Titles on the Line as AMA Pro Road Racing Returns to Heartland Park
Topeka
Tornado Nationals First Major Motorcycle Race In Topeka in Nearly 20
Years
TOPEKA, Kan. (July 29, 2009) - At least one 2009 championship will be
decided and several other season titles could be on the line at this
weekend's Tornado Nationals presented by BriggsAuto.com, which marks
the return of top-level AMA Pro Road Racing to Heartland Park Topeka
for the first time since 1991. The full weekend of action is also the
final event on the 2009 calendar to feature every AMA Pro Road Racing
championship and an impressive entry of nearly 130 motorcycles is headed
to the 2.5-mile Kansas road course.
The highlight of the Tornado Nationals will be dual Saturday and
Sunday races for the premier AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike
presented by Parts Unlimited and AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented
by AMSOIL divisions. Also on the card is the season-ending event for
the West-division riders of AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei, who
will compete head-to-head with their counterparts from the East in the
last of this season's three dual-championship shootouts. The jam-packed
schedule also includes a two-hour AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT race that is
the only event of the weekend featuring scheduled pit stops and rider
changes.
The action begins with practice, qualifying and Superpole qualifying
on Friday, July 31, and continues straight into the weekend with three
races each day on Saturday and Sunday. The SunTrust Moto-GT enduro kicks
off the weekend's races at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 1, and will be
followed that afternoon by the first finals for American Superbike at 3
p.m. and Daytona SportBike at 4 p.m. Sunday, August 2, will see Daytona
SportBike roll off first at 2 p.m., SuperSport following at 3 p.m.
and Superbike closing the weekend at 4 p.m. The Superbike and Daytona
SportBike races are each 20 laps for 50 miles while the SuperSport race
is a 16-lap distance for 40 miles.
The Tornado Nationals will be featured in a pair of same-day telecasts
on SPEED. Saturday's American Superbike and Daytona SportBike finals
will be shown that night in a two-hour show at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m.
PT) while Sunday's premier class races and other highlights will air in
a two-hour show that evening at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). On-site fans
at Heartland Park Topeka can also enjoy a Fan Party and Rider Autograph
Session on Friday night beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the northwest Paddock
Pavilion.
Championship points leader Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura
Suzuki GSX-R1000) is a virtual lock to win the 2009 AMA Pro American
Superbike title and he could do just that at Heartland Park. The Ironman
Australian has an unmatched record of 10 wins so far this season,
including a streak of seven in a row to open the year. He has been AMA
Pro Road Racing's top rider in 2009 and has won all but four races
and captured seven of eight pole positions. The most recent round
at Mid-Ohio marked the only event this year where Mladin failed to
win a race or the pole, but he still managed to finish third in the
Saturday final and left Ohio having given up just one point of his big
championship lead.
Mladin leads the American Superbike class in every possible statistical
category and all tiebreaker scenarios favor Suzuki's only winning 2009
American Superbike rider. He has a strong 126-point championship lead,
390 - 264, over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate and nearest challenger Tommy
Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Mladin
will seal a record-extending seventh AMA Pro American Superbike title if
he maintains or builds on that gap by the end of the Tornado Nationals
weekend.
Mladin's teammates Hayden and Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita
Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) have been among the handful of riders that
have challenged the American Superbike leader this year. Hayden is still
winless in his American Superbike career but he has been on the podium
in half of the year's 14 races. That run includes the Sunday final at
Mid-Ohio where Hayden finished third on a day that Mladin posted a
season-low finish of seventh. Hayden's best finishes have been seconds
in the Saturday finals at Road Atlanta and Infineon Raceway and both
rounds in March at Auto Club Speedway in California.
Young has overcome severe injuries to his left pinkie and ring finger
in a Sunday final accident at Barber Motorsports Park to remain one of
Mladin's strongest challengers. His best run of the year came two races
ago in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where
he led the most laps for the first time this season before finishing
second to Mladin. That finish matched two other runner-up showings in
the last two races before his accident in Race 1 at Barber, the day
before his spill, and the Sunday finale at Road Atlanta in early April.
Although a solid sixth in the championship standings with 201 points
despite missing a pair of races, Young has been eliminated from the
title picture. Along with Hayden, the only other riders who have a very
slim yet mathematical chance of catching Mladin make up the rest of the
top five in the championship standings. Yamaha's American Superbike
riders Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) and Josh
Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) are both in that group
and rank third and fourth, respectively, heading to Topeka. Bostrom, who
is third in the championship standings with 246 points, finished second
to Hayes in Race 2 at Mid-Ohio as Yamaha scored a rare one-two American
Superbike finish. It was Bostrom's fifth consecutive top-five showing
and eighth of the year and matched his season-best finish of second,
which he did for the first time in the Sunday final at Infineon.
