Motourage

Eleven Points Between Hayes and Hayden

After 15 rounds of racing, from Daytona Beach to the last race in Virginia, only 11 points separate AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike points leader Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha team from his challenger Tommy Hayden aboard his Rockstar Makita Suzuki.  At every turn, when one of these world class riders would look to have the upper hand, the other would just as quickly strike back and even things out.  That was the case at the most recent race in Virginia when in race one of the traditional doubleheader weekend, Tommy Hayden took a well judged victory.  But, the very next day Josh Hayes reasserted himself with a dominant win of his own to counter Hayden once again.  Heading into this weekend’s AMA Pro Racing SuperBike Weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park it will be must-see racing as these two continue the fight for the overall AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike title.

The 2.5 mile, 14 turn Thunderbolt course will be the scene for the continuing battle between these two racers and their very capable teams.  After Tommy Hayden took his career first AMA Pro SuperBike win at Auto Club Speedway back in March, he has added three more wins to his total.  And once Josh Hayes started putting wins up on the board, he and Tommy have virtually traded victories, keeping the other in check as they both compiled valuable points towards the championship. It began at Road America when Hayes won on Saturday and Hayden won on Sunday.  The pattern repeated itself again at the next race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and again at the latest race at VIR with Hayden winning first and then Hayes fighting back on Sunday.

Last year at NJMP, Josh Hayes took both race wins but in race one, it was Tommy Hayden who finished second so we can certainly expect these two to be right at the front  this coming weekend.  One factor that may come into play this year is a couple of other riders that have wins this year and may influence the outcome of the championship. Ben Bostrom won recently at Laguna Seca and featured prominently during the VIR races.  His Pat Clark Motorsports team with valuable support from Palms Casino and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway have continued to develop their Yamaha motorcycles into regular front runners, joining Hayes’ Yamaha in setting the pace. Hayden might have his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Blake Young back to support his efforts this coming weekend. Blake has been sidelined since a testing accident back in June.  The plan is for Blake to test at NJMP and if he is declared fit enough to compete, he will rejoin the team and add one more element to the championship battle. Blake won his career first AMA SuperBike races earlier this year.

Jake Zemke and his National Guard Jordan Suzuki can also impact the proceedings at NJMP.  Jake won the opening races of the season and remains in third place overall in the points.  He will have to raise his game if he wants to stay in third with Ben Bostrom coming on so strongly.  Another rider who posted a win this year is the popular Larry Pegram and his Foremost Insurance Ducati.  Larry won at Auto Club Speedway and has posted four second place finishes as well.

But the real action will be at the front.  Years ago, Josh Hayes and Tommy Hayden battled for the AMA Pro SuperStock championship and history is repeating itself once again as these two champions go head to head for the AMA Pro SuperBike title.  The quality of the competition has never been better and the character and respect between the key participants is also outstanding which will most certainly provide some of the best racing seen in many a year in AMA Pro Road Racing.

The action starts on Friday, September 3rd with practice and first round qualifying. Saturday, September 4th will have final qualifying in SuperBike and then race one of two of the AMA Pro Racing SuperBike Championship Weekend doubleheader weekend.  Race two will be on Sunday, September 5th. Don’t miss the Pit Lane Fan Walk and Autograph session on both Saturday and Sunday, featuring all riders and teams. SPEED TV will be broadcasting the SuperBike race one on Saturday night, September 4th at 11:00 PM EDT and the second AMA Pro SuperBike race on Sunday, September 5th at 10:00 PM EDT.  Please visit www.njmp.com for further information.

2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion and current Rockwall Yamaha road racer J.D. Beach is no stranger to the dirt.  He began his flat track career at the ripe old age of four and has his fair share of race wins on the oval to go with those on the tarmac. For 2010, Beach will add three more flat track events to his race calendar.

J.D. Beach on his way to winning Supersport race 1 at VIR. Photo courtesy of Dan Lo, Corner Speed Photo.

