Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Marty Craggill fought off the pain from a broken left foot and came from behind to win the AMA Formula Xtreme race at Brainerd International Raceway, averaging 107.938 mph in the 13-lap, 39-mile race.
Craggill, who broke his foot during practice at Road America three weeks ago, rebroke bones in the foot during the race, when he saved a near-highside but in the process slammed the top of the injured foot against the footpeg.
Iron man Craggill took a few laps to overcome the pain, took a deep breath and went back on the charge, running down and working his way through the lead group. Craggill took the lead three laps from the finish; when he was passed twice, Craggill immediately retook the lead, and held off his pursuers to win by 0.202-second.
It was a great turnaround for the team, which embarked on a rush development program to find more speed after its bikes proved too slow at Road Atlanta, three races ago.
At Brainerd, Craggill was caught on radar at 184 mph, and after the race his competitors commented on the speed of his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Craggill’s teammate Tom Kipp ran with the lead group early on but DNF with a mechanical problem. Josh Hayes, making his return to racing after three months recovering from a hand injury, finished 7th on his GSX-R1000, running a 2001-spec engine.
In the AMA Superstock race at Brainerd, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich crashed out, without injury.
In the AMA Supersport race at Brainerd, Kipp finished 9th on his Suzuki GSX-R600, and is a solid 5th in series points.
