38 minutes in ... Ski always could do championship math in his head WHILE RACING. Also he was lethal at blackjack, most of the time, anyway.

The EXUP exhaust valve on Jamie James' Yamaha failed in the Superbike race. It stuck in the closed position which cost James the Superbike championship. The EXUP was a known weak part of the Yamaha, especially in hot conditions (Atlanta). That's why Vance and Hines crewchief Jim Leonard wanted James to run a non-EXUP exhaust in the race, and that was the plan. Instead, James' mechanic, whose wife was a Yamaha employee, stayed late Saturday night and decided to run the bike with EXUP on it.

Sadowski made sure that Corser finished where he needed to in order to win the championship. The entire weekend was hip-deep in sub-plots but Ski had been fired by Yamaha after his D200 win and really wasn't in the mood to help Yamaha, even though he was good friends with Jamie and Ramona James. Again, Ski could do near Sheldon Cooper-level math in his lead while racing.

Brad Hazen and Scott Doohan tangled on the final lap. Doohan's younger brother, Mick, was at Road Atlanta for the race. Racer Dean Mizdal was a good friend to Hazen. He went to the ER in Atlanta only to be told that Hazen's condition was grave and expect the worst. He was crying in his hands in the waiting room only to recover, wipe his eyes and notice two men staring blankly at him from the chairs across from him. It was GP racers Doohan and Daryl Beattie. He had only seen Doohan in pictures in magazines up to that point.

Ski had an understanding with Eraldo Ferracci, the details of which are probably only known by Ski (RIP), Erlado and Ski's then wife, Bev. Ski did leave Road Atlanta with a Supermono Sunday night after clearly helping Corser to win the title. Ski said that the 'mono was only so he could perform set-up on it but few who saw it in his van believed it.

Canadian Pascal Picotte (FBF Ducati) had ridden in Corser's shadow all season and wasn't playing math while racing for anybody, including Corser.

Corser's motorhome driver, his buddy Nigel Taylor, enjoyed one season of seeing America, playing golf and seeing the sights. In 1995 he returned to Australia and then worked for the next 25 years in a coal mine. True story.

James' championship hopes were truly dashed in June, not due to the issues with his Yamaha engine or EXUP at Road Atlanta, but after his disqualification following his Superbike victory there. He was penalized for passing under a yellow flag, a decision that sparked controversy. The ruling was based solely on the testimony of corner workers and a photographer, and incident took place at Elkhart’s turn six—a corner notorious for poor rider visibility, as it’s an uphill left turn where both the corner and the flag station are difficult to see. Yamaha left Road America believing they had appealed James’ disqualification, but they claim they never received any response from the AMA after that Sunday night discussion.

James did win the highly coveted 600 Supersport title that season. 1994 was perhaps the first time a manufacturer fully understood the value of the 600 supersport title and the effect it could have on sales. Yamaha did it up big in 1995 with win ads everywhere. The Yamaha 600 sold out the next year.

1994 was prime Scott Russell time. He didn't need sleep, didn't need soft tires and could do no wrong on track. He had the flash car, girl, and world championship trophy in his motorhome at Road Atlanta. It's the only time he rode the Kawasaki ZX4RR that Kawasaki gave him for winning the Suzuka 8 Hours. I borrowed his helmet, gloves and boots and rode it around Braselton. In the race Russell dropped every AMA Superbike rider like a girlfriend with mono.

There was a near free-for-all fight amongst the Vance and Hines mechanic crew Sunday night when the failed EXUP was discovered on James' bike after the race. Crewchief Jim Leonard had to peel mechanics off mechanics for most of the night.

More later, maybe.