Beach has already competed in four AMA Pro K&N Filters Grand National Championship events this year with wins at the new Daytona flat track and the Springfield TT.  In addition to his successful Flat Track activities, Beach recently clinched the AMA Pro SuperSport Young Gun East Divisional Championship by winning for the seventh time in 2010.

Beach will compete in the Pro Singles class at the Peoria TT on Sunday, August 22 and the Indy Mile on Saturday, August 28.  Beach won both of these races in 2009 and is looking forward to his return.  The next big step will be the move from Pro Singles to Expert at the GNC event at the Springfield Short Track and Mile on Labor Day Weekend, September 4-5.

“I would like to win Peoria and especially Indy in the Pro Singles,” said Beach “My goal at the Mile in Springfield is to make the main event and try to finish in the top ten, although a podium would be great.”

Along with 2009 AMA Pro Twins National Champion Jared Mees, Beach will be riding the Rogers-Lake-prepared XR750 Harley-Davidson at Springfield.

Sunday’s AMA Pro Road Racing finals at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. to close out the the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance event weekend provided redemption for a couple of riders and also brought a divisional championship to another very deserving rider.

SuperBike points leader Josh Hayes reasserted himself at the top of the tables in every way. After what was for him a disappointing third-place result in Saturday’s race, where his main championship rival Tommy Hayden took a well-measured victory, Hayes came back to dominate the 23-lap Superbike race 2.

Josh Hayes celebrates after Sunday's Superbike race 2 win

“I just feel like I woke up, I didn’t like to get beat yesterday,” said Hayes.  “Somewhere along the way I feel like I kind of got lost a little bit, just in my riding.  I wasn’t riding my full potential and I was still capable of racing for the wins.  I think our motorcycle has a lot to do with that, we have a really good motorcycle.  I was just thinking about, what was my mindset last year?  I was racing myself a lot more last year.  These guys ride great, but I put an awful lot of pressure on myself to perform, so that’s what I tried to get back to this morning and today’s race was a race against myself.”

Hayes led every lap on his way to a series high fifth win in the SuperBike class.  Pole position winner Ben Bostrom duplicated his second place from yesterday to round out a solid weekend.

Tommy Hayden battled first with Hayes and then fought Bostrom for second before he finished third to stay close to Hayes in the points chase. Hayden is only 11 points adrift of Hayes with two double header race weekends to go.

“I felt pretty good about stepping up and going faster than I had all weekend there for the first five or six laps,” said Hayden.  “But in the end we didn’t have the pace to go that fast, or cooked the tire a little bit and couldn’t keep up.  That’s the biggest part of it really, we just weren’t fast enough.”

Riding to fourth place was Jordan Suzuki rookie Brett McCormick who easily had the best race of his season in relief of injured teammate Aaron Yates.  Yates did make an appearance at VIR this weekend and quickly showed his mettle with an excellent qualifying effort, but he decided not to race until he was fully confident that he was in race distance shape after his lengthy lay off.

Another rider having a good day was Taylor Knapp who rode to a fifth place-finish after dueling with Jake Zemke and Erik Buell Racing’s Geoff May. Chris Ulrich also ran well today and took seventh aboard his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki.  Zemke ran in fifth place in the early stages of the race but fell to eighth after battling hard to hold onto every position.

Larry Pegram fell from sixth at the start down to 15th on lap two but made his way back to ninth at the flag. Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke made his second AMA Pro SuperBike appearance of the year after racing at Mid-Ohio and impressed once again with a tenth place finish after a battle with Shane Narbone.

Daytona SportBike

In the Daytona SportBike class, Josh Herrin was able to bounce back from the disappointment of Saturday’s race that ended for him almost as soon as it started.

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Saturday saw three thrilling AMA Pro Road Racing races at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., in the opening day of competition for the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance.  One was a runaway, one was a photo finish and the last was almost as close as the second one.

