AMA Formula Xtreme - Hayes locks up 2007 title

AMA Formula Xtreme: Hayes locks up 2007 title

(AMA Pro Racing Release) Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes only needed to finish 20th or better after claiming the pole on Friday in order to lock up a repeat Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme title this weekend at Road Atlanta. The Mississippian did much more than that on Saturday afternoon, scoring his seventh win in nine tries this season.

While a handful of rivals kept him honest throughout the once-stopped, 13-lap final, the race, like the season, was all about Hayes. As he’s proven all year, Hayes was both consistent and fast, never putting a wheel wrong on his CBR600RR FX racer en route to the checkered flag.

After claiming his third career AMA title, an enthusiastic Hayes commented, “It’s fantastic. This was our game plan from the word go. But after Daytona we were like, ‘uh-oh, what are we going to do?’ But the team came back strong -- we came back swinging. Our worst qualifying position has been one second, our worst finish has been one second since then.

“It’s a testament to the motorcycle. My team has made my job extremely hard because they’ve given me such a good motorcycle that if we don’t’ win it’s 100% my fault. I felt the pressure and I wanted to make sure I did it right and I rode with all my heart in every race. And it’s awesome to bring it home here in Atlanta in front of all my friends and family who could come out and I have a pretty good fan base here because I’ve been racing here for a lot of years.”

Asked if he ever thought about just cruising to the crown, Hayes said, “Never once. I think after getting pole I only had to finish 20th, if I’m correct. You know, I had nothing to lose. Steve (Rapp) had to win it to even stay in the points. I figure if he didn’t finish on the box, I didn’t have to finish the race. So I had plenty of gap. I’ve said all along, I want to win races. I want to rack up my tally of race wins and I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that this year. And it’s a huge reward for my crew who spends a lot of time away from their family and friends back home to make sure I have good motorcycles and they work really hard for me on the road and I want to reward them by doing my job the best that I can and that means getting the pole position, and leading most laps, winning races, and just doing the business like we’re here to do.”

And even though the title is already settled, Hayes said he’ll continue with that mindset at the Laguna Seca season finale. “It’ll be the same approach I’ve had all year. We want to dominate these things… I’m really excited about going out there and putting a stamp on this for the end of the season.”

Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard continued his strong late-season push, finishing less than a half-second behind Hayes in second. The Aussie ran in second early, dropped back a bit after encountering technical problems with his machine’s electronics but rode extremely strong at the end to fight back past Marty Craggill for second.

Craggill held on for third, his second podium finish in succession for the surging Boulder Motorsports Ducati squad.

Attard’s teammate Steve Rapp picked up fourth, followed by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas and Celtic Racing’s Chaz Davies.

Leo Vince Ducati’s Larry Pegram was a contender early but faded late to seventh. Rockwall Honda teammates Ryan Andrews and Ryan Elleby finished in eighth and ninth, respectively, while Team Hunter Racing’s Cory West rounded out the top ten.