Ben Spies Will Race Mid-ohio

[admin]

Ben Spies plans to race in the upcoming AMA Superbike Championship doubleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 1-3. He was released from the hospital today and is home recovering well from Tuesday's appendix surgery.

Spies began feeling feverish and suffering nausea this past Sunday after racing in both the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix and AMA Superbike races in Monterey, Calif. His condition worsened en route back home to Dallas and he was hospitalized on Tuesday morning. Doctors removed Spies' appendix as a precautionary measure.

In spite of his current discomfort, Spies said it would take more than a minor surgery to keep him down.

"I've got a championship to win so I will be at Mid-Ohio," said Spies, the defending and two-time AMA Superbike Championship who rides for Rockstar Makita Suzuki. "If the race was this weekend I'd be there, that's how important the championship is to me."

Spies is no stranger to competing with injuries. He raced his first two seasons as a pro with a bad knee, before having surgery to correct the problem. In 2006 he won his first AMA Superbike title despite riding with a broken hand late in the season. Earlier this summer Spies won a Superbike race in Elkhart Lake, Wis., setting an all-time AMA Superbike winning streak record, just hours after receiving stitches in his chin.

Spies comes to Mid-Ohio with a 36-point in the AMA Superbike standings after 12 of 19 rounds.

"Sometimes in this profession you've got to go out there even when you're not 100 percent," Spies added. "I'm a fast healer and my doctors know my situation and are helping me to get back to health as quickly as possible. We've got a long way to go in the championship and I want to get back to winning races as quick as possible."