In the National Guard SuperBike race, it was Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden who took his fourth AMA Pro SuperBike win of the season by 0.005 of a second over pole position winner Ben Bostrom.  Bostrom led on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha coming down to the line but in a mighty move, Hayden pulled out and crossed the line inches ahead of Bostrom.  The fun wasn’t over for Hayden who, in his successful attempt to win the race, was out of position at that very high speed part of the track, and he used all of his considerable skills to wrestle his Suzuki under control after he found himself running wide off the track onto the grass.  He brought it back under control and took a critical victory in his pursuit of Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha team.

John Hopkins walks back to the paddock after crashing out of Superbike race 1 on Saturday

“We started coming to the finish and I had huge momentum when I pulled out,” Hayden commented on his pass for the win.  “The way I was pointing too, when I pulled out, I never even got pointed towards turn one I don’t think.  I started leaning a little and I just had the biggest front slide I think you can have without crashing.  I pretty much thought I was down and somehow I just stayed in the throttle and steered it back up and pointed out in the grass and hoped there was nothing out there I couldn’t see, any ditches or nothing coming up and just tried to ride it out.  It feels good, I really feel like I needed this one today.”

Hayes, by virtue of leading the most laps in today’s race, has a one point lead over Hayden in their close battle for the National Guard SuperBike Championship.  Hayes had led early in the race after taking the lead from a fast starting Hayden. Hayes took the lead on lap four and led until lap 10 when Ben Bostrom asserted himself into the mix by grabbing the lead from Hayes in turn one.  Hayes responded and took the lead right back the next lap and he led for the next nine laps until Bostrom moved ahead on lap 21 which enabled Hayden to get by Hayes as well. Bostrom led as the last lap began but Hayden made a big late braking move into turn one and took the lead but Bostrom was able to fight right back and retook the lead two corners later and looked a likely winner until Hayden made his great move heading down to the flag to take the win.

Behind the riveting battle for the win, Larry Pegram finished fourth after dueling with Jake Zemke, Zemke’s Jordan Suzuki teammate Brett McCormick, Taylor Knapp and a front-row starting Eric Bostrom.  Knapp eventually finished fifth ahead of McCormick, Bostrom and Zemke.

John Hopkins made his return to the series today, and he rode his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki extremely well, running in a solid fourth place for most of the race until he went down in turn four near the end of the race.  Another rider making a comeback this weekend was Jordan Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, and he qualified on the outside of the second row; however, Yates elected not to start the race. His recovery is going well, but he wasn’t absolutely sure he would bring his best to the race, which was run in very hot and humid conditions.  Overall, it was another exciting race in a season that has seen five different winners in SuperBike.

Daytona SportBike Photo Finish

The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race was even more exciting and came down to an even closer finish.  After seeing Danny Eslick take the pole position, Eslick was joined on the front row by his championship rival Josh Herrin along with six-time 2010 Daytona SportBike winner Martin Cardenas and Tommy Aquino.

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Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, VA
August 13-15, 2010

Thursday, August 12
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, Big Rig Transporters Only
Noon – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, All Transporters/Service Providers
3 p.m. Pit Lane Assignments

Friday, August 13
10 a.m. Mandatory Riders, Entrants & Crew Chiefs Meeting
10:30 – 10:50 a.m. Track Inspection
11 a.m. Top Gun Post Entry Closed
11 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides)
Noon – 12:50 p.m. Practice 50 min Daytona SportBike
1 – 1:50 p.m. Practice 50 min American SuperBike
2 – 2:40 p.m. Practice 40 min SuperSport
2:50 – 3:30 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min Daytona SportBike
3:40 – 4:20 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min American SuperBike
4:30 – 5:10 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min SuperSport
5:15 – 5:45 p.m. Practice 30 min TTXGP

Saturday, August 14
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:30 a.m. Qualifying 2 30 min SuperSport 8:40 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 10:10 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min American SuperBike
10:20 – 10:50 a.m. Practice 30 min XR1200
10:50 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (Fan Lap/National Guard Two-Up’s/Stunt Show)
Noon – 12:45 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
1 p.m. SuperSport Race 1 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
2 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:15 p.m. American SuperBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
4:15 – 5 p.m. Qualifying 45 min XR1200
5:05 – 5:35 p.m. Qualifying 30 min TTXGP

