Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich introduced several representatives of the Kansas media to AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike racing with rides on his two-seat GSX-R1000 racebike during a special media day Monday, June 29 at Heartland Park Topeka, in Topeka, Kansas. Ulrich and his team attended the event at the invitation of Heartland Park Topeka, which has not hosted an AMA Pro road race in 18 years and sought to promote its Tornado Nationals (scheduled for July 31 August 2) by educating and exciting — local general interest reporters with 150-mph rides around the 2.5-mile road course. And from listening to the reporters who rode with Ulrich, the event was a complete success. “It was absolutely unlike anything I’ve experienced before, that’s for sure. The sheer speed was something I will never forget,” said Mark Boyle, a reporter with Channel 6 News in Lawrence, Kansas. Boyle hosts a weekly segment called ‘Mark’s On The Move.’ “As part of this segment I’ve done everything from learn how to fly a plane to all kinds of different stuff, and this was definitely a first for me. I’ve done some crazy things with the segment, but this tops everything by far.” “I just had the thrill ride of a lifetime. It was pretty intense,” said 27 News KSNT/FOX 43 sport reporter Alex Weibel. “What you see on TV, basically, is what you get. I got to lean the same way and see how close I was to the ground. You’re seconds from disaster but at the same time Chris was in complete control. I think it’s pretty amazing how these guys, 30 or 40 riders out there at the same time, are less than inches apart, putting their lives on the line. I know what it’s like from their perspective now and can give them a lot more respect than what you would normally think about before going to cover [the races]. We’re going to make sure we get out here for sure.” “I thought it was wild,” said Morgan Lillich, an on-air personality with news/sports/talk radio station WIBW 580 AM. “I loved it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think, but I was excited to do it from the get-go. Once I got on the bike and it took off, I thought, ‘Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun.’ So I gripped down and held on. After going around a little bit I started to get the feel for how to lean in the turns and all of that. So I felt comfortable, then he must have picked up speed because he realized I was comfortable with it. I wish I knew how fast we went. I never looked at the speedometer. I was having too much fun riding the bike. It was wild looking down as we were going through the curves realizing we were just a few inches from the ground. I was thinking, ‘My head’s about a foot from this curb.'” Other riders included: KTKA 49 ABC Sports Director Nic Hoch, 27 News KSNT/FOX 43 Sports Director Johnny Kane and WIBW 580 AM sports talk show host Mark Elliot. Other media members attending the event included: WIBW Channel 13 (CBS) sports reporter Rick Flesberg and Kevin Haskin and Rick Peterson from the Topeka Capital-Journal daily newspaper. The event and rides received coverage in segments during Monday evening newscasts on KTKA (ABC), KSNT (FOX) and WIBW (CBS), and most media outlets said they would air additional coverage closer to the time of the AMA event and send cameras and reporters to cover the races. See KSNT’s coverage of the event here: ~http://www.ksnt.com/content/sports/story/Ride-of-a-lifetime/SyXSgPRWtEGJb4eNohJ7Nw.cspx~ See KTKA’s coverage of the event here: ~http://www.ktka.com/news/2009/jun/29/ama_superbikes_coming_heartland_park_topeka_late_j/~ See WIBW’s coverage of the event here: ~http://www.wibw.com/sports~ See the Topeka Capital-Journal’s coverage of the event here: ~http://www.cjonline.com/sports/auto_racing/2009-06-30/column_sportbikes_bring_racer_back_to_hpt~