Chandler laps up win in Superbike finale

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Normally, it takes an 185-mph AMA Superbike and its rider no more than 40 seconds to cover the 2.48 miles constituting a lap around the infield road course at the new Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But there were times during Sunday's Superbike season finale that one lap seemed like an eternity for series championship contenders Doug Chandler and Miguel Duhamel.

For Chandler, the final lap was most tedious. Having built a 20-second lead on second-place Mat Mladin and needing only to finish out front to claim his second national championship, the Salinas, Calif., veteran finally started thinking along those lines.

"Once I opened it a bit, I thought it might happen ... it might happen," Chandler said upon completing the final circuit without incident to claim his second race win of the season as well as the coveted championship. "But that last lap was probably the longest lap in my life."

For Duhamel, the defending champion who started the race with a one-point edge on Chandler atop the standings, any of the early-race laps in which he followed around spoiler Larry Pegram seemed like an eternity.

But unlike Chandler, the Montreal native wasn't smiling about it afterward.

"The big thing was that Larry was in my way," said Duhamel, who finished third and wound up losing the title by a five-point margin, 287-282. "He didn't give a flying hoot about my championship or me catching Doug Chandler.

"He was really holding me up. The track was so dirty, it was hard to go to the inside to pass."

After the race sorted out, Chandler, Pegram and Duhamel were running virtually nose to tail. With Duhamel literally spinning his wheels in an effort to overtake the pesky Pegram, Chandler gradually stretched his lead.

Duhamel ultimately got around Pegram, but in his haste to make up the lost ground, picked up a vibration in his rear tire.

He managed to hold onto second, but then his engine went sour in the closing laps, relegating Duhamel to a distant third-place finish.

"The bike went on two cylinders," said Duhamel, who won a series-high four races aboard the Smokin Joe's Honda Superbike. "That's never happened in a race. It (the engine) has always been bulletproof."

But it was Chandler who was invincible here. He set fast qualifying time and save for a conservative start, looked unbeatable during the race.

Pegram, who was riding a Ducati, got the jump on both championship contenders at the start, as Chandler fell back to third.

But Chandler reeled in Duhamel on the backside of the twisty course on lap 3. He took the lead moments later as the bikes roared down the tri-oval, easing past Pegram on the entry to turn 1.

Chandler paced the final 22 circuits, picking up another bonus point (he also was awarded one for setting fast qualifying time) for leading the most laps. Those were crucial points that forced Duhamel to ride hard.

Afterward, Chandler said his biggest worry was whether to race for the win or race Duhamel for the title.

"I wasn't quite sure what to do," said Chandler, who is every bit as soft-spoken as Duhamel is outspoken. "I knew I had a bike as good as, if not better than, anything out there. But my main concern was my race with Miguel."

It was a satisfying championship for Chandler, who left Superbike upon winning his first title in 1990 for the European World Championship Grand Prix circuit. He returned to Superbike last year but finished only 15th in points, after breaking his collarbone in his first race back.

For '96, he reunited with Kawasaki and veteran team owner Rob Muzzy, for whom Chandler captured the 1990 crown. The combination clicked, as Chandler finished out of the points just once in 10 races.

"This (the championship) makes you enjoy it (racing) so much more and want to continue doing it," said Chandler, one of the oldest riders on the circuit at age 30.