Young wins SuperBike scorcher

From AMA Pro Racing

BIRMINGHAM, AL - After settling for third in Saturday's rain-soaked AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike contest, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Blake Young demanded a swap from Race 1 winner Martin Cardenas (M4 Suzuki) on Sunday and went right through Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes to get it. With all three riders visibly exhausted after the extremely hot race, Young -- who started from the second row -- said, "I just kept thinking to myself, 'If I'm hurting this bad and this tired, he's gotta be hurting too, so just keep after it.'"

As sapped as the podium trio felt post-race, however, a pair of Hayden bothers -- Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger -- undoubtedly felt worse. Tommy, who got the holeshot off the start and led through the first third of the race, was handed sudden misfortune when his bike began spewing smoke and flames, sidelining the eldest Hayden.

Roger, who'd been running a very strong fourth before a ride through the grass relegated him to a much more distant sixth, had been making up impressive ground on the frontrunners -- closing the gap from over two seconds to less than a half-second -- when a crash ended his race with seven laps to go. Although the Jordan rider walked away shaking his head, however, one thing his Barber runs have made clear is that the SuperBike class could soon see a new contender for front-runner status. 

Hayes and Young, meanwhile, continued to trade the lead while testing each other's lines, often running just inches apart and swapping spots in consecutive corners. With six laps left in the race, Young took back the lead and tried desperately to shake the Yamaha rider off, and he was able to eke out just enough of a margin to keep himself safe while the pair made their final charge up the front straight.

"I knew he'd be there," said Hayes, "he always is. Blake knew the areas where I was fast, and I really thought maybe the end would come my way a little bit because it seemed like he was having to use his bike more defensively than me. But at the end, I think we were both in hot water: pretty hot, pretty tired, and the bikes were getting extremely hot. I made the best run I could at him, but he rode a smart race, and he beat me."

"Today conditions were very extreme, very hot," Cardenas agreed, "and I think today's race was even tougher than yesterday's because we were sliding even a bit more than yesterday, so it was very difficult to maintain the pace. Roger and Tommy and Josh and Blake were running very fast and gaining some time over me in Turn 2 every lap, so I had to push very hard each lap to close the gap. But at the end I was just exhausted, and the last eight laps were very difficult for me to move on the bike because I was very tired and dehydrated. But third is a very good result, and we were closer than ever to the frontrunners, so I am very happy."

Behind Cardenas, Steve Rapp (San Diego BMW), Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki), Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing), Geoff May (Amsoil EBR Racing), Chris Clark (Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha), Calgary's Chris Peris (Iron Horse BMW) and JD Beach (Cycle World Attack Kawasaki) rounded out the top 10.

The points race has tightened considerably, with Young trailing Hayes, 233 to 235. Tommy Hayden sits third with 182.

Parts Unlimited Harley-Davidson rider Rapp piloted his XR1200 to a second 2011 victory in Barber Motorsports Park's hot and humid AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 contest. Rapp barely edged out Chris Fillmore (Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing) to take victory by a mere 0.157 of a second. Rounding out the podium was last year's AMA Pro SuperSport Top Gun Champion Tyler O'Hara.

The AMA Pro Road Racing Championship next heads to Lexington, OH's Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the July 8-10 weekend, Round 6 on the series calendar. For tickets and information, visit www.midohio.com or call (419) 884-4000.

SuperBike Race Results
1. Blake Young (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 21 Laps
2. Josh Hayes (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.765
3. Martin Cardenas (M4 Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +3.775
4. Steve Rapp (San Diego BMW/Locust Powered by Lee`s Cycle) BMW S1000RR +8.637
5. Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +12.729
6. Larry Pegram (Pegram Racing) BMW S1000RR +25.519
7. Geoff May (Amsoil EBR Racing) Buell 1125R +31.936
8. Chris Clark (Yamaha Extended Service, Pat Clark Sports, Graves, Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +34.600
9. Chris Peris (Team Iron Horse BMW ·ESP) BMW S1000RR +35.526
10. JD Beach (Cycle World Attack Performance) Kawasaki ZX-10 +52.311
11. Chris Trounson (San Diego BMW/Locust Powered by Lee`s Cycle) BMW S1000RR +1:11.045
12. Trent Gibson (Seven Sports) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:21.082
13. Danny Kelsey (M & M Roadracing) Honda CBR1000RR +1:21.507
14. Reese Wacker (Wacker Racing LLC) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:22.003
15. Jordan Burgess (ADR Fly Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:26.337
16. Jeremy Toye (San Diego BMW/Locust Powered by Lee`s Cycle) BMW S1000RR +1:26.414
17. Skip Salenius (Karma Tequila Racing) Yamaha YZF-R1 20 Laps
18. Roger Hayden (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13 Laps
19. Kevin Boisvert (Bayside Performance) Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 Laps
20. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8 Laps
Race Time: 30:44.626
Margin of Victory: 0.765
Best Race Lap: Blake Young (1:26.962)

SuperBike Point Standings (Top 20)
1. Josh Hayes 235
2. Blake Young 233
3. Tommy Hayden 182
4. Martin Cardenas 155
5. Ben Bostrom 130
6. Larry Pegram 125
7. Roger Hayden 106
8. Chris Clark 103
9. Steve Rapp 95
10. Geoff May 82
11. Chris Peris 74
12. Jeremy Toye 63
13. David Anthony 57
14. JD Beach 52
15. Trent Gibson 49
16. Jordan Burgess 36
17. Chris Ulrich 33
18. Chris Trounson 32
19. Chris Siebenhaar 23
20. Jason Farrell 22