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing, twitter.com/AMAProSBK, and twitter.com/AMAProLIVE.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

For additional information contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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Round 2 Race Report: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, Race 1

SONOMA, CA (March 15, 2011) - Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes got some measure of revenge for going winless at AMA Pro Road Racing's opening 2011 round today, holding off a determined Tommy Hayden for the majority of the 22-lap AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Race 1 at Infineon Raceway. While Hayden stalked Hayes at the front, Hayden's Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Blake Young, put increasing pressure on Team M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas, who ultimately held off Young to take the first National Guard SuperBike podium of his career.

Cardenas' third-place finish was extra impressive in light of the fact that today's event was only the second SuperBike event the reining AMA Pro Daytona SportBike champ has contended. And while some predicted the Colombian rider would take time to settle into his new class, Cardenas has clearly demonstrated he's not impressed by learning curves.

It was Hayden who took the holeshot off the line, but he came immediately under attack from Hayes, who in turn had Young all over his back wheel. Young even claimed second briefly, sliding under when Hayes went wide, but Hayes almost immediately sandwiched himself back between the two Suzuki riders and took over the lead within a handful of laps.

Jordan Suzuki's Ben Bostrom, meanwhile, was looking stronger than he had through practice and qualifying, hanging with the then-top three and keeping a pile of riders behind him. That pile soon ceased to include Cardenas, who worked his way past Steve Rapp, then Bostrom, to set out after Young. Bostrom remained in contention, however, until he was relegated to the side of the track with a sprung chain with fewer than ten laps to go.

Bostrom's teammate, National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden, was holding steady in eighth when he was knocked out of the contest by ADR Fly Racing's David Anthony in Turn 11 after Anthony slid into his rear wheel, splaying Hayden onto the sidelines. Hayden wasn't able to reenter.

Cardenas, meanwhile, had kept up the pressure on Young and taken advantage of a mistake that sent Young way wide to slide under and take over third position. From there, the name of Martin's game was defense, as Young stuck to his rear wheel, clearly planning a late-race attack. While Young stalked Cardenas, Young's teammate, Hayden, put increasing pressure on race-leader Hayes and beginning to whittle away at Hayes' small lead.

Hayes, however, had no intention of being caught, laying down the quickest lap the race had seen thus far late in the contest and even managing to extend it by race's end, crossing the finish significantly ahead of Hayden, while Cardenas survived a last-lap, last-corner attack from Young to take third by .068.

Rounding out the top ten were Blake Young, Chris Peris (Iron Horse BMW), Steve Rapp (San Diego BMW), Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing), Geoff May (EBR Racing), JD Beach (Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki, in his career first National Guard SuperBike race), and Team M4 Suzuki's Chris Ulrich.
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AMA Superbike Championship Series race one action from Infineon Raceway shows Josh Hayes on the #1 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha leading Tommy Hayden on the #22 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Cardenas, 3rd: "[The adjustment to a new class] has been good. The team, since I rode the bike for the first time, has worked very hard to adjust it to my riding style, and also I'm trying to change a few things in the way I ride because you have to ride this bike a little different from the 600. But it's been good, and every time I go on the bike I feel more comfortable, especially since the Miller test, where we found something that helps me go a little faster.

"At the beginning of the race I didn't make a good start; I lost some positions and had to work my way up. When I reeled in Blake I stayed with him for a few laps and then I made a decision and tried to maintain. I pulled a little bit of gap, but I made a few mistakes in some corners, He got me again and kept the pressure all the way to the end, but lucky me, I could maintain the position and be here on the podium."

Hayden, 2nd: "The start was good. I really was kind of concentrating on the start, because I know here it's important; passing is not easy and the last thing I wanted to do was get a couple of people between me and Josh. I felt pretty good all weekend and thought unless he stepped it up and went faster, I could at least go with him if I started with him, so that was for me really important, and that worked out well.

"I led a couple laps and then Josh came by, and we kind of see-sawed back and forth. I started fighting things a little bit on the entry, and it getting a little harder for me to maintain the pace, and then I made a couple mistakes and lost about a second. From there I didn't have enough left to try to make any kind of runback. Overall, I'm fairly happy with today. We definitely made a big step-last year this was my worst track by far, so this year it was important to me to come in and go in the right direction. Obviously I would have liked to win, but fairly happy with the weekend so far."

