National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden and Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Tommy Hayden (Photo: Evan Williams)

And now that Hayden seems to have found the pace to truly push at the front, the established order has every reason to be concerned. Just ask Tommy.

Roger is a gunfighter -- a gambler willing to take a risk on the race's final lap and with an uncanny ability to pull those ambitious maneuvers off.

His first-career AMA Pro victory came with a last-corner acing of his big brother at BMP in 2004 by a scant 0.030 seconds. He also beat #22 by 0.022 seconds the following season for the Supersport win at Virginia International Raceway.

And Hayden's sideways and around-the-outside last-corner pass to win the 2005 'Stock finale at Road Atlanta by 0.009 seconds remains legendary -- an overtaking maneuver former World and British Superbike champ Neil Hodgson later referred to as "the most amazing pass I've ever seen."

Taking into account the new reality that tells us the majority of AMA Superbike races will be decided on the final lap these days, Hayden's Mid-Ohio podium may have been just a teaser trailer for an even bigger show to come.

"This was not a fluke," Hayden said. "I feel like we're there now. We've just got to keep pushing. We can't relax now because we're this close. We've got to go back and see where we were slow and see where they were better than us and get ready for the next race. We've got to keep working and I've got to keep improving with the way that I'm riding and gelling with the team.

"Now I know that I can run with these guys. I feel like I can win one -- it's coming. Laguna is a good track for me and I like it a lot. I've rode a lot of different bikes there -- GP bikes, 600s, Superbikes. It's been special to me so hopefully we can go there and be strong again and challenge for the win."

SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Laguna Seca will air on SPEED Sunday night, July 24 at 11pm ET.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED