FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 27, 2008)  -- A recap of this past weekend's races:

AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY PARTS UNLIMITED 
 
Spies Snaps Mladin's Win Streak
In round four of the AMA's premier road race series, held on Saturday, defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies snapped Mat Mladin's three-race winning streak on Auto Club Speedway's 2.36-mile, 21-turn road course.
 
Starting from pole position, Spies, a 23-year-old Texan, muscled by his teammate, a six-time class champion from Australia, on lap 13 of 28 and sped off to a 20-second lead for his first win of the season.
 
Third place was decided in a heated battle. Riding another factory Suzuki Superbike, Tommy Hayden took the final podium spot, besting Honda-mounted Neil Hodgson, a former World Superbike Champion from the U.K. Eric Bostrom placed fifth on a the Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1.

On Sunday, in the closest finish ever in AMA Superbike racing history at Auto Club Speedway, Spies beat Mladin by 11/1000 of a second in round five of the AMA Superbike Championship series.
 
Maintaining second place for 27 rounds of the 28-lap race, the defending AMA Superbike Champion charged from a 3.9-second deficit and used a slipstream pass coming down the front straightaway to pass Mladin at the line in a photo finish.
 
Tommy Hayden stepped up on the podium in third, making this three times in a row that the Rockstar Makita Suzuki trio populated the Superbike podium. Honda Racing's Neil Hodgson, a former World Superbike Champion, and Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jason DiSalvo rounded out the top five.


AMA PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY SHOEI

Bostrom and Zemke Take it to the Flag
Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Ben Bostrom secured his second victory of the season by just 0.079 seconds over Erion Honda's Jake Zemke.
 
Bostrom passed Zemke as they began the final lap, getting onto the banking with enough steam to prevent Zemke from drafting past at the flag as Ben Spies did to Mat Mladin in the day's earlier Superbike race.
 
Bostrom's teammate, pole sitter Josh Herrin, laid down the fastest race lap, but the 17-year-old took himself out of contention for the win when he ran his YZF-R6 wide in a corner on lap 12 while going for the lead. He nearly got back into the fight but made the same mistake again on lap 14, relegating him to third.
 
While Bostrom kept Yamaha's perfect season win streak alive, Zemke proved that the blue bikes aren't invincible, pushing Bostrom to the checkered flag and stopping Yamaha from scoring a 1-2 in the class for the first time in qualifying or a race in 2008.
 
Zemke's teammate, Josh Hayes, took fourth after emerging from a multi-rider dogfight for the position and Team M4 EMGO Suzuki's Cory West just beat MPT Racing's Danny Eslick to the flag for fifth.

  
AMA FORMULA XTREME
 
Zemke Wins a Thriller
Erion Honda's Jake Zemke won another dramatic clash during the second race of his full-time return to the Formula Xtreme class.

When the green light flashed, pole-sitter Zemke and his teammate, reigning two-time class king Josh Hayes, put on a heated battle for the lead.

While the two had looked evenly matched at Daytona International Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park, they hadn't carried a dogfight to the finish line until today-and the result was spectacular.
 
The Honda-mounted duo traded several heart-stopping passes throughout the 17-lap race, with Zemke controlling the pace from the front. Hayes stayed close to the tail of Zemke's CBR600RR for the final several laps, waiting for a chance to strike.

As they entered the banking for the final time, the Hayes got a terrific drive and leapt alongside Zemke as they charged to the checkered flag. Zemke held his position on the lower side of the track and just held on by a scant 0.013 seconds to claim the win.
 
LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team's Larry Pegram hung tight and was close enough to witness the brawl for the lead before lapped riders slowed his chance for a win. Attack Kawasaki's Steve Rapp picked up a lonely fourth with his teammate, Chaz Davies, rounding out the top five.
 
 
AMA SUPERSTOCK SERIES PRESENTED BY DYNOJET
 
Holden Wins Honda's First AMA Superstock Race
Corona Honda Racing's Jake Holden claimed the second victory of his AMA career following a 17-lap thriller that came down to a dramatic final lap.
 
Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Robertino Pietri led most of the race's opening 13 laps, the Venezuelan pushing hard at the front of a five-rider pack that also included Michael Jordan Motor Sports - Suzuki's Aaron Yates, Holden, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki's Blake Young, and Jason Pridmore.
 
Holden and Yates made their move on lap 14, slicing past Pietri in successive corners. On the last lap, Holden saw Yates, his former Jordan Suzuki teammate, pull beside him on the brakes at the end of the back straight, but the Honda rider immediately struck back, storming into the lead and holding off Yates' advances to win by 0.174 seconds at the checkered flag.
 
With hard riding and great race craft, the Corona-sponsored rider took the new CBR1000RR to the top of the podium, a first for Honda.Young took third while the impressive Pietri grabbed fourth, followed by Pridmore.