Hayes, 1st: For the most part I had Tommy in front of me, and I felt confident I could run the pace, whatever it may be. It looked like he and I would kind of be able to do our own thing over the weekend. I got a little antsy on the first lap and Blake jumped on me, but I got back really quick; I wanted to get that done immediately and stay close to Tommy. I guess I'm a little impatient, but I like leading. I'm a little more comfortable being in the front ... when you're back there, you never know what might happen. Our bike was just like last year: it's a very strong bike that basically allows me to just go out there and ride well."

For tickets to or information about today's Round 2, Day 2, at Infineon Raceway, visit www.infineonraceway.com. To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit www.amaproracing.com and join us via facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing, twitter.com/AMAProSBK, and twitter.com/AMAProLIVE. 
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

For additional information contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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Cycle News.com's Paul Carruthers was on the scene at Infineon Raceway over the weekend for the West Coast Moto Jam round of the 2011 AMA Superbike Championship Series action.  He filed the following reports on the races.

SBK race two report:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/05/15/hayden-beats-hayes-in-race-two/

SBK race one report:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/05/14/hayes-takes-infineon-race-one/
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Official results from AMA Pro Road Racing for the Infineon Raceway round of the AMA Superbike Championship Series in Sonoma, CA.

SBK race two results (standard version):

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011110&discipline=RR&class=SB&type=F&rnum=2&class_sort=all

SBK race two results (PDF version):

http://results.amaproracing.com/xml/rr/events/R1110/sbf2press.pdf

SBK race one results (standard version):

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011110&discipline=RR&class=SB&type=F&rnum=1&class_sort=all

SBK race two results (PDF version):

http://results.amaproracing.com/xml/rr/events/R1110/sbf1press.pdf
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Video highlights from the doubleheader round of  the AMA Superbike Championship races at Infineon Raceway.

SBK race two action:

http://www.speedtv.com//video/moto-racing/ama-sbk-infineon-2-2011-945122632001/1

SBK race one action:

http://www.speedtv.com//video/moto-racing/ama-sbk-infineon-1-2011-944262966001/1
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Thanks to SpeedTV.com and ace photog Brian J. Nelson for the links to the photos from the Infineon Raceway round of the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike Championship Series races.

SBK race two action:

http://photos.speedtv.com/gallery/AMASBK_Infineon_Superbike_Race_2_0511

SBK race one action:

http://photos.speedtv.com/gallery/AMA_SBK_Infineon_Superbike_Race_1_0511

Race weekend wrap-up photos from Infineon Raceway courtesty of SpeeTV.com and Evan Williams:

http://photos.speedtv.com/gallery/AMASBK_Evan_Williams_Infineon_Gallery_0511//
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Roger Lee Hayden & Jason DiSalvo Looking for Good Results in Moto2 Wild Card Outing at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Round

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Roger Lee Hayden on the #95 Kawasaki Motors Corp. ZX-6RR leads older brother, and '04-'05 AMA 600 Supersport Champion Tommy Hayden on the #1-like sponsored machine, early in the running of the AMA 600 Supersport final at Mid Ohio on July 24, 2005. Keeping it close are Ben Attard on the #12 Attack Performance/Kawasaki Motors Corp. ZX-6RR and Jason DiSalvo on the #40 Chuck Graves-run Yamaha Motor Corp. YZF-R6. After 16 laps of fighting it out, the four finished pretty darn near this close to one another, and in the order as shown in the shot. Only .553 seconds seperated the Hayden's from Attard, and DiSalvo finished just 2.269 seconds arrears of winner Roger Lee.

Roger Lee and Jason are both contesting the Indy MotoGP Moto2 Class in wild card outings this weekend and after testing at the World Capital of Racing last Thursday and Friday at least have a good feel for the track, since neither had ever ridden it. With a one-shot deal to get your name and number back in front of an international crowd and make some impressions for their future resumes in racing, both riders know the difficulty of taking something like this on in a class that could see as many as 43 or 44 bikes on the grid come racetime on Sunday. Stu's Shots will be watching them both and helping to get them home towards the top and we wish them the best and safest of racing this weekend.

