KLR Group/Spyke’s Harley-Davidson rider Michael Barnes won his second AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series race of the season Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a day after his teammate Kyle Wyman’s season come to a disappointing end after a qualifying crash.
Barnes battled polesitter Tyler O’Hara (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade) and Travis Wyman (Harv’s Harley-Davidson), who rounded out the podium spots, along with Suburban Motors H-D’s Benjamin Carlson and MOB Racing’s Jake Holden throughout the 11-lap contest. After leading the third and fourth laps of the race, Barnes fell back to third behind O’Hara and Wyman, who traded the lead for the next several laps. But on lap ten, Barnes picked off Wyman for second, setting up a decisive move for the lead and eventual win on the final lap, when he passed O’Hara on the back straight. With yellow flags out for a crashed rider on the last lap, Barnes was able to hold that lead through the final few corners and fend off O’Hara’s late draft-pass attempt at the start/finish line by 0.132 second.
“It’s been a real emotional rollercoaster weekend with Kyle getting hurt yesterday,” Barnes said. “It affected the whole team but it made us dig that much deeper, and I know Travis was digging deeper for his brother out there too. He was riding hard. It was hard to out-brake him, but I needed to get by Travis in order to get by Tyler. I dug deep for that one.”
On Saturday, XR Showdown contender Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/ Spyke’s Harley-Davidson) high-sided in damp track conditions during qualifying and was air-lifted to a local hospital for observation. Wyman was released later that evening and returned to the track to root for his teammate Barnes on Sunday, but decided to call an end to his season to recuperate after several hard crashes in recent races.
With Wyman out of contention, the fight for the XR Showdown title will likely come down to a battle between Barnes, O’Hara, and Carlson, who are separated by eight points with one race remaining in the series.
The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series concludes October 6-7 at NOLA MotorsportsPark in New Orleans, La.
Homestead-Miami Race Result:
1. Michael Barnes (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), 11 laps
2. Tyler O’Hara (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +0.132 second
3. Travis Wyman (Harv’s H-D), +0.515 second
4. Benjamin Carlson (Suburban Motors H-D), +1.843 seconds
5. Michael Corbino (XP Motorsports/Rossiter’s H-D), +14.014 seconds
6. Shane Narbonne (MOB Racing/Teterboro Rams LLC), +25.216 seconds
7. David Estok (Ruthless Racing/Deeley H-D Racing), +32.734 seconds
8. Barrett Long (Longevity Racing), +53.345
9. Josh Chisum (Bartels’ H-D/Scrubblade), +53.350 seconds
10. Eric Haugo (MOB Racing/Teterboro Rams LLC), +1:20.960
11. Jake Holden (MOB Racing/Teterboro Rams LLC), 10 laps, mechanical
12. Ray Delaney (Fury Offshore Racing Team), +1:26.767
13. Gerry Signorelli (Kuryakyn), +39.124 seconds, 9 laps
14. Kyle Wyman (KLR Group/Spyke’s H-D), DNS
XR1200 Showdown Points Standings
1. Michael Barnes, 1,090
2. Tyler O’Hara, 1,088
3. Benjamin Carlson, 1,082
4. Michael Corbino, 1,064
5. Kyle Wyman, 1,062
6. Travis Wyman, 1,062
7. David Estok, 1,049
8. Josh Chisum, 1,042
9. Gerry Signorelli, 1,018
10. Darren James, 1,000
