Nash Battles to First Career AMA Pro SuperSport Victory in Race Two at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Huntley Nash took his first AMA Pro Road Racing victory today in the final AMA Pro SuperSport race of the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend at Elkhart Lake’s Road America. Nash, riding his LTD Racing Yamaha, took a hard fought win in the second SuperSport race of the weekend, finishing 0.200 of a second over Saturday’s race one winner, J.D. Beach on his Rockwall Yamaha. Nash led six of 10 laps on his way to his first professional victory in the ultra competitive AMA Pro SuperSport Young Gun class. Rebounding from his last lap crash in yesterday’s race, Nash battled with Beach and his LTD Yamaha teammate Tomas Puerta for the entire 10 lap race. Puerta led one lap officially but due to the nature of the scenic 4.05-mile Road America course, all of the frontrunners held the lead at one point or another. Puerta took a well deserved third as he and Nash tried to slipstream together in an effort to pull out some margin of distance from the rest of the SuperSport field. Beach and his pole-position starting Rockwall Yamaha teammate Cameron Beaubier looked set to take the fight to the LTD Yamaha duo but Beaubier dropped back at the start and although at times he was right in the thick of things, he fell back to sixth at the flag. Another group of riders that put on a great show behind the lead group were Miles Thornton riding his Yamaha, local Top Gun entry David Gaviria on his Kawasaki and James Rispoli who finished fifth on the track but was later penalized due to a technical infraction found during post race inspection and had to forfeit his prize money. Thorton, Rispoli, Beaubier and Gaviria swapped positions throughout the race and at many points around the track. In the early stages of the race, Infineon SuperSport race winner Elena Myers also mixed up with this group on her Lucas Oil Roadracingworld.com RMR Suzuki but her day came to an unfortunate end at the difficult Canada Corner. The first three riders broke away with Beach and Nash exchanging the lead again and again. Nash made his final move as he dove past Beach into the lead at Canada Corner on the last lap and held him off through the last two turns and up the long hill to the finish line. Nash has had a number of podium finishes this year and has been showing excellent speed and poise as he makes his run at the SuperSport Young Gun title. This was a well deserved and popular win for him. Beach extends his East Division points lead to 139. Beaubier and Puerta are next up with 117 points and Nash is just one point back with 116. Highlights from today’s SuperSport race will be shown during tonight’s AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike broadcast, scheduled to air late tonight/early tomorrow morning on SPEED at 12 a.m. midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). The next AMA Pro SuperSport race will be at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Mansfield, Ohio on July 16-18. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Cardenas Returns to Top Podium Spot in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL Race Two at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas took his fifth AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory today at the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend at the 4.05-mile scenic Road America natural road course. Cardenas won with a 0.276 second victory over Josh Herrin on his Team Graves Yamaha with an average speed of 102.8 MPH over the 13-lap race. Herrin was pleased with his weekend with first and second place finishes over the course of the double race weekend. Herrin extends his Daytona SportBike points lead to 18 over 2009 Daytona SportBike Champion Danny Eslick, who took seventh today on his GEICO Powersports Suzuki. After yesterday’s wet and wild Daytona SportBike race where Herrin beat Steve Rapp by 0.008 of a second, today’s race was only somewhat calmer, as has been the case all season long in this AMA Pro Road Racing class. Rapp, riding his Team Latus Motors Ducati, took the early lead and was quickly joined by a fast starting Bobby Fong on his DNA Energy Drink Ducati. These two Ducati riders looked to draft together to separate themselves from the 12 motorcycle lead pack. Herrin, P.J. Jacobson with his Celtic Racing Suzuki, Cory West on the Vesrah Suzuki, Clinton Seller on his Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha, Danny Eslick and Seller’s Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha teammate Dane Westby all battled as one big lead group in the early going. Also part of this mix was Cardenas, who in his stealthy style quietly began moving to the front. Fong was sidelined by a stop-and-go penalty due to a pre-race procedural mishap and another front runner, Herrin’s Team Graves Yamaha teammate Tommy