Nicky Hayden takes a victory lap after winning the final race of the 2001 AMA Superbike Championships at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. It marked the fourth win of the season for Hayden, who finished the championships ranked third. (Brian J. Nelson photo)

This is another of the great racing photographs from the Brian J. Nelson Collection. It was 2001 and Honda’s Nicky Hayden continued his strong late-season charge by winning his fourth-straight AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship race at Virginia International Raceway. Hayden shared the spotlight at VIR with Australian Mat Mladin, who finished a conservative 12th-place in the season finale and wrapped up his third-consecutive AMA Superbike title.

That day Mladin became the first rider to win three AMA Superbike titles in a row since Motorcycle Hall of Famer Fred Merkel in 1986. Anthony Gobert finished second in his return to Superbike racing and Kurtis Roberts was third after leading the first 12 laps of the race.

Roberts took the early lead in the 42-lap VIR final. Hayden and Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom ran second and third early. Bostrom’s chance at a top finish, and effectively any hopes of the title, went away when he ran off the track mid-race. Bostrom reentered the race, but could muster no better than 10th.

Mladin ran fourth early, but backed off the pace by lap eight. His team monitored Bostrom’s progress and when the title was secured Mladin slowed even more and finished a safe 12th.

Kawasaki’s Doug Chandler was the last of the top riders to pit and led laps 25 through 31 before making his stop. After Chandler pitted the race came down to a battle between Hayden and Gobert. Gobert took the lead on lap 32 and appeared to pull away from Hayden briefly. But Hayden was able to work quickly through traffic and on lap 34 he drafted into the lead on the front straightaway.

Hayden’s lead grew to 2.090-seconds at the checkered flag.

“When Anthony went by me late in the race, I didn’t know if I’d be able to hang with him,” said Hayden, who became the first rider to win four-straight AMA Superbike races since Gobert did it in 1999. “I made it through lapped traffic pretty good and then I caught Anthony and could tell he was holding back – I figured for a last-lap charge. I knew I wanted to go by him and make him work hard and it paid off. It feels real good to win four in a row, especially after the way my season started.”

The race was the first AMA Superbike race at the newly revamped Virginia Int’l. Raceway. An estimated 15,000 spectators attended the race on Sunday.