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 RAAM Weather Forecastby Dave Speelman, Meteorologist KAMR NBC Channel 4, Amarillo TX Outlook for Wednesday: Typical hot and sticky weather, with highs in the 90s to near 100 throughout Arkansas, and in the 90s in Tennessee. Heat indices will be between 105 and 110 in Arkansas.
Man At Work  Gerry Tatrai continues to lead the 1998 Ensure Race Across AMerica, putting in a performance as sizzling as the Arkansas weather. Rob Kish is left wondering what happened, while Wolfgang Fasching begins to make his move.
 Closed, or out of business?
Day 6 of the Ensure RAAM crossed into Arkansas today. Early in the diagonal crossing of the state, Tatrai (and those to follow) will all have ridden through President Bill Clinton's hometown of Hope. Left behind are the wide-open spaces of West Texas, having been replaced gradually by the piney woods of East Texas and Arkansas.
Whereas yesterday the big story was Tatrai's five-hour lead being destroyed by Rob Kish, today's headline is that Tatrai is back in control, and with a bigger lead than ever.
"It was hot, I was tired, and he caught me. But now I'm recovered," Tatrai quipped. And was he ever recovered. Between Hope and Camden, the powerful Australian averaged 19 mph, riding almost effortlessly through the rolling hills of southwest Arkansas.
 Tatrai was also vrey complimentary of his Nimble wheels, which he said provided a nice jump to his speed. The Titanflex frame atop these wheels gave Tatrai the smooth ride. It was impossible to get a complaint of of the friendly Aussie, who was simply having the ride of his life. "I just came out (to RAAM) to have a fun ride," Tatrai had remarked on Day 2.
 Tatrai was so relaxed and calm about doing RAAM that he even neglected to look at any maps before the race. "I have no idea where I'm going," he said on Day 5. All he knows is that his crew will guide him to Savannah, and that he just has to keep riding. By late afternoon today, Tatrai had built a 7.5-hour lead over Kish. No matter what Kish would do on the bike, Tatrai did it better. It was almost as if Tatrai had caught a whiff of the barn in Savannah, and was ready to wrap things up. This year's race is much like that of 1993, in which Tatrai had things pretty tidied up by Oklahoma, and he waltzed into Savannah unchallenged the last 1000 miles. If Kish and Company riding in Tatrai's wake don't mount a challenge soon, Tatrai will see history repeat itself. The one bright spot among the Tatrai chasers is Wolfgang Fasching, the Austrian who is defending his 1997 RAAM victory. Bedeviled with heat problems on Day 1, and off the bike for many hours, Fasching has slowly but steadily moving up through the ranks. By late afternoon, he was in fourth position, just minutes behind Tom Buckley (below). The unanswered questions were, (1) would the race be long enough, and, (2) would the Appalachians be tall enough, for Fasching to mount a serious threat? With 1000 miles to go, and 11 hours down, Fasching has his hands full.
 Tom Buckley celebrated his birthday today, and was clinging tenuously to third place. While he has lost a little of the spark that saw him through RAAM's first three days, Buckley is still having a very impressive race.   Jim Tatum (top) and Guido Acquistapace (bottom) are both helping Team Secure Horizons make solid progress toward their goal breaking the 70-up record for a US transcontinental. They are well ahead of pace to break the 9 days, 4 hour record, and will likely pass Tatrai in the next 24-36 hours. These four intrepid septenarians are an inspiration to watch. They act like four guys one-third their age, and are having the times of their lives racing across the country.
 Race A Cross Across America?
Portable cross found along Rt 79 north of Camden AR, its bearer nowhere to be found.
Stats as of 10pm EDT Tuesday follow, with rider or team name, last Time Station in (), and the time of arrival.
Solo Riders:
Team and HPV Riders Starting Sunday:
Team Riders Starting Thursday:
Use the menu below to check the updates posted each night during the race!
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