Hayden Gets His First MotoGP Win at the USGP!

I felt compelled to post this even if Dan and I are the only ones interested in it.
In 1989, I was just starting out roadracing motorcycles. I had no prior racing experience, and I started when a lot of people my age start thinking about hanging up the helmet. There was a family from Owensboro, Ky. that showed up at the track to race. Earl, the father is the nicest guy you could meet. His sons were very well mannered and polite kids. They had been flat track racing since age 5. They were being groomed to be World Champions. It was rumored that Earl had a forged birth certificate for Nicky, and now that we know he was born in 1981, we know he was actaully an eight year old, 4 years away from being the youngest you can be considered to get a provisional race licence. In 1989 we were racing YSR 50's. These are mini roadrace motorcycles. Nicky's feet couldn't touch the ground. He had to start at the back of the grid while Earl held the bike up and when he came into the pits, they had to be there to catch him. In 1990 we were at the YSR National Championships. I was unable to be there until Saturday and wasn't able to qualify so I let my good friend Damon Harvey take my Superbike and race it. Armed with the fasted YSR on the planet he won the Expert Class National Championship. It was tough being a spectator, but I enjoyed watching and was able to get a lot of video. I was taping Nicky and Tommy and asked Nicky what his goal for the future was. He said "I'm gonna be World Champion". I didn't think it was cute, or funny. I just thought that with that mindset and the fact Earl would do everything he could to get him the opportunity for a chance to compete for it, he just might do it.
He graduated to bigger bikes and ran the "D" Superbike class on a street version of the TZ250, a TZ-R. Then after making his climb up the ladder landed a ride on the Factory Honda AMA 750 Superbike. He won big including the Daytona 200. He then was promoted to the factory Honda MotoGP Team. This is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing. He won his first MotoGP race this weekend at the USGP at Laguna Seca. He got the hole shot and led every lap of the race. After the race, he stopped and got an American Flag then and made a victory lap. Then he picked up Earl and made another one. I can't tell you how proud I am for him and his family. Someone once wrote that the best thing about winning is finding out you can. Now that he has won at the highest level and beat Valentino Rossi, who is arguably the best ever, his next step is contending for the World Championship. I'm betting he get one before his career is over. Congratulations Nicky.