Hayes dominated the Mid-Ohio weekend after becoming the first rider
other than Mladin this season to earn the top spot in Superpole
qualifying on Friday. He then won both of the weekend's races and
joins Mladin as 2009's only American Superbike repeat race winner with
three victories. Hayes first won this year when he broke both Mladin's
2009 win streak and Suzuki's multi-year lock on the American Superbike
division with a breakout victory in Race 1 at Infineon in May, where he
also led the most race laps. He heads to Heartland Park fourth in the
championship with 245 points, just one behind teammate Bostrom.
The year's only other American Superbike race winner is Larry Pegram
(No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R) who is fifth
in the American Superbike standings with 223 points. Pegram out-raced
Mladin and the rest of the field three races ago at Road America for his
first win in 10 years. The lone Ducati rider in American Superbike has
finished in the top five in six of the last seven races in a competitive
run that began with a third-place showing in the Saturday final at
Infineon. He cracked the podium for the first time this season with a
third-place finish in Race 2 at Auto Club Speedway.
Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) and his
Jordan Motorsports teammate Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki
GSX-R1000) rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the American
Superbike standings. May's best finishes were three third-place showings
within the year's first five races while Yates has posted back-to-back
third-place showings of his own in Race 2 at Road America and at Laguna
Seca. Yates has also given the Jordan team its top results of the year
with second-place finishes in the Sunday final at Barber and one event
ago at Mid-Ohio in Race 1 on Saturday.
A pair of top privateers completes the American Superbike top 10 but
one will miss this weekend's race at Topeka and the rest of the season.
David Anthony (No. 25 Aussie Dave Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000) remains 10th
in the championship despite missing both Mid-Ohio races after a spill in
Saturday's final qualifying. He is currently recovering from surgery to
repair a fractured femur. Taylor Knapp (No. 44 Taylor Knapp Racing Buell
1125RR) is ninth in the standings and his season has been anchored by
eight top-10 finishes, including the Sunday final at Mid-Ohio. In that
race Knapp debuted the Buell 1125RR and two more of the new machines
will be on track at Topeka in the hands of veteran Buell rider Shawn
Higbee (No. 11 Higbee-Racing.com Buell 1125RR) and Walt Sipp (No. 221
Walt Sipp Racing Buell 1125RR).
Honda has been competitive in American Superbike this year despite an
early season injury to top rider Neil Hodgson (No. 100 Corona Extra
Honda CBR1000RR). The former World Superbike Champion has recovered from
an early-season motocross training injury to score strong sixth-place
finishes in the recent races at Road America and Laguna Seca. The
finishes were Hodgson's best showings since taking second in the Daytona
opener and he has made just eight race starts this season. Jake Holden
(No. 59 Holden Racing Honda CBR1000RR) filled in capably for Hodgson
in the first part of the year and is continuing to fly Corona Extra
colors. His best result of the year was fifth in the Saturday final at
Auto Club, his first race subbing for Hodgson. Another rider to watch
in the Honda camp is Aaron Gobert (No. 96 AGR Inc. Honda CBR1000RR) who
is entered on his own Aaron Gobert Racing (AGR) Honda for the Tornado
Nationals.
Other riders to keep an eye on in Topeka include Road America Race 1
runner-up Michael Laverty (No. 8 Celtic Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000), Chris
Ulrich (No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Scott Jensen
(No. 61 Moto Garage Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000). A total of 31 American
Superbikes are entered for the Tornado Nationals.
Wide-Open Daytona SportBike
While Mladin and Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura have all but sealed the
American Superbike championships, the title battle in AMA Pro Daytona
SportBike presented by AMSOIL is closer than it has been all season.
Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) muscled his way
to a sweep of both races two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio and has moved to
within just 10 points of mid-season terror Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team
M4 Suzuki GSX-R600). Cardenas has 285 points and six wins while Eslick
has 275 markers and five wins to his credit. Also firmly in the mix is
Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) who is
far from out of it in third place with 241 championship points.
Just two events ago Cardenas was a full 50-points clear of the
competition, but a distant 36th place finish at Laguna Seca and rare
showing out of the top 10 in Race 1 at Mid-Ohio saw his lead dwindle.
The quick Colombian did rally, however, to finish third behind Eslick
and Hacking in the Sunday final at Mid-Ohio for a class-leading ninth
podium result of the year. That unmatched record includes four wins in
a row, which he did by sweeping both the Infineon and Barber weekends.
His victory in Race 1 at Road Atlanta was the first Daytona SportBike
victory of his career and he won most recently in the Sunday final at
Road America.
