AMA SuperStock - Spies wins SuperStock at Road Atlanta and 2007 title

AMA SuperStock: Spies claims race and 2007 title

(AMA Pro Racing Release) One done, one to go. Yoshimura Suzuki superstar Ben Spies locked up the 2007 AMA Superstock crown a round early this afternoon at Road Atlanta. Having previously earned the 2006 AMA Superbike and 2003 Formula Xtreme titles, and currently leading in his repeat Superbike championship bid, Spies is already one of the more decorated riders in the series history at just 23 years of age.

The Texan has utterly dominated the big-bore stock class this season, claiming seven wins in eight tries, and typically in lopsided fashion, despite his repeated admittance of devoting the lion’s share of his attention to his intense battle with rival Mat Mladin in the premier Superbike class.

While Spies scored yet another wire-to-wire victory on Sunday, this 15-lap affair wasn’t quite as much of a foregone conclusion as some of the season’s earlier contests. Graves Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom kept Spies honest over the race’s opening half and then Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates took over the duties chasing Spies from second on lap 10 of 15.

The Georgian managed to close in on Spies late and actually appeared to be a threat to steal the win away when the new class champ found himself balked in traffic on the penultimate lap. However, Yates had an even worse go, colliding with one of the slower riders while attempting to slice through, crashing out of what appeared to be a certain runner-up and possible victory.

“I wanted the title for sure, but I wanted to win pretty bad too,” Spies said. “I don’t know if it was Ben or Aaron behind me but whoever it was, they were keeping me honest. I tried to make no mistakes and get it done today.

“The bike worked really good. Those were some pretty consistent lap times. I didn’t know if my lap timer was broken or not. Ben and Aaron rode real good races.

“A title is a title. For me to win this without putting as much emphasis on it made it pretty tough. Now the team has to focus on Superbike.”

Bostrom inherited second and was joined on the podium by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May, who ran in fourth throughout the contest before Yates’ misfortune elevated him to third with just a lap-and-a-half to go.

Yates’ teammate, Jake Holden, pushed his GSX-R1000 home in fourth, followed by Yamaha Australia’s two-time Australian Superbike champion, Jamie Stauffer, who picked up a fine fifth in his first of two wild card ’07 AMA rides.

Matsushima Performance’s Blake Young finished a lonely sixth, followed by Red Devil Suzuki’s Gary Mason. HALOF Racing’s Scott Jensen (in special ‘Locks for Love’ pink livery) was eighth, with KWS Motorsports’ David Weber and Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich completing the top ten.

Prior to the race Spies indicated that if he in fact secured the crown this weekend in Road Atlanta, he’d consider competing in only the Superbike class at the Laguna Seca finale as that class’ title fight heads towards a dramatic conclusion. That potential opening should provide more than a little extra motivation for the likes of Yates, seeking a second class win this season, Bostrom, in search of his first this year, and May, still out for a career-first AMA win.