From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

SPIES BACK ON TOP OF AMA LOCKHART PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME SERIES COMING INTO MID-OHIO

AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – The AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series has been a back-and-forth battle all season with three different riders trading the lead in the standings. Texan Ben Spies, 19, has worked his way back atop the championship as the series comes to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, July 12 for round eight of the 10. Spies hopes to get another winning streak underway during the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop, the finale of Mid-Ohio’s Cycle-Fest, which also features the AMA Road Race Grand Championships and AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days.

Spies and his Yoshimura Suzuki looked to be the combo to beat early in the season. The first-year factory rider easily won the first two rounds and opened up a solid lead in the series. But no one seems to want to keep hold of the Formula Xtreme lead. A crash on a wet Road Atlanta circuit cost Spies the series lead. From that point Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke took over the series lead. Zemke, who actually tied last year’s champ Jason Pridmore in the championship and lost in a tiebreaker, appeared to have control of the series until he uncharacteristically crashed at Road America. It was then Graves Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster, a perennial contender for the Formula Xtreme title and last year’s Mid-Ohio winner, who took over the point in the series. But even the Aussie racing veteran Buckmaster found the Formula Xtreme lead a slippery proposition to hold on to. Buckmaster jumped the start of the last round in Monterey, Calif., and was forced to take a stop-and-go penalty. He minimized his losses by coming back to finish eighth in that race, yet he too lost the series lead, which was recaptured by Laguna Seca winner Spies.

Spies returns to Mid-Ohio, the track where he raced his first race as a professional when he turned 16 back in 2000. Just days before his pro debut he was named AMA Horizon Award winner at Mid-Ohio that year, signifying him as the nation’s leading amateur rider.

With just three rounds remaining, the Formula Xtreme Series should be heating up. The top five riders in the series are very much in the thick of the championship. Spies leads Buckmaster by just seven points and following closely behind are Attack Suzuki’s Josh Hayes, Erion Honda’s Zemke and Corona Extra Suzuki’s Adam Fergusson.


Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series

The competition is even hotter in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series. Two points separate series leader Josh Hayes from third place Vincent Haskovec with former Mid-Ohio Superstock winner Tommy Hayden in between in second. Hayes has gotten stronger as the season’s progressed and took over the lead after winning the last round at Laguna Seca on his Attack Suzuki. It marked his first Superstock victory in four years. Tommy Hayden is trying to become the first rider on a machine smaller than 750ccs to win the Superstock championship. So far Hayden has three victories under his belt on the nimble-handling factory Kawasaki ZX636. Hayden could be the pre-race favorite. He won the Mid-Ohio Superstock race in 1999 on a 600cc machine. Valvoline Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich is the defending winner of the race. Ulrich comes into Mid-Ohio ranked 12th in the series and is nursing a sore shoulder.


MBNA 250 Grand Prix Series

Pressure is mounting for Rich Oliver in the MBNA 250 Grand Prix Series. It’s not the championship that he’s concerned with, he almost has that clinched, it’s the fact that Oliver is just three races away from completing a perfect season that might be causing the veteran some sleepless nights as of late. Oliver is the defending and six-time Mid-Ohio 250GP winner. He is working toward his fifth title in the class. This could be the final chance for Mid-Ohio fans to get to see Oliver race. He has suggested he may be hanging up his racing leathers after this season.


From a press release issued by Mid-Ohio:

MID-OHIO STOP CRUCIAL TO SUPERBIKE STANDINGS

DUBLIN, Ohio – With just three events left on the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) U.S. Superbike Tour, championship points are as scarce as ever. Hosting a Wiseco Superbike 100 doubleheader as well as Supersport, Superstock, 250 Grand Prix and Formula Xtreme races, the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire will determine the fate of a number of racers at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, July 25-27.

Mid-Ohio will host rounds 13 and 14 of the 18-round AMA U.S. Superbike Tour, and if the first 12 event are any indication, the competition will be fierce throughout the weekend. Just 36 points separate first through fifth place positions and a scant 6 points separate leader Mat Mladin from Eric Bostrom, his closest competitor.