Aquino, suffered a late race mechanical problem which dropped him out of the lead group. Little by little, the lead group got smaller and smaller. By lap four, Cardenas was in the lead and the die was cast as he and Herrin battled in an eight bike train, then six bikes and then, in a concerted effort on their part, it came down to just Herrin and Cardenas. Herrin commented after the race how he and Cardenas just put their heads down and worked to ride away form the rest. And it worked with the race coming down to the wire between the two of them. Herrin would lead at the finish line but Cardenas would draft past into turn one. As they exited turn three and headed down the straight to turn five, Herrin would take the position back. Onto the back straight to Canada Corner, Herrin would get back by and then as the two would blast through the last turn and up the hill to the start finish line, the cycle would begin again. On the last lap, the two came across the line side by side, setting up for another photo finish. Cardenas held the lead as they went through turn one, then turn five, through the Hurry Downs, out of turn eight out of the Carousal down to Canada Corner. It was here the Cardenas had what looked like quite a moment as the back of his Suzuki slid out, but he gathered it all up and rode through turn 14 and up the hill to the finish line. Herrin rode as hard as he could but he just wasn’t close enough to draft by Cardenas and he took a solid second, extending his points lead. After falling back due to the battling in the pack, Rapp fought back to get by West and completed another successful weekend for Team Latus Motors by taking third. Westby finished fifth with Jacobson in sixth, Eslick in seventh and Chris Fillmore had a good day to take ninth on his Vesrah Suzuki. Fong fought back from his early stop with a strong tenth place finish at the completion of the 13 lap race. The weather wasn’t an issue today as the race took place under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low seventies. As Cardenas rode to his fifth win, only Herrin (3) and Eslick (1) have posted wins this season and Cardenas and his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki team are starting to get very used to making a post-race stop at victory lane. SPEED will be broadcasting same-weekend coverage of all of the season’s Daytona SportBike races, with tonight’s race two action airing tonight, Sunday, June 6 at 11:00 p.m. ET (8:00 p.m. PT). The AMA Pro Road Racing series now move to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 16-18. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Hayden Leads the National Guard American SuperBike Championship Following Victory in Race Two at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – After losing by 0.001 of a second in yesterday’s first race of the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America race course, Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden went one better and posted his second career AMA Pro SuperBike victory. Under partly cloudy skies, Hayden beat yesterday’s winner, Josh Hayes (Team Graves Yamaha) by the close margin of 0.178 of a second. Hayden averaged 108.9 MPH over the course of the 13 lap race. Hayes holds a one point margin over Hayden in the overall AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike points standings, 229-228. Today’s race began to look like a repeat of yesterday’s event as Hayes took the lead but it was a fast starting Jake Zemke riding his National Guard Jordan Suzuki who initially took up station behind Hayes with a strong move into second at the downhill turn five corner. Hayden passed Zemke as they crested the hill into turn six and the battle at the front was set. Behind Zemke, it was Hayden’s Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Blake Young, who put on a show in front of his home state fans. But after taking third from Zemke, Young ran wide at turn one and fell back into the clutches of a group of riders that included Ben Bostrom on his Pat Clark Motorsport Yamaha, 2009 Road America race winner Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance Ducati, Jake Holden on the M4 Monster Energy Suzuki and Canadian Brett McCormick on the second Jordan Motorsports Suzuki. The front three pulled away and eventually just Hayes and Hayden were alone at the front. Zemke ran by himself and was hoping for something to happen at the front but he enjoyed a strong race after damaging his primary Suzuki motorcycle on Friday. He credited his National Guard Jordan team for putting in the extra effort to not only rebuild the motorcycle but to deliver him a very competitive package which saw him regain some of his early season form. The race really came down to Hayes and Hayden. After yesterday’s chess match where each rider had a slight advantage at certain parts of the track, today it came down to who could out-maneuver