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One of the better stories from the American side of things for the 3rd Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP is the wild card appearances in the Moto2 class of former AMA Road Racing stars Roger Lee Hayden and Jason DiSalvo. Both men tested last Thursday and Friday at the World Capital of Racing on the 2.6 mile IMS course in preparation for this weekend's round 11 stop of the MotoGP/Moto2/125CC World Championships. (Okay, in actuality it is really only stop 10 for the Moto2 and 125 classes as they didn't make the trip to Laguna Seca in late July.)

Hayden was able to test all day on both days as American Honda set the test up and paid the big bucks (reportedly $30K U.S. to rent the sprawling IMS facility for the two day test), and they are the one's footing the bill for this big outing for RLH. With Kevin Erion and his Erion Honda Racing resources paired up with Roger Lee, and former '93 500CC World Champion Kevin Schwantz managing the effort, this is a full-on assault in the Moto2 class.

With Honda submitting the control-spec and sealed 600CC engines for all participants in the 40+ rider class, it was a natural to sponsor an American effort since American Honda has been pretty idle in U.S. road racing since the end of the 2008 season. And with this match up of the stars-literally and figuratively-they could produce some really good results with the Moriwaki-based chassis set up the team is using. This was the team's third test after also having tested under hot and humid conditions at Barber Motorsports Park earlier this summer as well. And with the close proximity of times being produced by the regular riders in this class, every minute of track time is going to prove to be VERY vital in order to be able to produce top 1o or even top 15 results, not to mention the level of talent in this class.

Roger Lee has been contesting the World Superbike Championship for the under funded Team Pedercini Kawasaki, but has shown signs of great considering the lack of development the bike has received, and has scored points in a couple of rounds now. That may not sound that great for the guy that took the 2007 AMA 600 Supersport Championship and used to figure up in the front in almost every class or race he has run in North America in the last 10+ years, but if you look at the curve of what he has gotten out of the bike, the level of competition in WSBK, the lack of money the team has been able to put into it, and then throw in Roger's never having seen the majority of the tracks they race on, well, he's not doing too awfully bad then. But you have to look at the big picture to see the signs of light being emitted from what he has done in the face of these hurdles this year.

Jason DiSalvo will also be doing the wild card thing in the Moto2 class for the FTR MOTO M210 team and his effort will be overlooked by current AMA Pro Racing Technical advisor Al Luddington, who if you will remember was involved with American Honda for some time and wrenched for a man by the name of Miguel Duhamel. The man knows Honda's and he knows how to set a bike up, so that has to be a big plus to have in your corner coming into this one-off weekend.

Jason seemed reasonably happy with the test speeds he was able to attain last week and is also hoping for strong results after having split in late May/early June with the World Supersport team of ParkinGo BE1 Racing after running their Daytona 675 Speed Triple in the World Supersport Championship for the first part of the year.

Knowing this is a big platform to be able to put on a good showing, the Moto2 class running this weekend at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round is probably going to be the race and class where it is all going to happen. The new class has produced some changes and variations compared to the old 250CC two stroke class in that some of the regular two stroke riders who used to be at the front have struggled with the new diesel class. Whereas some of the up and comers who have come out of four stroke production-type racing--i.e. Roger Lee Hayden and Jason DiSalvo (we hope!), have faired much better with the rigidity of the chassis and the performance specs of the sealed inline four cylinder four stroke machines.

Thusly, for both RLH and DiSalvo, this is a critical weekend to get their names out there for future consideration in just about any racing series, let alone one that caters to 40+ rider grids and runs on an international level criss-crossing the globe several times throughout a given race season. That's a pretty steep hill to climb for both riders and both teams.

Whichever way things go for the former AMA Road Racing pilots, the real winners this weekend are going to be the fans. The level of racing produced in this class is top of the bar, and when you throw in the wild cards for the weekend here in Indy, you've got a full-on game of black jack....on two wheels at 160+ mph.

We wish Roger Lee Hayden and Jason DiSalvo both the very best of luck and safest of racing this weekend and we'll be on hand to check them out and watch them perform on this greatest of stages. And if they can manage to put it up there and dice it with the boys over the course of racing action, good on them! Go get 'em guys!