Sunday, August 15
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:20 a.m. Warm-Up 20 min TTXGP
8:30 – 8:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min SuperSport
9 – 9:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 9:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min American SuperBike
10 – 10:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min XR1200
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides/Fan Lap)
10:50 – 11:30 a.m. Autograph Session – ASB, DSB, SS Mandatory
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
12:30 p.m. SuperSport Race 2 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
1:30 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
2:45 p.m. American SuperBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:45 p.m. XR1200 Race 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
4:15 p.m. TTXGP Race 11 Laps – 25 Mi/40 Km

Course Length – 2.25 Mi (3.62 Km)

AMA Pro Road Racing Weekend Preview – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Quick Links
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page
SPEED Schedule

Series:
AMA Pro Road Racing

Event:
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page

Track:
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – 2.238 Mile – 11 Turn Natural Road Course

Classes:

• AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike (Entry List)
• AMA Pro Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL (Entry List)
• AMA Pro SuperSport (Entry List)

Schedule (PDF Schedule):
Friday, July 23rd Practice:

• SuperSport 12:30 – 1:20 PM
• Daytona SportBike 3:10 – 4:00 PM
• National Guard SuperBike 4:10 – 5:00 PM

Saturday, July 24th Qualifying:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL 8:00 – 8:40 AM Qualifying 1
• SuperSport 8:45 – 9:20 AM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 11:05 – 11:50 AM Qualifying 1
• Daytona SportBik by AMSOIL 12:00 Noon – 12:45 PM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 3:50 – 4:40 PM Final Qualifying

Saturday July 24th Race:

• SuperSport Race 18 Laps/40 Miles – 5:30 PM

Sunday, June 6th Races:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 10:25 AM
• National Guard SuperBike race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 3:45 PM

TV Schedule (SPEEDTV.com):

• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. midnight ET – Daytona SportBike Race
• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 3:00AM ET – Daytona SportBike Race (RERUN)
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 4:00AM ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights (RERUN)

2009 Race Records & Results:

Fastest Qualifiers:

• National Guard SuperBike Pole Position – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki -1:24.592/95.243 MPH
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Pole Position – Martin Cardenas – M4 Suzuki – 1:27.585/91.988 MPH
• SuperSport Pole Position – Ricky Parker – Graves Yamaha – 1:30.213/89.308 MPH

Race Winners:

• National Guard SuperBike Race Winner – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race Winner – Ben Bostrom – Team Graves Yamaha
• SuperSport Race Winner – Ricky Parker – Team Graves Yamaha

After a 0.001 of a second loss at the season’s first race, Joey Pascarella has basically swept all before him as he rolled to three consecutive pole positions and race wins on his LTD Racing Yamaha.

Today, that streak was broken in the most unusual and unexpected way. Pascarella and the rest of the AMA Pro SuperSport field went out for their initial warm-up lap prior to the traditional standing start, and unfortunately, he came upon some fluid on the track that had escaped in a sudden mechanical problem for another competitor. This unfortunate and unpreventable incident also derailed the hopes of another race favorite, Elena Myers, who lost traction on her Richie Morris Roadracingworld.com Suzuki. Both riders suffered injuries that, in Pascarella’s case, will prevent him from competing tomorrow in the second of two AMA Pro SuperSport races. Myers is expected to compete.

There was still a race to run and now, the four other main characters in this year’s exciting SuperSport series now took center stage. Daytona race one winner Cameron Beaubier and his Rockwall Yamaha teammate, J.D. Beach now basically had the front row to themselves and they took off with Pascarella’s LTD Yamaha teammate, Huntley Nash, and also the third LTD Yamaha rider Tomas Puerta in hot pursuit.

