(No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) won a class-leading seventh AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race Sunday in the Tornado Nationals presented by BriggsAuto.com at Heartland Park Topeka.As he did in Saturday's final, Pegram led every lap from the start for a convincing win that was his third victory of the season. Unlike Saturday's race when the Ducati was the clear class of the field, a persistent Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) chased Pegram to the finish on Sunday.
"I was sweating and Tommy was all over me, he was an animal," Pegram said. "I could hear him back there, I could feel him. The last three laps I was riding fairly defensive. I was still trying to set a good pace but in the places where I knew there were opportunities to pass, I wasn't giving any
room there. My hats off to him, I rode as hard as I possibly could and he was there the whole race."Hayden crossed the finish line .333 of a second behind Pegram and he has now been on the podium for half of this year's 16 races. Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) finished third for his third podium in the last four races after scoring a weekend victory sweep of his own one race ago at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
"I was a lot stronger than Larry through two of the corners," Hayden said. "I didn't want to try a move until I thought I was close enough to make it. I tried the one spot and he got back by and I never really got close enough again through that area. He picked it up a bit there. It's kind of frustrating to keep getting this close and not get a win, but I feel like I'm learning a lot in the races. I have to keep doing what I'm doing, it can't be too far away."
Pegram also showed some appreciation for the Heartland Park officials."Personally, I love this place now," Pegram said. "I think Heartland Park has the potential to be a really, really good race track as far as safety goes."
Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) continues to lead the American Superbike championship standings with 390 points, Hayden remains second with 307 points while Pegram has jumped from fifth to third in the standings after the Tornado Nationals with 286 points.
Next up for American Superbike is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 - 16. The races will be featured in a pair of same-day, two-hour telecasts on SPEED on Saturday, August 15 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and Sunday, August 16 at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
