Rapp Wins AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Race at Miller

2013 AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Class

Suburban Harley-Davidson’s Steve Rapp continued his domination of the AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series with a determined victory over Tyler O’Hara (Eco Fuel Saver/Scrubblade) at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, to lock in the number one position in the four-race XR Showdown playoffs that begins later this month.

Rapp qualified his Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycle in pole position on the front row of the 18-rider field and led all eight laps of the race, but was dogged from the start by the hard-charging O’Hara, who never let the veteran rider stretch his lead much beyond a half-second during the six laps of the race. On lap seven Rapp opened the gap to just under one second and was able to maintain a pace to the end that resulted in his fourth straight class victory.

Steve Rapp says: “It feels great [to win]. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make this race, and thanks to all the guys at Suburban Harley-Davidson and Aerostar Global, I’m here and they gave me an awesome bike. It’s just a great feeling; no matter what you run on, it’s always fun winning. I’m having a great time, and there’s a lot less pressure and stress than I used to have. It’s fun coming to the races again.”

Defending series champion Michael Barnes (Spyke’s H-D), who had to scramble to qualify for the race Sunday morning after crashing in qualifying on Saturday before completing an official lap, raced to a lonely third place, followed by Gage McCallister (Folsom H-D) in fourth. David Estok (Thrashed Bike Racing) came out on top of a spirited battle for fifth over Darren James (Deeley Racing) and Shane Narbonne (Empire H-D), while Josh Chisum, Nicholas Hansen and Logan Hanks rounded out the top ten.

The Miller Motorsports Park round was the final race for Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series title hopefuls to earn a position as one of ten qualifiers for the four-race XR Showdown, which begins with a double-header round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in two weeks. Points for each rider making the top ten in the series standings will be reset at 1000, and those ten riders will contest for the series championship and $60,000 in prize money at the conclusion of the final three race weekends at Indianapolis, New Jersey Motorsports Park, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series returns to action August 16-18 with double-header support races during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

2013 AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Miller Motorsports Park Race Results:

1. Steve Rapp (Aerostar Global/Suburban H-D), 8 laps

2. Tyler O’Hara (Eco Fuel Saver/Scrubblade), +0.857 second

3. Michael Barnes (Spyke’s H-D), +10.963 seconds

4. Gage McAllister (Folsom H-D), +19.943 seconds

5. David Estok (Thrashed Bike Racing), +24.653 seconds

6. Darren James (Deeley Racing), +25.464 seconds

7. Shane Narbonne (MOB Racing/Empire H-D), +25.586 seconds

8. Josh Chisum (Eco Fuel Saver/Scrubblade), +28.557 seconds

9. Nicholas Hansen (Suburban Motors H-D), +51.829 seconds

10. Logan Hanks (Reddit/Pikes Peak H-D), +55.711 seconds

11. Sam Rozynski (Sounds-Waves.com), +57.862 seconds

12. Nadieh Schoots (SSI/Spkye’s H-D) +1:00.972

13. Shelina Moreda (Spyke’s H-D), +1:13.018

14. Richard Barrett (Motolist.com), +1:45.193

15. Michael Kim (no sponsor listed), +1:57.065

16. Michelle DiSalvo (Spyke’s H-D), +2:00.186

17. Eric Stump (Fernet Insurance), 7 laps

18. Hayden Schultz (Happy Trails M/C Connection/Landers H-D), DNF

AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series Points Standings:

(Points Reset to 1000 per rider for XR Showdown starting at Indianapolis)

1. Rapp, 126

2. O’Hara, 102

3. Barnes, 100

4. T. Wyman, 73

5. Carlson, 61

6. Narbonne, 54

7. Hansen, 52

8. Estok, 49

9. Chisum, 46

10. Long, 45