Beaubier and then Beach would lead, each passing and re-passing each other lap after lap.  Nash was trying as hard as he could to take the fight to the first two, and one time he did get by Cameron at turn seven, only to have Beaubier re-pass him as they dove down into the turn ten complex.

Out from under the famous Road Atlanta bridge, the three would be battling all the way down the front straight, setting each other up for the next pass. Meanwhile, Puerta was just back from the first three and it would only take the smallest error from any of the three ahead for him to also join the fray. It almost seemed that leading wasn’t the place to be since whoever was in second place coming down into turn ten, he could slip inside the leader under braking and hold the lead all the way under the bridge and past the start finish line.

As the race came down to the last lap, Beaubier and Beach had pulled out a slight margin to Nash and it now was between the two Rockwall Yamaha riders. Beaubier looked like he had it won and then Beach passed him on the long straight coming down to the turn ten complex for the last time, but this time he had enough of a margin that he was able to hold on for the win, finishing 0.108 ahead of Beaubier.

It was an exciting win for Beach and he expressed his delight in the post race press conference, “I have been racing with Cameron since 2007 and I was going to do anything to win, I was just going for it,” said J.D. Beaubier was disappointed not to have won, but his run of very strong showings continues as he and Beach show just how competitive the SuperSport class is.

Nash and Puerta also finished up with strong results; Puerta was just beaten at the end by Travis Wyman on his Yamaha. Top Gun entry, David Gaviria on his Kawasaki took sixth and Huntley’s older brother, Sam Nash took seventh on his Yamaha. Eighth was Miles Thornton on his Yamaha, followed by Top Gun riders James Dellinger and James Cohrs in ninth and tenth on their Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles, respectively.

All in all it was another sensational race, every lap was spellbinding and the skill and respect shown by these Young Gun AMA Pro Racing SuperSport riders is simply awesome to behold. Check www.amaproracing.com for complete results under Road Atlanta race results.

It seems hard to believe, but today’s AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike race saw a famous name in motorcycling take his first win in the ultra competitive class. Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider, Tommy Hayden bounced back from a disappointing Saturday race in the windy conditions and came back after an overnight talk to himself to score his very first American Superbike win at the Suzuki Superbike Challenge weekend races at Auto Club Speedway.

Under calm and clear blue skies, the field was missing its’ pole sitter as Aaron Yates suffered an unfortunate fall during Sunday morning’s warm-up session. Yates, who also took pole position at the season opening Superbike race at Daytona, was examined at the track infield care center and then transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for further examination of what was reported initially by the Jordan Suzuki team to be a right leg injury.

At the start, Saturday’s race winner, Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing Ducati, took the lead with a hard charging Josh Hayes in second on his Team Graves Yamaha, followed by another fast starting John Hopkins on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki, Hayden and his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Blake Young. Hayes showed his intentions early as he passed Pegram for the lead on lap two. Hopkins started to fall back as Blake Young and then, a few laps later, National Guard Suzuki rider Jake Zemke got by “Hopper” also. The first three then broke away and then Pegram showed his strength by just plain powering by Hayes on lap five while Hayden ran a patient third around the 21-turn, 2.36-mile speedway road course.

Young ran impressively as he closed on teammate Hayden but the big change happened up front when, completely unexpectedly, Larry Pegram slid down as he ran back onto the front straight banking on the end of lap nine. He was able to get back up, and after a trip to the pits for an inspection, he rejoined the race and completed fifty percent of the distance giving him three valuable points.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same as the first day of practice and qualifying came to a close at the Auto Club Speedway in beautiful sunny southern California.  The fast qualifier from each class in last month’s opening round of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing championship season at Daytona International Speedway showed their speed again today during the opening qualifying sessions.

Aaron Yates and the Michael Jordan-owned Brand Jordan Suzuki team again showed the way in the AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike series with a fast time of 1:23.982 to place the Georgia native on provisional pole position going into tomorrow’s final qualifying session.   Asked why he is running so well in 2010, Yates said, “I’m feeling really good this year, my health is really good and the No. 23 Jordan Suzuki guys have been working really hard and it’s paying off.”

