Yamaha Factory Superbike racer Josh Hayes is scheduled to make a follow-up safety inspection at Heartland Park Topeka before heading to Laguna Seca for the Fourth Of July weekend. Hayes’ return visit to the track will be to confirm that safety improvements discussed during an initial inspection January 19th have been completed. The AMA Series is scheduled to run at Heartland Park on July 31st-August 2nd. Hayes was joined during the initial inspection by Cory West and Dane Westby, who Hayes said contributed personal on-track experience. “I hadn’t ridden on the track,” Hayes said after being reached by cell phone today while training on his bicycle in Southern California. “I could look at something and tell them what I thought, and then ask them how it looked at speed because both of them have raced there,” Hayes said. Hayes paid special attention to extra sliding room needed by a crashed rider in wet conditions. Hayes, West and Westby inspected the track along with AMA Pro Racing’s Bill Syfan, himself a former AMA Superbike racer who once broke his back after crashing and hitting a concrete wall at Texas World Speedway. Tommy Hayden, Larry Pegram and Chris Ulrich were also asked to inspect the track in January, but could not make it due to late notice and prior commitments. West was the 2004 AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year with a career best Superbike finish of 10th on a bike he built with his father, former AMA Superbike racer Denton “Marvin” West. Cory West finished third in last year’s AMA Supersport race at Miller Motorsports Park, and finished 2008 ranked seventh in Supersport points. West is currently racing in the WERA National Endurance Series and WERA National Challenge Series with Vesrah Suzuki. Westby raced at Heartland Park Topeka in 2008, competing in a Moto-ST 3-hour and in sprint races, and is following the AMA Pro circuit in 2009. “Hayes did most of the talking, we were just backing up what he said,” Westby said. “There are some issues that we agreed on, they were going to have to fill in some drainage ditches and move a permanent wall, cut it off at the ground. They seemed pretty receptive to moving that wall.” Hayes said he will be joined at the re-inspection by Chris Ulrich. “Chris is qualified, he has been racing long enough and he’s been on good tracks and bad tracks just like I have,” said Hayes. “I’ll take input from anybody who can give it, and he knows what he’s looking at. He’s been around and has spent enough time in hospitals to know the risks.” Chris Ulrich has won two AMA National races and has nine AMA National podium finishes, including finishing third in the Superstock race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2008. He has co-ridden to the WERA National Endurance Championship four times and has also ridden on racetracks in Europe, Japan, Africa and Australia. Reached by phone today, Pegram said he could not make the follow-up inspection due to a prior commitment to attend a wedding. Reached by phone today, Tommy Hayden said “I don’t know anything about a re-inspection, so obviously they haven’t asked me.” Hayden added that he missed the first inspection because of short notice and a prior commitment.