TOPEKA, Kan. (August 2, 2009) - In AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei action, one champion was crowned and another rider took a giant step toward clinching a title of his own with a convincing victory in Sunday's 16-lap final at Heartland Park Topeka.
 
Josh Day (No. 4 Kerker Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) led every lap from the pole for his second straight SuperSport victory.  He crossed the finish line a comfortable 18.553 seconds ahead of runner up Dustin Dominguez (No. 44 House of Kawasaki/Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) and J.D. Beach (No. 73 Honda/Red Bull Honda CBR600RR) finished third.
 
Day has increased his SuperSport East championship lead to 126 points with two races remaining on the 2009 schedule.  His title bid was given a boost in Topeka when nearest challenger Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was unable to participate in the Tornado Nationals.  Mercado is second in the East standings with 81 points.  Russ Wikle (No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600), who finished fifth Sunday, is third with 79 points.
 
"It was a really good weekend," Day said.  "It's been one of those picture-perfect weekends for us.  The track was a little demanding today.  I just kept my head down and ended up with a win.  It's really a shame Leandro hasn't been here.  I know he'd be up front battling with us all but I'm sure he'll be back at VIR so that race should be really good for everybody."
 
Ricky Parker (No. 96 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) overcame a spill in the earlier Daytona SportBike race to finish fourth and clinch the SuperSport West title.  Despite missing the year's opening pair of races at Daytona and Auto Club Speedway, Parker sealed the crown with a strong record of two victories, one second-place finish and the fourth-place showing in Topeka.
 
"I had a good day," Parker said. "The bike's working good, it's working better everyday.  I want to thank my family for coming here this weekend for the support and for these guys racing with me for doing a good job today.  They were pretty fast. They kicked my butt again so let's just say they spanked me."
 
Bryce Prince (No. 74 Clawson Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) finished second in the SuperSport West championship with 85 points and crossed the line in sixth place on Sunday. Clint Shobert (No. 26 American Honda/Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals Honda CBR600RR) finished 10th at Topeka and locked down third in the final West standings with 82 points.
 
Next up for AMA Pro SuperSport East is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 - 16. 

 

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PUERTA SEVENTH IN TOPEKA SUPERSPORT FOR LTD RACING

Topeka, Kansas (Aug 2, 2009) – LTD Racing's Tomas Puerta took seventh place in the AMA Pro SuperSport event at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. The Colombian racer earned another top ten finish for the team even though he had a wrist injury that made racing painful. Puerta's teammate Huntley Nash had a tough end to a winning weekend when he crashed in Sunday's SuperSport race.

Puerta showed poise in the 16-lap race, balancing his performance along the way.. “It was a really hard race for me because I had the wrist injury,” said Tomas. “I wanted to charge harder but I knew I needed to conserve a bit for late in the race. Seventh place is a good result considering how I came into the weekend not knowing if I would be able to race. I'm looking forward to healing up and going to VIR. I was on pole in the Rookies Cup race there last year and it is one of my favorite tracks.”

After winning the Moto-GT2 race on Saturday, Huntley Nash had a disappointing SuperSport contest. Huntley, looking to charge hard and contend, unfortunately crashed out on lap one. “I'm frustrated,” said Nash. “I was pushing. We had some of the same problems we had in practice, so I knew we needed more speed. I was pushing hard and it started spinning and then it flipped me. I'll get over it and we'll get 'em next time but I really wanted to do well today.”

Despite the crash, Huntley is still tied with LTD Racing teammate Joey Pascarella for fourth in SuperSport East points. Joey raced at the X-games Supermoto this weekend and did not attend Heartland Park.

The VIR AMA Pro Road Racing event is August 14-16.