the other. On lap 11 of 13, Hayes ran wide coming out of the Carousal corner and Hayden was by like a shot. Hayes was able to re-pass Hayden in turn eight the next lap and it all came down to the last corner of the last lap where knowing he had to be perfect coming up the hill, Hayes just ran a little wide and Hayden was able to draft past Hayes up the hill to the finish line for a dramatic and satisfying second win of the season. Officially Hayes led the first 10 laps and Hayden led the last three but as is the norm around the long 4.05-mile, 14-turn Road America track, riders pass and re-pass many times a lap, making this one of the most exciting races of the season. Pegram took a quiet fourth place ahead of Holden and Bostrom took sixth. Young finished seventh ahead of McCormick. Chris Ulrich riding his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki had a race long battle with Geoff May who was riding the Erik Buell Racing Buell and Ulrich continued his run of top ten results with ninth place. May took tenth in an exciting day and weekend of racing in the famous Kettle Moraine country of Wisconsin. SPEED will be broadcasting same-weekend coverage of every American SuperBike race in the 2010 season, with today’s race airing late tonight/early tomorrow morning at 12 a.m. midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). As the AMA Pro Road Racing series reaches the halfway point, the next race will be July 16-18 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Mansfield, Ohio. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series Off to an Exciting Start with Eslick’s Victory in Race One at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Today history was made when Danny Eslick won the first ever AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series motorcycle race at the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America. Eslick, riding the carefully controlled specification Harley-Davidson XR1200 entered by the Richie Morris Racing/Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing Partnership, took the win after a race long duel with teammate Jake Holden riding the second GEICO Powersports Lucas Oil Revolution Performance XR1200. Taking third was young AMA Pro SuperSport regular Eric Stump who was riding the Jones Brothers XR1200. Eslick won the restarted 10 lap race after leading six of the 10 laps but there were many more lead changes as he and Holden swapped the top position what seemed to be at every corner. Third place finisher Eric Stump had his own private battle with another pair of riders just slightly back from the front two. Fighting against the odds, Stump took the fight to Travis and Kyle Wyman, who were riding for Harv’s Harley-Davidson Racing and RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing respectively. The three riders rode wheel to wheel the entire race with a surprised and delighted Stump taking the final step on the historic podium. The race got off to an exciting start but when John Ashmead on his Brady Schwemmer Racing XR1200 suffered a mechanical problem entering turn five, the race was red flagged for track cleanup. Upon the restart, James Gang Hoban Brothers Racing rider Paul James had an unfortunate coming together with another rider moments after the start and James took a pretty comprehensive fall on the front straight, causing the race to once again be red flagged in the interests of safety. After full agreement from the riders and entrants, it was decided to conclude the race later in the day, thus enabling the Schwemmer Racing crew to enact repairs to their XR1200 and rejoin the race, albeit from the back. At the restart, Eslick and Holden took up where they had left off and put on a show that had the fans buzzing. The classic sounds of the Wisconsin built Harley-Davidson twins reverberated off the tall tree-lined straights at the majestic Road America race course. Eslick, Holden and Stump were all delighted with the performance of the new AMA Pro Road Racing category and they all looked forward to the next race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where to a man, they felt the racing would be even better than what we saw here today. Visit www.amaproracing.com or www.vanceandhines.com for further information. More, from a press release issued by Acorn Woods Communications, on behalf of Yoshimura Racing: Brea, Calif. June 7, 2010 Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden scored a hard-earned win on Sunday during the second race of the Road America doubleheader in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Hayden now leads the AMA American SuperBike class in points after being in second place since the first race of the season. His consistency on the track and his exemplary racing talent put him at the top of the series at the halfway point of the season. Hayden started the day off on Sunday hoping to be on