Ben Spies completed a sweep of the Suzuki Superbike Challenge Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California, with an incredibly close, come-from-behind victory over his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin. Mladin took the holeshot and led the first 27 laps, by as much as four seconds at one point, but Spies charged through the final portion of the race, chipped away at Mladin’s advantage, got a great drive out of the last corner and beat Mladin to the line by inches to take his second win of the weekend and the 20th win of his career. Tommy Hayden gave Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki another sweep of the podium by finishing third, 31 seconds behind his teammates. It was Hayden’s fourth consecutive third-place finish. A total of 18 riders started Sunday’s Superbike race, and only 12 finished the 28-lap race. Among the riders who did not finish, Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates crashed while running third in the opening laps, rode back to the pits for repairs, returned to the race to collect more data and then crashed a second and final time. He was not injured. American Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel retired with engine problems before the halfway point. AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California April 27, 2008 Provisional Race Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 28 laps 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -0.011-second 3. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -31.328 seconds 4. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -34.392 5. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -37.523 6. Eric Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -46.212 7. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-10R), Dunlop, -67.094 8. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, -1 lap * 9. Matt Lynn (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -1 lap, 27.793 seconds 10. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -2 laps 11. Tim Knutson (Suz GSX-R1000), -2 laps, 8.686 seconds 12. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), Dunlop, -3 laps 13. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -18 laps, DNF, retired 14. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -19 laps, DNF, crash 15. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, -22 laps, DNF, retired * 16. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -24 laps, DNF * 17. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, -27 laps, DNF * 18. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, DNS * 19. Jeremy Toye (Hon CBR1000RR), Dunlop, DNS * 20. Hawk Mazzotta (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli, DNS * 21. Chris Peris (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, DNS * * = known to be riding a Superstock-spec motorcycle Provisional Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 19 races): 1. Mladin, 178 points 2. Spies, 158 3. Tommy Hayden, 143 4. DiSalvo, 137 5. Hodgson, 130 6. Hacking, 112 7. Bostrom, 106 8. Lynn, 95 9. Duhamel, 91 10. Jensen, 89 More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Rockstar Makita Suzuki Sweeps Second Auto Club Speedway Superbike Race Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Spies, Mladin & Hayden do it again! Round 5 AMA Superbike Series Fontana, California Auto Club Speedway April 25 – 27, 2008 Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing dominated the Suzuki-sponsored double-header AMA Superbike weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, by sweeping the AMA Superbike podium on Saturday’s and Sunday’s races. Just like in Saturday’s race, defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies took the win on Sunday and was followed home by Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin in second and Tommy Hayden in third. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin actually led most of the laps in Sunday’s race but Spies passed him on the last lap as the two crossed the start-finish line to get the win. Hayden got a better start in Sunday’s race, and worked his way into third position to take the final spot on the podium. This is the third-consecutive AMA Superbike podium sweep for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki squad. Ben Spies: “This is one of the toughest races I’ve ever been in. I just couldn’t make any headway. It’s a little easier when you have someone in front of you because you can chase. But certainly the race didn’t go the way I would have planned. I was about to be content with second place when I saw Mat run wide. So I put my head down and kept pushing and pushing. I almost gave up with about 15 laps to go but I knew I needed to get as many points as possible. I think for the last 10 laps or so, I was just out of control. Mat definitely made me work for it. I can’t believe how fast we were going we had nothing left at the end of the race, we were pushing the whole time. These two AMA Superbike podium sweeps speak for how good the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team is.” Mat Mladin: “We had a completely different Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 today than we did yesterday and it was a good race for us. We pretty much led all of it but at the end, we just didn’t have it. I made a few small mistakes and gave back a little time that proved costly at the end. I did what I could but just couldn’t hang on.” Tommy Hayden: “I got a much better start on my Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 today than on Saturday. And thanks to my crew for making some changes to the bike that made my race easier and helped me keep a better pace. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew gave ma a great motorcycle for the weekend overall and an even better bike for today. Now we have some momentum on our side, and we’ll keep plugging away and hopefully get a little closer to my teammates. I’m just happy to do my part in the Rockstar Makita Suzuki one-two-three sweep — the way it should be.”