Roger Lee’s Four Wheel Adventure
Cycle News Staff | June 5, 2010
A week after a disappointing weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, Roger Lee Hayden returned to Utah with surprising success.Competing in his first ever car race, the Team Pedercini Kawasaki rider qualified his 2.0 liter, 170 bhp four-cylinder TDI clean diesel-engined Volkswagen Jetta TDI eighth fastest in a field of 28.Hayden was easily the fastest of the four guest drivers-the others were 15th, 26th, and 27th-and shook up the regulars with his lap of 1:47.197 mins. The lap was just a second off the 1:46.173 run by pole sitter Jake Thompson.”I think I was able to get better and better in the car as the day went on,” explained Hayden. “During the qualifying session, I went out on brand new tires and I ended up spinning out before I could get them warmed up. I came into the pits for a quick stop and when I went back out I felt much more comfortable out there and I turned a pretty quick lap, which was good enough to qualify eighth. It’s funny, as a guest driver I was planning on coming out, having some fun and just relaxing, but once I got out here I became competitive and now I want to finish as high as I can. I’m having a great time out here – everyone at Volkswagen has been so wonderful and I can’t wait for the race tomorrow.”Sunday’s race will be green flagged at 1:15 p.m. EDT.
