Mladin looks to clinch at VIR

From AMA Pro Racing

ALTON, VA - The 10th Anniversary Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals will feature all four of AMA Pro Road Racing's divisions in a jam-packed schedule highlighted by six different races this weekend at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).

At least two 2009 titles could be decided and several more championship scenarios could begin taking final shape at the Big Kahuna, the next to last event on the 2009 schedule for AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike and the East division of AMA Pro SuperSport. The three-day event also includes a two-hour AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT event to kick off the weekend's racing schedule on Saturday at 11 a.m.

A decade ago, the Big Kahuna was the first event to feature a dual-final American Superbike race format that has now become the standard at the majority of AMA Pro Road Racing event weekends. Even better, most AMA Pro Road Racing weekends feature dual finals for not only American Superbike but the Daytona SportBike division as well. The rider in either division earning the most total event points at VIR this weekend will be crowned the 2009 Big Kahuna at the conclusion of the event on Sunday.

Championship points leader Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) is a likely lock to win the 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike title and he could do just that at VIR. The tough 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 winning all but six races and capturing seven of nine pole positions. 

Mladin - who announced his retirement on the same weekend he opted not to race at Heartland Park Topeka two weeks ago - 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 comfortable 83-point championship lead, 390 - 307, over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate and nearest challenger Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) and could seal a record-extending seventh AMA Pro American Superbike title as early as the Saturday final if he beats Hayden by more than 11 points. Mladin's No. 7 Suzuki GSX-R1000 winning mount would also give the Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura team the 2009 American Superbike Team Championship while Suzuki would all but seal the class Manufacturer Championship if Mladin turns in a championship-clinching run this 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 finished in the top three in half of the year's 16 races. Young has overcome severe injuries to his left pinkie and ring finger in a Sunday final accident at Barber Motorsports Park to remain a threat for his first American Superbike win at every race. His best run of the year came in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 4 weekend where he led the most laps for the first time this season before finishing second to Mladin.

Larry Pegram (No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R) dominated the Tornado Nationals at Heartland Park and led every lap in both finals from the Superpole for the biggest weekend of his American Superbike career. Earlier this season, Pegram out-raced Mladin and the rest of the field at Road America for his first win in 10 years. His stellar weekend in Topeka saw him jump from fifth to third in the championship standings with 286 points. 

Along with Hayden and Pegram, 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 Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) and Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, heading to the Big Kahuna.

Hayes joins Pegram as a three time 2009 winner and, like the Ducati rider, turned in a dominating weekend sweep of his own two events ago at Mid-Ohio. Hayes also put a stop to Mladin's 2009 race win streak, and Suzuki's multi-year lock on the American Superbike division, with a breakout victory in Race 1 at Infineon in May. He heads to VIR fourth in the championship standings with 281 points.

Bostrom earned his second straight runner-up finish in the Saturday final at Topeka one race after following Hayes across the finish line in Race 2 at Mid-Ohio. Bostrom was riding a streak of six consecutive top-five showings after the first Topeka final only to retire with mechanical problems late in Race 2 the next day. He is fifth in the championship with 273 points.

Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) and his Jordan Motorsports teammate Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the American Superbike standings. Both riders are looking to rebound at the Big Kahuna after each walked away from separate Turn 8 lowside incidents in the Sunday final at Topeka.

Two riders coming off career-best American Superbike weekends complete the top 10 championship standings. Jake Holden (No. 59 Holden Racing Honda CBR1000RR) has been racing his own Honda under Corona Extra colors at the last few events and scored a career-high fourth place finish in the Sunday final at Topeka. He is 10th in the championship standings, one spot behind Taylor Knapp (No. 44 Taylor Knapp Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000), who Holden led across the finish line on Sunday at Topeka. Knapp's fifth-place Kansas finish was the best of his career.

Holden first returned to the Corona Extra team when he filled in capably for Neil Hodgson (No. 100 Corona Extra Honda CBR1000RR) earlier in the season. Hodgson has recovered from a post-Daytona motocross training injury to score sixth-place finishes at Laguna Seca and in the Sunday finals at Topeka and Road America.

Other riders to keep an eye on at VIR 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 32 American Superbikes are entered for the Big Kahuna.

While Mladin, Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura and Suzuki have all but sealed the American Superbike championships, the title battles in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike have never been closer. Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) scored a class-leading seventh win of the season on Sunday at Topeka a day after chief championship rival Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) won his sixth race of the year in the Saturday final. The duo and their teams are now tied at 318 points in both the Daytona SportBike Rider and Team championships with just the Big Kahuna and one more double-header weekend of racing left this season.

Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) is third in the championship with 261 points on the strength of a recent run of three second-place finishes in the last four races, including both Topeka finals. Herrin's teammate Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) hit the podium for the first time this year at Mid-Ohio, finishing one spot behind Herrin on Saturday, and backed it up with another third in Race 1 at Topeka.

Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) is fourth in the championship with 241 points. 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.

Joining Cardenas and Eslick as 2009 race winners are Bostrom, who has gone a perfect two for two in Daytona SportBike cameos on his No. 1s Team Graves 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.

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 year on Saturday.

Cardenas partners with the equally quick Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) who has five podium finishes and a series-leading five poles so far in 2009. DiSalvo rounds out the top five in the championship with 235 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 at Laguna Seca. His fourth-place finish on Saturday at Topeka was his sixth top-five result of the year. Steve Rapp (No. 48 Bazzaz/Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) is another past Daytona 200 winner who has turned in some solid performances this season.

Other Daytona SportBike riders to watch at the Big Kahuna 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). A total of 54 Daytona SportBikes are entered for the Big Kahuna.

Ricky Parker (No. 96 RPR Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) clinched the AMA Pro SuperSport West division championship one race ago at Topeka and another young rider could take a major step toward a title of his own in Sunday's East division race. Josh Day (No. 4 Team E.S.P. Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) extended his SuperSport East points lead with his second-consecutive victory at the Tornado Nationals and a third-straight win this weekend would seal the crown one race before the end of the season.

Day's apparent run to the title received a big boost when fellow two-time race winner and former SuperSport East points leader Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) missed the Topeka event. Day's 45-point lead over Mercado, 126-81, equates to more than a full-race lead and guarantees he will leave the Big Kahuna on top of the standings even if he fails to clinch the crown. Even if Mercado scores all 32 available points at VIR, Day only needs to finish third or better to leave Virginia with the East title.

While AMA Pro SuperSport is AMA Pro Road Racing's designated proving ground for young rider talent, the youth movement is also alive and well in AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. Two new pairings of riders in their teens or early 20s have swept the last two SunTrust Moto-GT races in both classes.

The No. 13 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 of Dane Westby and Dustin Meador won in its debut at Mid-Ohio and was victorious again one race later in Topeka. While Westby and Meador were shaking things up overall and in GT1, the teenage duo of Huntley Nash and Corey Rech also seemingly came out of nowhere to win its first two races at Mid-Ohio and Topeka in the GT2 class. Riding for Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati, the new teammates won on the No. 38 Ducati PS1000LE in Ohio before being asked to step up to the GT2 class leading No. 77 Ducati PS1000LE at Topeka.

The No. 14 Crozier Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675 and lead rider Mark Crozier finished second to Westby Racing in each of the last two races in addition to winning at Barber in May. The No. 14, which has seen both Phil Caudill and Dave Estok share the bike with Crozier this year, took the championship lead for the first time after Topeka with 109 points. That is just five points clear of the No. 41 Liberty Waves Racing Buell 1125R of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo and only nine markers ahead of the No. 69 TeamHurtByAccident.com Suzuki GSX-R600 and lead rider Rodolfo Ramirez, who has shared the bike this year with both Armando Ferrer and Santiago Villa.

Regardless of who is riding it, the GT2 class is all about the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE. The bike has the distinction of having the best finishing record in AMA Pro Road Racing with three wins and three second-place finishes in six starts this season. While Rech and Nash rode the No. 77 to its most recent win, Frank Shockley and Ryan Elleby scored the other victories at Road Atlanta and Road America.

The action begins with practice, qualifying and Superpole qualifying on Friday and continues straight into the weekend with three races each day on Saturday and Sunday. The SunTrust Moto-GT enduro on Saturday will be followed by the first finals for American Superbike at 3 p.m. and Daytona SportBike at 4:10 p.m. Sunday will see Daytona SportBike roll off first at 2 p.m., SuperSport following at 3:10 p.m. and American Superbike closing the weekend at 4:20 p.m.

The American Superbike and Daytona SportBike races are each 23 laps for 50 miles on the 2.25-mile VIR circuit while the SuperSport race is an 18-lap distance for 40 miles.

The Big Kahuna 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 8 p.m. ET (5 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).