Bartels’ Harley-Davidson/Scrubblade rider Tyler O’Hara topped a three-way battle between Michael Barnes (M.O.B. Racing) and KLR Group/Spyke’s Harley-Davidson’s Kyle Wyman to win his third AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series race of the season Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Wyman jumped out to the early lead in the first turn on the first of the race’s 11 laps ahead of polesitter Barnes, who slipped to third behind O’Hara later in the lap, and led the field for the first three trips around the 2.4-mile circuit. By lap four, O’Hara was in the lead, but Barnes wasn’t ready to give up the fight, briefly taking the race lead for the first time on lap seven. Although the official lap chart showed O’Hara leading the remaining four laps, the trio swapped positions multiple times in the closing stages, with most of the passes coming at the end of the track’s long back straight before entering a set of technical turns that make up the second half of the course. On the final lap, Wyman made a pass on Barnes to take over second place and tried to move into the lead at the entrance to that series of turns but ferocious late-braking by O’Hara kept Wyman at bay and sewed up the victory.
“I went in there a couple of times way sideways. I knew if I could just get through there and get through the next left [turn] I could control the rest of the lap,” O’Hara said. “What a great weekend and race. We struggled at the beginning and we had to put some stuff together, but I had my whole team behind me. It means so much to win today.”
Harv’s Harley-Davidson’s Travis Wyman came home fourth in a lonely race ahead of Michael Corbino (XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s H-D) who held off David Estok (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing) for fifth. Benjamin Carlson, Shane Narbonne, Darren James and Josh Chisum rounded out the top ten.
Sunday’s race marked the last opportunity for riders to earn a spot in top ten of the championship standings before the points reset for the XR Showdown. Beginning with August’s double-header round at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, the top ten runners will have their points reset level at 1000 each and battle for a $60,000 prize fund over the course of the final five races of the season.
Final Results:
1. Tyler O’Hara (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), 11 laps
2. Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), +0.136 second
3. Michael Barnes (M.O.B. Racing), +0.353 second
4. Travis Wyman (Harv’s H-D), +11.762 seconds
5. Michael Corbino (XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s H-D), +15.726 seconds
6. David Estok (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), +15.874 seconds
7. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors H-D), +19.301 seconds
8. Shane Narbonne (Suburban Motors H-D), +29.664 seconds
9. Darren James (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), +29.882 seconds
10. Josh Chisum (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +41.496 seconds
11. Nicholas Hansen (Suburban Motors H-D), +42.520 seconds
12. Brice Cooper (Hoban Brothers/Woodstock H-D), 55.125 seconds
13. Sam Rozynski (Triple Crown Industries), +56.421 seconds
14. Joseph Rozynski (Triple Crown Industries), +1:01.671 seconds
15. Paul James (Hoban Brothers/Woodstock H-D), +1:01.841
16. Ray Delaney (None listed), +1:38.758
17. Peter Cline (RIDER Insurance), +1:40.881
18. Calvin Martinez (National Precious Metals), 7 laps
19. Aaron Borello (Air Ground Xpress), 2 laps, crash
XR1200 Championship Points [XR Showdown Top 10]
1. O’Hara, 196
2. K. Wyman, 184
3. Barnes, 166
4. Corbino, 105
5. Estok, 103
6. T. Wyman, 97
7. Signorelli, 78
8. D. James, 75
9. Chisum, 73
10. Carlson, 68
The next round of the Vance & Hines XR1200 series is August 17-19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
