Supersport win: Roger Lee at the end

Kawasaki's Roger Lee Hayden emerged from a four-rider pack to win today's Pro Honda Oils Supersport race by a little over a second.

That margin was larger than the lead that any of the top riders—Roger, his brother and Kawasaki teammate Tommy Hayden, Yamaha's Jamie Hacking and Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies—had through 21 laps of the 22-lap race.

Hacking, fresh off his victory in the Superstock race, went to the lead at the start of the Supersport final. But the Hayden brothers and Spies quickly tucked in right behind. For a time, the lead pack swelled to six, with the addition of Team Emgo Suzuki's Geoff May and Suzuki rider Danny Eslick.

Roger got to the point for a few laps early, but Hacking was able to draft back into the lead. Then Roger showed just how serious he was about this win with a dramatic pass in the infield horseshoe on lap 18.

"I had changed my gearing just before the race because of the headwind, and it was the wrong decision," he said. "I knew I couldn't draft by them at the stripe, so my only chance was to try to get away."

In the end, that's exactly what he did. Tommy moved to second and seemed poised to challenge his brother for the win, but on the final lap, he was held up by traffic in the infield. Roger got through cleanly and opened up the largest gap of the race down the back straight. That margin was enough to guarantee he wouldn't be caught on the way to the checkered flag.

"This is definitely a dream come true for me," he said after claiming his first Daytona victory.

Tommy, putting in his last Supersport ride before concentrating on the Superbike class for the rest of the season, wasn't so lucky, though, as Hacking pulled out of his draft to take second place.

© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association