FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: For me, and anyone who saw it in person, one incredible memory from Road Atlanta has to be Mat Mladin coming down off of Turn 9 and having a rear tire explode at 100+ mph, keeping it upright all the way through the Turn 10A gravel trap to less than 15 mph, and then getting back on it to plow across the width of the gravel trap on the rear rim in an attempt to get back to the pits and possibly salvage some points. He was so focused on trying to salvage something out of an near death situation, he didn’t even notice the bike’s controls were so badly damaged he couldn’t hope for repairs in time, and he finally dumped the bike beside the track in disgust before walking under the bridge and down the hill to pit road, with nary a hand from any of the track personnel. If the old Gravity Cavity configuration had still been in play, he would have been toast. John Cone Marion, North Carolina