After 25 years of competing on the GEICO Motorcycle AMA Road Racing circuit, 44-year-old veteran rider Michael Barnes is finally a champion after capturing the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series title with a breathtaking win Sunday in the season-ending Big Kahuna New Orleans....
Barnes entered this race as the class leader following a victory two weeks ago in Miami aboard his KLR Group/Spyke's Harley-Davidson. But his margin was only two points over Tyler O'Hara, a four-time winner this year.
As expected, Barnes and O'Hara jumped to the front right away and stayed in one another's shadow for the entire race, changing the lead a few times to add to the drama. It all came down to the last lap and Barnes had the slenderest of leads as they zipped through the 16-turn course.
Coming onto the final straightaway, O'Hara used the draft to pull alongside Barnes and it appeared there would be a drag race to the stripe. Then suddenly, O'Hara inexplicably reached out and pulled on Barnes' throttle arm, causing the KLR Group Harley to slow. Barnes threw his hands up in protest as he crossed the finish line just behind O'Hara and before they could complete the cool-down lap, AMA Pro officials had disqualified O'Hara, handing the win and the title to Barnes.