Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Bruce Wilkins

Alton, VA — Nicky Cummings, the 17-year-old who won the now-discountinued, combined dirt-track/road-race F-USA Championship in 2003, won two races and finished a close second in a third race Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway. The sprints were part of the CCS Southeast/Mid-Atlantic regional event held on VIR’s North Course.

In two of the races, Cummings and his Honda 2003 CBR600RR had race-long, seesaw battles with Trey Younce and his YZF-R6 Yamaha. Cummings took the Expert GTO win from Yonce, while Younce won a close victory over Cummings in the Acropovic GTU race. The Expert GTO race ended under a red flag with a couple of laps remaining, with Cummings in front when the red flag officially fell.

Cummings then ended his day with an ultra-smooth, eight-second win in the Expert Middleweight Grand Prix event over Randy Rega, who was piloting a Yamaha. Jesse Janisch finished third on a Yamaha.

“Racing with Trey today is definitely one of the most fun things I’ve ever done on a road race bike,” commented Cummings. “To be able to go back and forth and not worry about what the other guy is going to do…that’s awesome. Trey’s definitely a smooth rider and I give him props on how he rides and I think we both had a really good time out there.”

With a racing number of 619, Cummings is more than just a young racer who looks up to MotoGP star Nicky Hayden. In fact, Cummings communicates with Hayden on a regular basis, with the former AMA Superbike Champion offering tips and refinement skills to bolster the young gun’s emerging career.

Cummings’ father, former dirt tracker Tom Cummings, and Earl Hayden are friends. In fact, Nicky Hayden’s first AMA Grand National dirt track win occurred on a bike owned by the elder Cummings and fielded by his TCR team. Both generations of the Haydens and the Cummings are friends and young Nicky Cummings used to spend time on the Hayden farm, riding with Nicky, Tommy, and Roger Lee when he was younger.

“Nicky has taught me a lot, but I think what has been the most important and what has really changed things for me on asphalt is to let the bike flow underneath me,” Cummings said. “Talking with Nicky a lot over the winter, this lesson has been drilled in. I know I still have a whole lot to learn, but this was very, very important.”

The connection to the Haydens can even be seen on the back of Cummings’ leathers. Sewn in bright letters is “Earl’s Racing Team.”

In other CCS races, Dan Burnette won the Amateur GTO event; Joe Ribeiro won the Expert Formula 40 race; and Jeff Flatt won the Amateur Formula 40 event. Joey Thomas won the Expert Lightweight F40 race; Darren Danilowicz won in the Expert Middleweight class; and William Baragona won the Amateur GT Lights race.