AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Presented by Parts Unlimited New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, New Jersey September 5, 2009 Provisional Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 23 laps 2. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), -1.418 seconds 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), -1.613 4. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), -4.549 5. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), -5.906 6. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125RR), -11.302 7. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000), -11.671 8. Cory West (Buell 1125RR), -16.290, ran off track 9. Damian Cudlin (Suz GSX-R1000), -23.307 10. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), -23.564 11. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), -23.649 12. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), -27.013, ran off track 13. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), -44.477 14. Scott Charlton (Suz GSX-R1000), -63.999 15. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 16. Ricky Corey (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap 17. Mark Crozier (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 18. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -1 lap 19. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 20. Skip Salenius (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 21. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 22. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), -2 laps 23. Tim Hunt (Suz GSX-R1000), -2 laps, crash 24. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), -10 laps, DNF, crash 25. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000), -15 laps, DNF Championship Point Standings (after 19 of 20 races): 1. Mladin, 428 points 2. Hayes, 375 3. Hayden, 373 4. Bostrom, 333 5. Pegram, 329 6. Young, 278 7. Yates, 269 8. May, 223 9. Knapp, 198 10. Holden, 180 11. Hodgson, 151 12. Ulrich, 148 13. David Anthony, 120 14. Jensen, 99 15. Michael Laverty, 98 16. Gobert, 87 17. Hawk Mazzotta, 69 18. TIE, Crozier/Higbee, 57 20. Ryan Elleby/Narbonne, 55 More, from a press release issued by Buell: KNAPP TAKES SIXTH IN NEW JERSEY SUPERBIKE RACE 1 Eslick Closes In On Daytona SportBike Championship with Fifth Millville, NJ (Sept. 5, 2009) Latus Motors Racing’s Taylor Knapp battled with fellow Buell 1125RR rider Cory West and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Young for most of today’s 23-lap AMA Pro Racing American Superbike race at New Jersey Motorsports Park to finish sixth, his highest finishing position on a Buell this season. Starting from ninth on the grid, Knapp made a dramatic pass from eighth to sixth in Turn 1 on lap 19, then slid back to eighth before reclaiming sixth position on the final lap. West finished in eighth position, one place behind Young. “I got a double draft on Blake and Cory, I had my momentum rolling, and I just slid it in there in Turn one. It was a real close race between me and Blake and Cory, we were going back and forth the whole race,” Knapp said. “On the last lap, I knew Blake was a little slow in Turn 3, and Cory was behind him, trying to get through and he actually hit into the back of Blake and they stood each other up. I sat back and saw it happen and took them both. It was perfect and I just hung on for the rest of the lap.” West jumped out to a good start from his eighth place grid spot, running as high as fifth in the early going before dropping back into a tooth-and-nail fight with Knapp and Young. “I got a really good start and got to hang with [Aaron] Yates, Tommy [Hayden], [Ben] Bostrom and [Larry] Pegram. I passed Bostrom and Larry, but we just didn’t have the straight line speed. They whittled away on me on the front straight and I dropped back,” West said. “I had one little mistake with about three to go, that’s when Blake and Taylor got by. But we had a really good race today and we know a few things we can do to try to make the bike a little better and hopefully we can stay with that front pack tomorrow.” With a fifth place finish in today’s Daytona SportBike, Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO Powersports rider Danny Eslick moved one step closer to clinching the 2009 Daytona SportBike championship. However, today’s Race 1 win by Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, the only other rider with a chance of overtaking him, means Eslick will have to wait one more day for a chance to claim his and Buell Motorcycle Company’s first AMA Pro Racing championship. With Eslick now leading Herrin by 22 points, 373-351, if Herrin repeats tomorrow with a win and leads the most race laps to claim the maximum 31 available points remaining, Eslick must score at least nine points with a 12th place or higher finish in tomorrow’s final season race to hold him off for the championship. The tie-breaker would go to Eslick, who has six wins on the season. In today’s two-hour SunTrust Moto-GT endurance race, the James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing team of Paul James and Shawn Higbee finished third in the Moto-GT1 class, while the Liberty Waves/H-D/Buell of Antelope Valley team of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo were officially eliminated from contention for the class championship by an early race crash, which allowed second place GT1-class finisher Crozier Motorsports to clinch the class championship