Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Hayden Improves in Race 2 in KansasAugust 2
Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden kept his promise that he would improve on his Saturday result, finishing an impressive seventh after a 14th place start at Heartland Park Topeka. With a great jump on both the opening and red flag starts, Hayden pushed hard every lap to finish seven spots better than his qualifying position. Hayden did a great job of proving the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R’s worth, while Hacking sat out of Sunday’s race citing safety concerns.
Right away, Hayden was out on a mission to move up. His first start pushed him up from 14th to 12th on the first lap. On the red flag restart, Hayden moved up another two positions on a single lap to 10th. He raced down the pack in front of him to eventually finish a notable seventh.
“This race was definitely better,” said Hayden. “We made some good changes to the bike from yesterday. I got a little bit better start and rode aggressive from the beginning. I was chasing the group in front of me the whole race and caught up to them at the end. I was able to get by one guy on the last lap to move up to seventh. It was a little bit better than yesterday. We know we need to keep improving and hopefully get back up front.”
Coming from a mid-pack starting position, Hayden knew he had to be confident in his start. Once the race was underway, Hayden pushed hard to catch the riders in front, passing seven people in the process.
“I definitely felt better today,” said Hayden. “I knew I was capable of running down the guys in front of me. I tried to set a fast pace and was able to catch several guys in front of me.”
