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AMA Pro Racing
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Laguna Seca can be seen Sunday, July 5 at 9:00pm PT (late Sunday/early Monday, July 6 at Midnight ET).
Highlighted by back-to-back races for AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited and AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL that will cap three full days of action at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, AMA Pro Road Racing will share the world-stage spotlight this weekend with MotoGP at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, July 3 - 5.
A pair of 23-lap/50-mile sprints for AMA Pro Road Racing's top divisions will follow Sunday's MotoGP main. The Daytona SportBike race is scheduled to go off at 3:30 p.m. local time and will be immediately followed by the American Superbike race that will be the finale of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend at 4:15 p.m. Also on the card is a sprint for the West division riders of the AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei class. That 18-lap/40-mile race is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The AMA Pro Road Racing action from the 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway circuit can be seen in same-day coverage on SPEED on Sunday, July 5 at 9 p.m. PT (late Sunday/early Monday, July 6 at Midnight ET).
American Superbike points leader Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) remains the rider to beat heading to California and took just his second loss of the season one race ago at Road America. Mladin has amassed an AMA Pro Road Racing series-leading total of nine wins so far in 2009, including a streak of seven in a row to open the season. Mladin is also six-for-six in qualifying for the pole and leads the American Superbike class in every possible statistical category. He has a monstrous 110-point championship lead, 325 - 215, over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate and nearest challenger Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000).
Hayden will be racing on the same event weekend as his younger brothers Nicky Hayden and Roger Hayden for the first time in 2009, but his focus will likely be firmly set on scoring his first career American Superbike victory. He has hit the podium in six of the year's first 11 races and also led the most laps in Race 1 at Auto Club Speedway in March before finishing second to Mladin.
Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) is the third Yoshimura Suzuki rider and shook off severe injuries to his left pinkie and ring finger in an accident at Barber Motorsports Park to finish fifth in his first race back at Road America. His season-best results came in the last two races before his incident and included seconds in Race 1 at Barber, the day before his spill, and the Sunday finale at Road Atlanta in early April.
