HACKING GETTING BACK INTO AMA SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE PICKERINGTON, Ohio (June 18, 2007) Never count out Jamie Hacking. After a spectacular crash in round two of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei in Birmingham, Ala., in April, Hacking’s Monster Energy Kawasaki lay in shambles. His title defense hopes appeared to be in the same sad state. Now, as the series moves to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, on June 24, Hacking has scratched and clawed his way back into championship contention. Hacking, the two-time and defending Supersport champ from Denver, N.C., has moved all the way up from 11th to third in the series standings in the last three rounds on the strength of a victory and two runner-up finishes. If he can repeat as Miller Supersport winner this coming weekend, he’ll move even closer to his goal of defending his 2006 crown. “I’m doing what I have to do to get back in this thing,” Hacking said after taking second in the most recent round at a wet Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., earlier this month. “I’m finishing ahead of the people I need to finish in front of. I’ve gained some very valuable points in the last couple of rounds and hopefully I can go to Utah and keep chipping away at it.” Hacking is second on the all-time AMA Supersport wins list with 20-career victories. He’ll be aiming for win number 21 at Miller. Josh Hayes leads the standings coming into the race. The Gulfport, Miss, native who rides for Erion Honda, has brought Honda back into prominence in the Supersport class. He is the only rider in the class to have more than one win so far this year. Hayes has an 11-point lead over Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden and is 25 points clear of the surging Hacking. “I know the Kawasaki boys are going to be tough in the second half of the season,” Hayes said. “But Honda has given me a great motorcycle this year and we’re going to give it our best to hold on to this series lead. There’s so much racing left. I’m going to have to keep going out there and trying for the win every weekend.” Roger Hayden won the opening round in Daytona Beach, but has been chasing Hayes ever since. “The second half of the season’s going to get real exciting,” said Hayden, who has twice finished runner up in the Supersport class. “I know we’re going to pull out all the stops to see if we can catch Josh. This championship will probably go down to the final race.” Erion Honda’s second rider Aaron Gobert won at Road America, becoming the fourth rider to win in five races. Two DNFs have hurt Gobert’s championship hope for this year but the likable Australian hopes to keep his name in the headlines by continuing to win. Year after year the Supersport class provides some of the most competitive racing in the AMA’s road racing championships. This year is no exception. Beside the series leaders other riders such as Attack Performance Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp and Ben Attard, as well as M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May and Martin Cardenas, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Celtic Racing’s Chaz Davies, are all considered potential race winners. The Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei event is part of Miller Motorsports Park’s Honda Summit of Speed doubleheader round on June 22-24. Tickets are available for the event via Ticketmaster. You can also visit www.millermotorsports.com for additional ticket and schedule information. The Miller Supersport race will be telecast on SPEED on Tuesday, June 26 at 2:00 pm Eastern.