For the first time since 2008, the AMA Pro Racing series will be returning to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, for the third round of the 2011 racing season. The AMA riders haven’t been at Miller for two seasons, but they did get a chance to test out the track last month.
Josh Hayes, who currently holds on to a narrow lead at the top of the points standings, was the fastest rider around the Miller Motorsports track during the testing session. Hayes is also coming off a solid weekend at Infineon, where he took home a race win and a second place finish.
Tommy Hayden also took a win at Infineon. Hayden has only 6 points separating himself from the top of the leader-board and could dethrone Hayes this weekend.
“We want to keep the momentum going,” Hayden said. “We’ve got a great bike this year, I’m feeling good, and we’re just trying to make the most of it.”
Hayden’s teammate, Blake Young, is just another two points behind. Young won both races at Daytona this year, and took 3rd and 4th at Infineon. Young was the only rider, besides Hayes, to lap under 1’51 during the MMP test and should be riding at the front this weekend.
The top three riders have a solid gap in terms of points at the moment, but riders like Martin Cardenas, Larry Pegram, and Ben Bostrom will also be challenging for podium spots this weekend.
In the Daytona Sportbike class, Jason DiSalvo is making himself out to be the clear leader for 2011. DiSalvo has won every race so far this season and leads the series by 37 points. But DiSalvo hasn’t been as dominant as his record suggests. Josh Herrin, Danny Eslick, and Jake Holden have all been giving the Latus Ducati rider a lot of pressure.
Fans at Miller this weekend will get to see all the great racing that the AMA has to offer, but they’ll also see some international riders take to the track. The World Superbike series will be at Miller this weekend for the 5th round of the 2011 WSBK Season.
The racing action will begin on Saturday, with the races taking place on Monday.
