SONOMA - On Lap 2, Turn 9 of the AMA SuperBike race Sunday, Josh Hayes lost control of his motorcycle and spun out.
"HAYES IS DOWN! HAYES IS DOWN! HAYES IS DOWN!" the public address screamed into the microphone at Infineon Raceway.
Hayes immediately rose to his feet, righted his bike, hopped on, and continued. It was obvious he wasn't hurt. But the public address announcer treated it like he saw a head-on collision. The gasps from the crowd, the unbelieving stares in the press box confirmed what would otherwise appear a total overreaction to a spin out.
After all, this was Josh Hayes, The King, The Master, The Dominator, who made a mistake. Hayes is the man who said just the day before, when he won the SuperBike event, "I actually feel I can maintain a faster pace if the other guys are up there." This is no small statement because he is putting down his competition and because he has reason to do so.
In the five AMA SuperBike races this season before Sunday, Hayes won two and finished second three times.
Blake Young won the other two, and finished second three times. On Sunday, Young won, meaning it's Young and Hayes and Everyone Else.
"Someone needs to step for the sport to grow," Hayes said Sunday.
"I agree with Josh," said Young when told what Hayes said.
Variety is the spice of life, especially in sports. Nothing sedates more than the same faces in the same places.
Hayes is the SuperBike champ for the last two years and even after the race Sunday, Hayes didn't feel particularly worried about his spin-out and his seventh-place finish.
"I have more pace than Blake," Hayes said. "I can tell you he's not going to get that many free weekends (to win) from here on out."
"You mean, free weekends like this one?" I asked.
Hayes nodded.
Young also said AMA not only needs more (challenging) riders but also more enthusiasm to grow the sport.
"You don't hear anything when AMA comes to town," said Young, unaware of the mid-week AMA promotion conducted by Infineon Raceway officials. "What they need is the Big Kahuna. We need one sponsor to do the entire series. That's what we need."
Young is referring to M1 Powersports, the company in charge of promoting three AMA events, at New Orleans, Miami-Homestead and Atlanta, three venues that typically attract the biggest AMA crowds.
An AMA official said Sunday M1 Powersports is interested in becoming involved with the AMA event at Infineon. An Infineon official said there have been discussions.
Nothing, however, beats a good promotion than multiple contenders with multiple personalities which translate to multiple winners and then multiple conflicts and then, bingo, multiple story lines. In one way, Hayes and Young have got it nailed. They are not the best of friends. But that's as far as the drama in the sport goes.
Read what Young said after he won Sunday. "I came in here thinking I would cut the gap from 10 seconds to five seconds," Young said.
Young was referring to Hayes' Saturday victory, when he beat Young by 10 seconds, a monster victory in an event as fast as SuperBike.
"I don't want to win like this," Young said.
Meaning, it doesn't feel like a real victory unless Hayes is beaten. With Hayes going from 17th place to seventh, with only time preventing him from catching Young, it's a soft pat on the back Young felt upon winning, not a full-bore atta-boy.
"My first thought, when I saw Josh spin out," Young said, "was that maybe there was something on the track."
Meaning, it couldn't have been that Hayes actually made a human error. Had to be a cow or a bottle cap out there. Yes, Young admitted, he has been giving Hayes too much credit, too much props for being SuperHuman on SuperBike.
"I have to stop thinking like that," Young said.
The most exciting moment of the race, sadly enough, was when Hayes spun out. The track announcer's voice was never higher. The amazement for those watching was never more laser-on.
When Hayes quickly remounted, the race actually was in the back of the pack, not with Young in front of it. How many riders could Hayes pass? How much time could Hayes shave off the lead?
He was 18 seconds behind Young and there were only 20 laps left. And everyone couldn't forget Saturday, when Hayes led start-to-finish, or that Hayes has won five of his seven last races at Infineon before Sunday.
So could Hayes come back and win? That would be impossible. Or would it? This was Josh Hayes and as he crept up from 17th to seventh, it was the most phenomenal performance of the day.
"I did good and botched it all in the same weekend," Hayes said.
He didn't seem particularly distressed when he said that.
Young now has the lead in SuperBike, 166 points to Hayes' 162. Doesn't seem like much of a lead. It certainly didn't seem like much of a lead to Young either.
"I did better than I expected," he said.
You'd like to hear the winner of the toughest motorcycle race in America to glow a little brighter than that.
For more North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky's blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.
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