Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D) and Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade rider Tyler O’Hara each posted wins in the doubleheader round of the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 series last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to open the five-race XR Showdown championship chase and set up a thrilling three-race climax to the 2012 season.
From the beginning of the weekend it appeared that MOB Racing’s P.J. Jacobson, a 2010 XR1200 series race winner who was making his first appearance of the 2012 season in the class, would be the spoiler and the man to beat at Indy after posting a dominant qualifying time on Friday nearly 1.5 seconds quicker than the next fastest challenger. And midway through Saturday’s Race 1, that was the story that was developing, after Jacobsen fought back against an early charge by O’Hara, who led the first two laps of the race, and had cleared the field by a sizable margin. Jacobsen eventually built a 4-second lead by lap five and appeared to be cruising to victory. But disaster struck the New York native, who races fulltime in the British Superbike series, when fluids leaking from his machine caused him to crash on lap six. After he went down, chaos broke out on the track, as several following riders subsequently crashed, causing a red flag stoppage of the race.
With track conditions too poor to restart the race, AMA Pro officials reverted to the order of the previous lap and provisionally awarded the victory to Jacobsen. However, after a post-race investigation revealed his motorcycle had been the cause of the fluid on the track, Jacobsen was relegated to last place in the running order, which elevated Wyman to the win, his fourth of the season. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson) and XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s Harley-Davidson’s Michael Corbino rounded out the podium.
“P.J. had a few seconds on me and I saw him crash but just as I processed what had happened I went down. It happened that fast. I got up and raised my arms to signal the guys behind us but everyone was coming and it was just total chaos,” Wyman said. “This was one crazy race. Usually, when goofy stuff happens it never seems to fall my way, but today it did and I couldn't be happier. The timing is perfect.”
Sunday’s Race 2 proved to be just a dramatic, with Jacobsen again breaking out to a large lead and again crashing out of it, this time on his own without mechanical incident. His misfortune opened the door for O’Hara, and the pre-Indy series points leader was more than happy to step through it, building a lead of more than four seconds before throttling back in the closing laps to come home in flying Superman style across the finish line with a 1.892-second lead over Wyman, who had his hands full battling Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson teammates Carlson and Bobby Fong, who finished third and fourth. The trio sliced and diced for the lead throughout the second half of the race, as they engaged in a series of daring out-braking and drafting maneuvers.
“[After] P.J. tucked the front and crashed, I just put my head down,” O’Hara said. “I built up a nice gap and was just monitoring the gap through my pit board. I felt like yesterday I got a little bit unlucky that we were not able to restart the race after the red flag. I had some bad luck, and that’s not a good way to start the chase. So now, my goal is to win every race here on out to stay in the hunt. It’s going to be tough no matter what.”
With just three rounds to go in the 2012 XR1200 Showdown, Wyman leads Carlson by nine points with O’Hara another six points back in third. The AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series continues September 8-9 at New Jersey Motorsports Park inMillville, NJ.
Indianapolis Race 1 August 18 Result:
1. Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), 5 laps
2. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors H-D), +4.423 seconds
3. Michael Corbino (XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s H-D), +4.878 seconds
4. Michael Barnes (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), +4.901 seconds
5. Steve Crevier (MotoSport Plus Harley-Davidson), +5.536 seconds
6. Bobby Fong (Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson), +5.590 seconds
7. Michael Beck (Parts Unlimited, KWR), +8.345 seconds
8. Travis Wyman (Harv’s H-D), +8.749 seconds
9. Shane Narbonne (Teterboro Rams LLC), +9.595 seconds
10. David Estok (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), +10.272 seconds
11. Barrett Long (Longevity Racing), +13.326 seconds
12. Tyler O’Hara (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +15.764 seconds
13. Josh Chisum (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +32.951 seconds
14. Paul Schwemmer (Peter Brady/Level 10 Contractors), +38.684 seconds
15. Charlie Long (Wrenches Northside Cycles), +41.752 seconds
16. Lee Kuhn (Jacox Harley-Davidson), +51.145 seconds
17. Paul James (Hoban Cycle/Woodstock H-D), +55.786 seconds
18. Brice Cooper (Hoban Cycle/Woodstock H-D), +56.995 seconds
19. Ray Delaney (Fury Offshore Racing Team), +1:04.854
20. Matthew Heidel (Down Home Harley-Davidson), +1:05.550
21. Richard Barnett (Motolist.com), +1:07.639
22. Aaron Borello (Air Ground Xpress), +1:13.458
23. Calvin Martinez (National Precious Metals), +1:24.645
24. PJ Jacobsen (MOB Racing/K-Tech/Orient Express) +1:24.646
25. Gerry Signorelli (Kuryakyn), DNF
26. Darren James (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), DNF
27. Nicholas Hansen (Suburban Motors H-D), DNF
28. Josh Guyer (Harley-Davidson of Bloomington), DNF
29. Peter Cline (Oxford Consulting Group), DNS
Indianapolis Race 2 August 19 Result:
1. Tyler O’Hara (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), 10 laps
2. Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), +1.892 seconds
3. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors H-D), +2.361 seconds
4. Bobby Fong (Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson), +2.431 seconds
5. Michael Barnes (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), +9.301 seconds
6. Michael Corbino (XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s H-D), +11.850 seconds
7. Steve Crevier (MotoSport Plus Harley-Davidson), +12.860
8. Travis Wyman (Harv’s H-D), +12.870 seconds
9. Barrett Long (Longevity Racing), +21.098 seconds
10. Shane Narbonne (Teterboro Rams LLC), +21.114 seconds
11. David Estok (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), +21.492 seconds
12. Josh Chisum (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +49.448 seconds
13. Nicholas Hansen (Suburban Motors H-D), +1:06.233
14. Josh Guyer (Harley-Davidson of Bloomington), +1:18.514
15. Lee Kuhn (Jacox Harley-Davidson), +1:19.070
16. Ray Delaney (Fury Offshore Racing Team), +1:56.519
17. Richard Barnett (Motolist.com), +1:56.594
18. Aaron Borello (Air Ground Xpress), +1:58.675
19. Calvin Martinez (National Precious Metals), +3:39.210
20. Michael Beck (Parts Unlimited, KWR), 8 laps
21. Gerry Signorelli (Kuryakyn), 6 laps
22. Brice Cooper (Hoban Cycle/Woodstock H-D), +52.710 seconds
23. PJ Jacobsen (MOB Racing/K-Tech/Orient Express), 5 laps
24. Matthew Heidel (Down Home Harley-Davidson), 1 lap
25. Darren James (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), DNS
26. Paul Schwemmer (Peter Brady/Level 10 Contractors), DNS, crash
27. Charlie Long (Wrenches Northside Cycles), DNS, crash
28. Paul James (Hoban Cycle/Woodstock H-D), DNS, crash
29. Peter Cline (Oxford Consulting Group), DNS
XR1200 Showdown Points Standings
1. Kyle Wyman, 1,055
2. Benjamin Carlson, 1,046
3. Tyler O’Hara, 1,040
4. Michael Corbino, 1,036
5. Michael Barnes, 1,034
6. Travis Wyman, 1,026
7. David Estok, 1,021
8. Josh Chisum, 1,017
9. Gerry Signorelli, 1,000
10. Darren James, 1,000