You can check out the various reports of the tests at Indy last week below, as well as a press release from American Honda below that has a shot of the great looking machine with the #34-in homage to team manager Kevin Schwantz-that RLH will be contesting here in Indy.

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Here's Larry Lawrence's spin on what these guys have ahead of them for this weekend's round 11 of the MotoGP circus at Indy in their respective wild card rides in the new Moto2 class. Larry runs the always bitchin' TheRiderFiles.com and was on the scene for the test session these two took part in last Thursday and Friday at the World Capital of Racing here in Indianapolis over at IMS:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=5597

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And here's Double L's posting on the test sessions as per the press release from IMS:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=5584

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Here's Larry's report from the first test day that Roger Lee and Jason took part in along with Kenny Noyes and Robertino Pietri. Some good shots of the boys from Larry as well that helped to fill in the big picture on the testing session:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=5554

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And here is another spin on the testing put in by Roger Lee on the American Honda/Erion Racing/Kevin Schwantz-run team that also has a shot of the bike in the great looking colors as RLH will be racing:

http://motorsportsnewswire.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/american-honda-moto2-team-indy-test-0824105/

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Tommy Hayden Steals AMA Superbike R1 Win at VIR

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Tommy Hayden bends the #22 into turn six during qualifying for the AMA Superbike Series at Mid Ohio in the summer of 2000. Riding the Team Yamaha/Dunlop/Sharkskinz/Akrapovic YZF-R7 OW-02 as a team mate with Jamie Hacking, this was Tommy Gun's second of three seasons riding for Team Yamaha before he switched to Team Kawasaki in '02, where he fielded his best overall results in the respective AMA Road Racing Series before this year's great run in the Superbike class.
The former 2-Time AMA 600 Supersport Champion and '97 AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year won his fourth premier class event today, and fourth of his career, to close back to within one point in the championship standings over current leader Josh Hayes.
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Tommy Hayden, who until five months ago had not tasted victory in the premier AMA Superbike Series, won his season, and career, fourth race today by stealing almost-certain victory from the grasp of Pat Clark Motorsports Ben Bostrom in a last lap pass that sealed the deal by just .005 seconds at the checkers. Tommy Gun, who led the first three laps to go along with the last of the 23 lap race, kept it close all day on his Yoshimura/Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki GSX-R1000 along with laps-led leader and current points leader Josh Hayes on the Graves Motorsports YZF-R1 and Bostrom on his PCM R1. Tommy now only lies one point behind Hayes (third place today .303 seconds back from Tommy) in the race for the AMA Superbike Championship after 14 of 19 races, 333-332. Bostrom moves up to fourth in the series standings with 249 points while today's eighth place finisher Jake Zemke on the National Guard/Jordan Suzuki still lies in third in the hunt with 273 points.

Of note for some of the other finishers, John Hopkins had a fine race going with the leaders in his return to action on the M4/RoadRacingWorld/Monster Energy Suzuki. The Hopper had kept the leading trio in sight, just over 3 seconds adrift in the fourth spot, when he crashed out (apparently unhurt) on the 19th lap. Larry Pegram brought his Foremost/Pegram Racing Ducati home in the fourth spot after Hopper's misfortunes. Eric Bostrom on the Cycle World/Attack/Yoshimura Suzuki brought it home in the seventh spot, to equal his best result since his return to action at Mid Ohio in mid-July. And Aaron Yates, who returned to the track this weekend after an almost-five month lay off due to injuries, did not start the event due to unknown reasons as of this writing.

Race two action rolls off tomorrow at 2:45 PM EDT at the Suzuki White Lightning Nationals round of the AMA Superbike Series annual VIR stop. Be there as it far from over yet!
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AMA Superbike Suzuki White Lightning Nationals round one results compliments of AMA Pro Road Racing:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2010&eid=2010011040&discipline=rr&class=SB&type=F&rnum=1
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Here's the story of the race thanks to the great on-the-scene reporting of Chris Martin from SpeedTV's Moto Racing news:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/spoiler-warning-ama-sbk-results-race-1-vir1/
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