Eslick has also doubled up on weekend sweeps and first gave notice he
would be a challenger for the Daytona SportBike crown when he went
two-for-two at Auto Club Speedway in March. One event later at Road
Atlanta he answered the Saturday win by Cardenas with a victory of his
own in the Sunday final. In total, the young Oklahoma rider has finished
eighth or better in 12 of 14 races this year.
Although still looking for a 2009 win, Hacking may be one of the most
consistent riders in AMA Pro Road Racing. He has finished out of the
top five just six times in 14 races this season, out of the top-10
just twice and his best results have been five second-place showings,
including most recently in the Sunday final at Mid-Ohio. Hacking's
teammate Roger Hayden (No. 95 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja
ZX-6R) finished fifth in the same Mid-Ohio race for his best result
since posting a pair of seconds in the Saturday finals at Road Atlanta
and Road America.
The year's only other race winners are Bostrom, who has gone a perfect
two for two in Daytona SportBike cameos on his No. 1s Graves Motorsports
Yamaha YZF-R6, and Canadian rider Chris Peris (No. 10 Erion Racing Honda
CBR600RR). Bostrom won both the season-opening Daytona 200 and at Laguna
Seca in his only scheduled Daytona SportBike races of the season. Peris
won Race 1 in the rain at Road America and also has a third-place finish
at Road Atlanta to his credit.
Yamaha's fulltime Daytona SportBike riders are Josh Herrin (No. 8
Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) and Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha
YZF-R6). Herrin finished second to his Yamaha colleague Bostrom in
Daytona, earned another runner-up showing in Race 2 at Road Atlanta
and took his third second-place finish of the season in the Saturday
final one event ago at Mid-Ohio. Herrin is fourth in the championship
standings with 211 points and has also finished third in two of the
last six races, including Laguna Seca and the Sunday race at Infineon.
Aquino hit the podium for the first time this year at Mid-Ohio where he
finished third, one spot behind Herrin, on Saturday. He also crossed the
finish line just behind his teammate at Infineon and Laguna Seca for
then-season-best fourth-place finishes.
Peris is teammates with veteran Honda rider Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion
Racing Honda CBR600RR) who also factored into Erion's strong Road
America weekend with a season-high finish of second in the Sunday final.
It was Zemke's first podium finish of the season but he also showed
well at Mid-Ohio with his second fourth-place finish of the season on
Saturday. Zemke also did well to finish 10th on a back-up bike in Race 2
at Mid-Ohio after his primary mount failed to fire just minutes from the
race start.
Cardenas partners with the equally quick Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4
Suzuki GSX-R600) who has five podium finishes and a series-leading four
poles so far in 2009. DiSalvo finished third in the Daytona 200, Race
1 at Auto Club and three races ago in the Sunday final at Road America
in addition to season-high second-place finishes behind Cardenas in the
Saturday final at Barber and the Sunday race at Infineon. DiSalvo rounds
out the top five in the championship with 201 points.
Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia
RSV1000R) is the main Aprilia threat and scored a season-high finish
of second two races ago at Laguna Seca.The British rider also has
fourth-place showings at Barber and Infineon that have helped keep
the former Daytona 200 winner in the top-10 championship standings
all season. His fifth-place finish on Saturday at Mid-Ohio was his
fifth top-five result of the year. Steve Rapp (No. 48 Bazzaz/Pat Clark
Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) is another past Daytona 200 winner who is
hitting his stride after taking his first podium of the year at Infineon
with a third-place finish in the Saturday final. His next best results
have been four sixth-place finishes, including a run of three-straight
in the last three races.
Other Daytona SportBike riders to watch in the Tornado Nationals include
Eslick's teammate Michael Barnes (No. 34 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell
1125R), Knapp (No. 54 Latus Motors Racing Buell 1125R) and Melissa
Paris (No. 13 Markbilt Racing Yamaha YZF-R6). Barnes has a season-best
showing of fifth in the Sunday final at Barber, Knapp scored his third
fourth-place finish of 2009 one race ago on Sunday at Mid-Ohio and
Paris, who is married to factory Yamaha rider Hayes, is prepping for her
fourth event weekend of the season. A total of 51 Daytona SportBikes are
entered for the Tornado Nationals.
SuperSport Title Time
Sunday's AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei sprint is the final
combined East/West shootout of the season and it is a certainty that
one championship will be decided when the checkered flag drops. Topeka
is also the final points race of the year for riders contesting the
SuperSport West championship but they will be racing head-to-head with a
competitive crop of riders from the SuperSport East division.