Mladin, a three-time U.S. Superbike champion, has managed to take the checkered flag in 7 races thus far. Those seven races make up the bulk of the Australian’s 356 championship points, with no other top-5 finishes in the 2003 season.

“(I) Can’t wait to get to Mid-Ohio,” said Mladin. “We got the points lead back which was good and we’re now looking forward to the double-header weekend there. We need to try and win a couple more races and work on increasing that points gap.”

Eric Bostrom, the series’ most consistent rider in 2003 with 12 top-5 finishes and wins at Pikes Peak and Road America, has had success at Mid-Ohio before. Bostrom capitalized on a fast start in last year’s first Wiseco Superbike 100 to hang on for the win, and is hoping for more of the same at this year’s event.

Third-place Aaron Yates is searching for his first AMA Superbike title after capturing the Supersport class crown in 2002, and a pair of wins at Mid-Ohio would help that goal tremendously.

“This is something I’ve been working towards my whole career,” said Yates, whose best finish in AMA Superbike was third in 2000. “Mid-Ohio is a track I like a lot and if I could manage another sweep of the doubleheader there like I did in 2000 then I have a good chance of leaving with the series lead.”

Three Honda riders remain very much in the hunt at fourth, fifth and sixth place in the points chase. Miguel Duhamel, whose season was slowed early in the year with a broken collarbone following a spill at Infineon Raceway, lies in sixth place. Duhamel started the year with a win in the prestigious Daytona 200 before the accident, and comes to Mid-Ohio with seven career wins on the 2.4-mile circuit.

Ben Bostrom is a former AMA Superbike champion who has returned from competition in World Superbike to compete for the U.S. title for Honda in 2003. With 320 points and ten top-10 finishes, a win or two at Mid-Ohio would vault the elder Bostrom brother back into the thick of the championship fight as well.

The Honda rider with perhaps the most to prove is Kurtis Roberts. Roberts, still searching for that elusive first career Superbike win, currently sits in fourth place and is climbing in the standings. Roberts has won at Mid-Ohio before, on a Formula Xtreme bike in 2000 and in the 1998 250 Grand Prix race.

Many of the support series championships could be influenced at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire as well. With four wins this season, including a recent win at Leguna Seca, Jamie Hacking leads the AMA Supersport class with 252 points. Teammate Damon Buckmaster is looking for his first win of the 2003 season and a way to inch closer to Hacking in the standings.

The Superstock class provides the closest action at the top of the championship, with just two points separating leader Josh Hayes and third-place Vincent Haskovec. Tommy Hayden, brother of 2002 AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden, sits just between the two riders with three wins this season. Hayden won the 1999 Superstock race (then called 750 SuperSport) at Mid-Ohio. Steve Rapp, who has won two of the last three races, is trying to climb back into the hunt after missing three early-season races.

The battle in the final season of 250 Grand Prix competition is only for second place, as Rich Oliver has captured all 8 races run so far in 2003 and can mathematically clinch the championship this weekend at Mid-Ohio. The only question remaining is whether the four-time 250 GP champion can sweep the entire season.

19-year-old Texan Ben Spies is currently on top of what has been a back-and-forth battle for the Formula Xtreme championship after a win at Laguna Seca propelled the youngster to a seven point lead over Damon Buckmaster, last year’s Formula Xtreme winner at Mid-Ohio. The battle is far from a two-man race, however, with Josh Hayes, Jake Zemke and Adam Fergusson all within striking distance of the championship.

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located approximately halfway between Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio off of Interstate 71. Commonly referred to as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.”, Mid-Ohio hosts six events throughout the summer, beginning with the Sprint Vintage Grand Prix and including the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire and the Valvoline Runoffs®, September 15-21. For event information and tickets, call 1-800-MID-OHIO or visit www.midohio.com.