Tommy Hayden took second on his No. 22 Rockstar Makita Suzuki with a time of 1:24.133 and No. 72 Foremost Insurance Ducati rider Larry Pegram was third with a time of 1:24.150.  Twenty-two American Superbike motorcycles attempted to qualify today and final qualifying will be tomorrow morning at 9:50 a.m. local time, ensuring quicker times as the track conditions will be close to perfect around the 2.36-mile 21-turn Auto Club Speedway circuit.

In AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL, Daytona pole position winner Danny Eslick and his No. 1 GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki topped the time sheets as the defending champion posted the fastest lap on his penultimate lap of qualifying to take the provisional pole.  Under clear blue skies, Eslick put up a time of 1:27.164 and felt great about his time and his season in general, commenting, “I’m feeling great, I won both races here last year and I really like this track.  The change to the GEICO Suzuki has been flawless and we are running right where we need to be.”

Right behind Eslick is 2010 Daytona 200 winner Josh Herrin on his No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha with a time of 1:27.255.  Third was Herrin’s Team Graves Yamaha teammate, No. 6 Tommy Aquino with a time of 1:27.457.  The second round of qualifying for the Daytona SportBikes will be tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. local time, with the first of two races kicking off tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

In keeping with the pattern so far, Daytona’s Supersport pole and race two winner Joey Pascarella took the top spot in the last qualifying session of the day.  After being beaten in race one at Daytona in the Supersport season opener by 0.001 of a second, Pascarella has yet to be beaten in a race or qualifying session.  Pascarella, suffering the painful looking wounds from a mountain bike fall earlier in the week, led the way on his No. 25 LTD Racing Yamaha with a time of 1:29.310.  Asked if he was distracted by the abrasions on his hands and face, Joey commented, “Once I start riding, I don’t notice it.  I wasn’t sure I would be able to hold on but it’s not bad.”

Second quick was No. 19 Scott Gilbert on his Yamaha with a time of 1:30.188 and third was Pascarella’s Yamaha teammate, No. 75 Huntley Nash who turned in a time of 1:31.393.  Nash has never been to Auto Club Speedway and was pleased with his effort, “For my first time here, I’m pretty happy, I followed Joey around a couple of times and picked up some ideas where I could improve and I’m looking forward to tomorrow when I know I can run better.”

The Supersport riders will take to the track again tomorrow for final qualifying and also their first race of two this weekend.  Local rider Elena Myers again showed her experience on a track she has been riding on since the beginning of her short career by taking fourth place with a time of 1:31.573.  Myers, riding her No. 21 RMR/RoadracingWorld.com Suzuki, ran close to the top of the time charts throughout today’s practice and qualifying sessions.

Following post-qualifying technical inspection, times were disallowed for non-compliant fuel for the following motorcycles: American Superbike No. 10 and No. 59, Daytona SportBike No. 122 and No. 153, Supersport No. 729.  Riders will have the opportunity to qualify or improve their position on the grid by posting times in tomorrow morning’s final qualifying sessions.

Saturday’s weather looks even better than today’s and after a solid first day of practice and qualifying the weekend is shaping up to again see some incredibly close racing.

Heading into round two of this year’s AMA Pro Road Racing championship at California’s Auto Club Speedway, to be held March 26 – 28, riders, teams and fans are ready to rejoin the battles that begin at the opening round last month at Daytona International Speedway.

The Suzuki AMA Pro Superbike Challenge weekend will feature two action packed races in each of the three AMA Pro Road Racing classes.  Practice and qualifying begin on Friday, March 26th at the 2.36-mile combination speedway/road course.  Saturday, March 27th will see more qualifying and the first of two AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike races.  Just prior to the American Superbike race on Saturday, fans will be treated to rider introductions and a Grid Walk.  The second American Superbike race will be on Sunday, March 28th.

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