Ricky Parker (No. 96 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) leads the SuperSport
West championship standings with 88 points despite missing the year's
first pair of races. In the last three rounds, however, Parker has
picked up two wins at Infineon and Laguna Seca, one second-place finish
and the West division championship lead. He can clinch the SuperSport
West title with at least a second place finish, regardless of who wins
the race, or any result that keeps his points lead in tact.
Parker is 14 points clear of nearest challenger Tyler Odom (No. 46
Erion Racing/Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals Honda CBR600RR), who won
Daytona's season-opening dual division race and led the championship
earlier in the year. Distant yet competitive threats for the West crown
include Clint Shobert (No. 26 American Honda/Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals
Honda CBR600RR) and Bryce Prince (No. 74 Clawson Motorsports/Arai/NJK
Leathers/Cycle Gear Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R). Shobert, the son of AMA Hall
of Famer Bubba Shobert, is third in the championship with 71 points and
has a season-best finish of third at Auto Club. Prince is fourth in the
championship with 70 points and, after missing the Daytona opener, has
four straight top-six finishes, including a season-best third at Laguna
Seca.
The SuperSport East division will also see its best riders battle
for the overall win and their own division points at Topeka. Riders
expected to be running at the front include Mid-Ohio winner and new
SuperSport East points leader Josh Day (No. 4 Kerker Racing Yamaha
YZF-R6), two-time race winner Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy
Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R), Barber SuperSport winner Garrett Carter
(No. 31 Ridersdiscount.com/Woodcraft Yamaha YZF-R6, Russ Wikle (No. 5
Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600) and Huntley Nash (No. 15 LTD Racing
Yamaha YZF-R6). A total of 21 SuperSport bikes were pre-entered for the
Topeka round.
SunTrust Moto-GT Returns
The AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT division makes a repeat visit to Topeka
after paving the way for AMA Pro Road Racing's return to Heartland Park
last August. That race was won by Higbee and Barnes on an RMR Buell
1125R, which is just one of the competitive motorcycles that will be in
the mix in Saturday's two-hour team race.
SunTrust Moto-GT - which has been renamed this year after debuting at
Topeka as SunTrust MOTO-ST - features two classes of bikes racing at the
same time for overall and class honors. The faster GT1 class is home
to a diverse line-up of motorcycles that includes the Buell and other
big-bore bikes from Aprilia, Triumph, Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki. The
slightly smaller GT2 class features bikes from Kawasaki, Buell, Suzuki
and Ducati.
Despite being one of just two winless teams in the top six, the No. 41
Liberty Waves Racing Buell 1125R of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo leads
the GT1 championship heading to Topeka. The Liberty Waves squad has
86 points but the rest of the top five in the championship are all
within seven points of the leaders. This competitive group includes the
No. 14 Crozier Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675 of Barber winners Mark
Crozier and Phil Caudill, the No. 37 Old Pros Racing Kawasaki Ninja
ZX-6R of Paul Schwemmer and Brett Ray, the Road Atlanta winning No. 69
TeamHurtByAccident.com Suzuki GSX-R600 of Rodolfo Ramirez and Armando
Ferrer and the No. 20 El Rey Beer for Kings Ducati 848 of Jeff Purk and
Calvin Martinez, which won the Daytona opener.
Other GT1 teams to watch include the Road America winning No. 70 James
Gang/Hoban Bros. Racing Buell 1125R of Paul James and Higbee, who will
defend his win and is entered in three different classes this weekend.
The new No. 13 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 of Dane Westby and Dustin
Meador won in the team's debut at Mid-Ohio one race ago and could be in
the hunt for two in a row at Topeka. The father and daughter pairing of
Mark Stiles and Meghan Stiles is also set for Topeka on the No. 46 Team
Stiles Yamaha YZF-R6. Meghan Stiles co-rode the Yamaha to a sixth-place
finish with fiance Scott Ryan at Road America but her father Mark is
expected to replace Ryan on the entry list at Topeka.
In the GT2 class, championship leaders Frank Shockley and Ryan Elleby
made history two races ago at Road America when they finished first
overall on the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE. It was
the first time a GT2 class bike beat the faster GT1 class machines and
Heartland Park could be the type of track where a similar upset could
take place. In addition to the Road America win, the No. 77 Ducshop
Ducati squad has a victory at Road Atlanta, seconds at Daytona, Barber
and Mid-Ohio and no finish below the top two all year. They are first in
the GT2 standings with 139 points.
Other 2009 GT2 winners and title contenders coming to Topeka include
the No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki EX650 of Hall of Fame rider Jay
Springsteen and Ryan that won at Daytona and the Barber winning No. 64
TeamHurtByAccident.com Ducati PS1000LE of veteran champion Jimmy Filice
and his son Justin Filice. The No. 9 team is second in the standings
with 115 points and the No. 64 group is third with 99 points.
-credit: ama