a race ahead of the season finale 8 Hours of Daytona in October. “We had a front push in the really fast right hander out in the back section, I guess turn 6 or 7 probably 100 [miles per hour] plus, [the bike] low-sided, caught the grass and proceeded to get airborne a couple times. It was really hard to swallow today. But that’s racing,” said team owner Eric Pinson. “We’ll be back down at Daytona for the eight hours to take care of second place in the points. To have as many podiums as we did this year, we’re still happy.” In other results, GEICO Powersports/RMR rider Michael Barnes finished 19th and Latus Motors Racing’s Knapp finished 21st in Daytona SportBike and Bartels’ H-D/Buell/Higbee-racing.com’s Shawn Higbee finished 18th in American Superbike. All were riding Buell 1125Rs. Founded by visionary motorcycle designer and former privateer racer Erik Buell in 1983, Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel, including the 1125R superbike, 1125CR café racer, and air-cooled XB-series Ulysses, Firebolt, and Lightning. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, or to locate the dealer nearest you, log onto www.buell.com. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Hayden & Jordan Suzuki’s Yates Double-Podium at New Jersey Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin crashes while leading AMA Superbike Series Round 11 Millville, New Jersey New Jersey Motorsports Park September 4 – 6, 2009 Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden brought home an impressive second-place finish at the first-ever AMA Superbike race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, on Saturday afternoon. In the first of two Superbike races of the double-header weekend, Hayden got a decent start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and was in position to card a podium finish for most of the race. After running in third and battling with Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, Hayden took over the second position. He and Yates continued to battle until the 23-lap race’s end, with Hayden in second and Yates in third. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate and newly crowned 2009 AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin got a great start on his GSXR1000 and was battling back and forth for the lead when he crashed out while in the lead. Unhurt, Mladin did not finish the race. Finally Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young struggled a bit with the New Jersey heat and finished up in seventh place. Tommy Hayden: “The race went all right. The guys shot out of there pretty fast, especially Mat (Mladin). I was having a little bit of trouble getting going and got shuffled back to fifth or sixth. I was able to fight back there at the end. It seemed like I felt all right, those guys just stretched it out too much… It’s all right, second again. It’s not superexciting for me but I feel like I rode pretty good. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was good and hopefully tomorrow we’ll have one more chance to make something happen.” Aaron Yates: “I was definitely trying in this race. At the beginning, a couple guys got away and I was trying to put in some good laps. But I just couldn’t get the pace down there where I needed it to be. The front-runners were just inching away and I ended up in a race for second… We have a couple of things to work on with our Jordan Suzuki bikes it’s getting around pretty good but we need to pick up a little grip in the rear, I think — so we can go faster out here in the heat.” Blake Young: “It wasn’t a great race but I improved some from qualifying. I got an OK start and just tried to put in some good laps. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working pretty good but I think there are some things we can make better for the heat. It was pretty tough out there, but we learned some things today that I think will help us tomorrow and maybe we’ll get a better result.” Mat Mladin: “It started out as a good race. I was pushing pretty hard but I lost the front and crashed. We’ll get it all sorted out tonight and then tomorrow we’ll have another go.” More, from a press release issued by Pegram Racing: Pegram Fifth In Saturday New Jersey Superbike Race Millville, New Jersey (September 5, 2009) Foremost Insurance Pegram Ducati’s Larry Pegram earned fifth in the first of two AMA Pro Amercian Superbike races this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The Ducati 1098R-mounted rider once again charged forward from a second row starting position. Pegram, who ran as high as third in the race, showed impressive speed before losing grip late, then having issues with lapped traffic in the final two laps. “I thought we were pretty good for a while. We charged up to third and then the rear tire went off,” said Pegram. “We’re looking at making some changes to the bike that will make the tire last longer tomorrow. The last five laps, we went a little backwards today and I didn’t have much grip. The last two laps I had problems with the lappers and that helped Ben Bostrom get past me. I’m not really happy with fourth or fifth place, though. We’re looking for better than that and we’ve got some ideas on how to get there. Our lap times were right behind Mat Mladin and Josh Hayes so we’re looking for just a little bit more and maybe we can end the season with a win.” Tomorrow’s 23-lap race begins at 4:10 PM local time and airs on Speed TV at 12:30 AM EST.