May, who had the speed but not the start to challenge for the box on Saturday, was not content to allow his new teammate to take all of the glory after his years of hard work on the machine. He came back even stronger on Sunday and threw down for second on the last lap before ultimately matching Eslick's third-place result.

"I definitely had to fight really hard to get that one," May said. "I didn't get the greatest of starts but got up there with the pack and just tried to conserve my tire and be patient and not expend too much energy because I knew with the heat today it was going to be tough. I just tried to ride as smart and clean as I could and just put my head down.

"I noticed the guys starting to fall off the pace and when I did I put all the energy into it. I got (into second) and we had a nice, clean little battle there at the end. It was fun. It feels good being back up here -- it's been a long two years coming."

Team owner Erik Buell said, "It was quite a weekend for EBR, and a real tribute to all who have helped us fight back to better than ever. What an honor to be racing with the famous import brands for podium spots in AMA Pro National Guard Superbike."

The weekend also served as a marked improvement for Hayden's teammate Ben Bostrom on the #23 Jordan Suzuki. After suffering through a nightmarish opening two rounds, Bostrom made good at his home circuit by scoring his two best results of the season.

After picking up a seventh on Saturday, Bostrom pushed at the front on Sunday and finished in fourth, just fractionally behind second-placed Hayden and third-ranked May.

"I've been on the ground in three of four races this year, so it's not been the greatest start to the season," said Bostrom. "But thankfully, my MJM crew found the problem and fixed it. Also, I grew up around here and Infineon has always been one of my favorite tracks. It's a rider's track, and there aren't a lot of straightaways. It's one of the better tracks to go to for me."

The weekend's other fourth went to Hayes' works Yamaha teammate, National Guard Superbike freshman Josh Herrin. The physical layout of Infineon Raceway is not especially welcoming to a class newcomer, and Herrin was off the pace in the early part of the weekend. He qualified on the provisional third row on Friday and only just made it onto the combined second row.

However, the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha upstart increased in strength as the weekend progressed and ultimately worked his way up to a fourth-place run in Saturday's contest.

He looked to be in line for an even better performance on Sunday, stalking at the front and controlling second position before a mechanical issue ruled him out deep into Sunday's race.

KTM/HMC Racing's Chris Fillmore headlined the augmented two-man RC8R effort. Flanked by German IDM Superbike ace Stefan Nebel, Fillmore was in impressive form in Sonoma. He crashed out while defending fifth from May late in Saturday's race but came back to finish in that same position a day later, this time successfully keeping May's teammate, Eslick, and the charging Hayes, behind him.

The result is the best yet for the KTM in AMA Pro National Guard Superbike action.

Attack Performance's Steve Rapp guided the team's 'Black Ops' Kawasaki ZX-10R to sixth on Saturday but was a Sunday scratch when the veteran pilot was injured in an electric bike crash.

Kneedraggers.com/Motul/Fly Racing's David Anthony turned heads in the opening free session, running second quick, trailing only fast man Hayes. He ended up putting together a solid weekend with a pair of eighths.

Team Venezuela's Robertino Pietri improved upon his Saturday 11th to claim ninth on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing BMW's Larry Pegram, M4 Suzuki's Chris Ulrich and Young's Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Chris Clark will all be counting the days until the next round at Miller Motorsports Park to make up for difficult weekends in Northern California.

"I admit it was a pretty disappointing weekend," said Clark. "I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder, so I could only put a few laps in before losing most of the strength in my right arm. Add that to the fact that Infineon is not my best track and the results suffered. But we made it out with some points and now we just need to put this behind us and focus on the rest of the season. My favorite track is next, so I'm really expecting a good result for myself and hopefully that will set the tone for the rest of the season."

More drama is expected later this month at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, where Young defeated Hayes and then-Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden with some last-lap magic one year ago.