the winning end of the battle after narrowly missing the win in a photo finish on Saturday. Hayden and his crew made very minor changes to their Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 for Sunday, and after a short practice session you could tell Hayden had the utmost confidence in his race machine. “My bike was setup well and I thought I’d have that little extra advantage today,” Hayden said. “It feels good to be on the winning end of the battle today.” Hayden pulled away from the pack in a two-man fight for the lead early in the race and stayed in second place for most of the race. He was patient and calculating, and made a prime move near the end of the race. On the last turn before the finish line, Hayden twisted the throttle of his GSX-R1000 and took it across the finish line first. Hayden has been second in the points chase since the first race of the season, but with Sunday’s amazing victory, he is now atop the leader board. “As much as I’d like to be 60 points ahead and cruise to the end of the season,” Hayden said, “I think being close in points helps the series and makes it more interesting. We’ve put together a good bike and I feel good about the rest of the season.” His teammate Blake Young started off the front row of the grid on Saturday hoping to improve on his third-place finish on Saturday. After the two leaders pulled away from the pack, Young pushed hard to catch up all while battling other racers. Young fought hard but ended up in seventh overall after a bobble mid-race. Young is still fourth in overall points and is looking forward to the next round of racing at Mid-Ohio July 16-18. The GSX-R1000 was on the podium four times this weekend at Road America. Hayden and Young finished 2-3, respectively, on Saturday. With Hayden’s win on Sunday and the third-place finish of Jake Zemke aboard his National Guard Jordan Suzuki, the GSX-R1000 earned more points than any other motorcycle in the AMA American SuperBike class. Look for the GSX-R to dominate once again at Round 6 of the series in Lexington, Ohio. More, from a press release issued by Eric Stump Racing: ELKHART LAKE, Wis. Eric Stump, AMA Pro Supersport regular, took his first AMA Pro Road Racing podium on Sunday, June 6, 2010 in the inaugural AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 race at Road America. Eric, aboard his Doc’s Harley Davidson Jones Brothers Racing XR1200 had a hard fought battle with the Wyman brothers for the last spot on the podium. Eric, Kyle and Travis battled for the entire eight laps of the restarted AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 main event. The three riders, just off the pace of the front pair had an epic battle; passing and re-passing several times a lap. On the last lap Eric made an aggressive move through the carousel and continued to push hard through the chicane to pull just enough gap to keep Kyle from drafting by up the hill to the finish. The margin of victory for 3rd was just 0.024 seconds at the line with Stump holding on to claim his first ever AMA Pro Racing podium at the acclaimed Road America Road Course. In AMA Pro Supersport, Eric continues to improve aboard his RapidE Manage Rockwall Performance Pegram Racing Yamaha R6. Eric Qualified 8th on the grid and finished an impressive 6th in race one of the Suzuki Superbike Double Header on Saturday, June 5th 2010 at Road America. During race two, Eric was dealt a different hand with a mechanical issue keeping him from finishing the race after battling for 7th position for ten of the twelve lap main event. With the positive improvements in Eric’s racing, Eric is looking forward to competing at the next event July 16-18, 2010 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. For more information on Eric please visit ~http://ericstump.com~ More, from a press release issued by Turner’s Cycle Racing: Kris Turner of Turner’s Cycle Racing gave the team a successful weekend at the fifth round of the AMA Daytona Sportbike Series held at Road America. Starting the weekend on Friday with an 10th place in the first practice session, Turner went on to qualify 12th on Friday. After talking with Mike Fitzgerald of Ohlins and making substantial changes to the bike with his help, Kris dropped over a second and a half in final qualifying Saturday, but still dropped one position to13th. As the first race came around, it was unsure if it would be declared a wet race or dry race, but as the lights went out everyone was on DOTs. Kris got a decent start and began heading through the pack. Just a few laps in, Turner broke away with a group of four battling for 6th place. After a contesting last lap, Kris passed Fernando Amantini on the brakes into The Canada Corner of turn 12 and set up PJ Jacobson in the last turn to get a drive up the hill, but hit the wet, painted curbing on the outside and lost the rear. After saving a near crash, he drove up the hill with a killed drive and got passed at the line to end up in 8th. “I didn’t realize we we’re racing for 6th.” Turner says, “We were pretty close to Danny Eslick for the first half of the race, so when I got to the front of the pack I tried reeling him in but the track has some sketchy conditions. It would start raining in one section of the track and not rain in others, so you had to be careful trying to pass on the brakes, you never knew if it was raining or not. I was really impressed with how the Dunlop tires handled, even in the wet. The tires seem really good this year, and I have confidence in the front end again with the new tire. It was my first top ten finish though which I have mixed feelings over. I’ve been trying all year to get a top ten finish so 8th feels great, but I could have been 6th but made a mistake. 6th would have been an amazing feeling!” Sunday would not turn out as good as Saturday, running morning warm up on old tires, Turner’s lap times were off. But mounting new tires for the race wouldn’t prove much better. As the race started, Kris got another decent start and began his mission to the top ten. After just a couple laps though Turner’s bike started having electrical issues, causing it to run eratically at part throttle. “Every time I’d get on the throttle off a turn, if I didn’t just crank it wide open it would shut off and on like it was out of gas. It felt electrical and I wish I could have finished the race, but it was not ride-able in places and I dropped back behind people I shouldn’t be behind and it was only getting worse. It was a very disappointing result, especially after yesterday’s race.” Kris also talks about the coming up races, “I’m excited about going to Mid-Ohio in a few weeks, it is a fun track but I haven’t been there on a 600 yet. It seems like my style track so it should be a good weekend. After getting a taste of what it feels like to be closer to the front, my new goal for the year is to run with the leaders and get a top 5 finish in Ohio, so I will have to start training more and getting prepared now.” Turner’s Cycle Racing would like to thank all their sponsors for the 2010 season, Turner’s Cycle, Arai, Moto Liberty, Suzuki & Yamaha of Dalton, Mjmotogear.com, Silkolene, Vesrah and Steve Ault. More, from a press release issued by Harley-Davidson: Eslick Wins Inaugural XR1200 Series Race at Road America Holden and Stump Take Second and Third Milwaukee (June 7, 2010) Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR rider Danny Eslick took a thrilling victory over teammate Jake Holden in the debut of the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series at Road America June 6. Eslick, the reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike champion and current points leader, dominated the time sheets all weekend, but had his hands full during the back-and-forth 10-lap race, nipping Holden at the line to take a narrow 0.055-second margin of victory with a last lap drafting pass at the finish line. “It’s a super fun bike to ride, and I had a really fun race with Jake,” Eslick said. “He was struggling in a few spots to get it turned and on the last lap he missed a shift and hit the limiter. That killed his drive and kinda handed me the win. But I’d been practicing drafting him to the line on a few laps so I think I had it figured out anyway.” The battle for the third step on the podium was equally thrilling, with brothers Kyle (Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing /RMR) and Travis Wyman (Harv’s Harley-Davidson Racing) battling with Jones Brothers Racing’s Eric Stump. The trio put on an impressive battle, with Stump eventually prevailing over Kyle Wyman by a mere 0.025-second gap. Travis Wyman finished fifth, followed by Shawn Conrad (WFOracingonline.com/Spyke’s Harley-Davidson), Joseph Rozynski (Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR), Aaron Frank (HOG Magazine/Vance & Hines), and John Ashmead (Brady-Schwemmer Racing). Sunday’s race finished late in the afternoon after a four-hour delay caused by two separate red flag incidents, the first of which was caused by a loose oil filter on Kyle Wyman’s bike that resulted in he and another rider crashing in Turn five on the third lap of the race. During the restart, James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing rider Paul James got tangled with another bike just past the start/finish line, causing a second red flag. James returned to the track after a medical check, but was unable to join the final restart. The Vance & Hines XR1200 series returns to action July 18-19 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH. Company Background Harley-Davidson Motor Company produces heavyweight custom, cruiser and touring motorcycles and offers a complete line of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear and apparel, and general merchandise. For more information, visit harley-davidson.com.