DANVILLE, Va. (Aug. 15, 2008) – Longview, Texas', Ben Spies had the measure of the entire field in Friday qualifying for the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway. With a time of 1:23.934 over VIR’s 2.25-mile North Course, he defeated fellow Suzuki rider Mat Mladin by more than a half second for the early pole position for the double-header weekend of motorcycle racing.
Mladin’s best lap was his 11th in the session, at 1:24.477, also better than a half second ahead of third-place Jason DiSalvo’s Yamaha. Rounding out the top five in qualifying were Jamie Hacking and Eric Bostrom, respectively, all in the quicker Group A. Group B was headed by Ben Thompson, just over three-tenths of a second quicker than Kenny Noyes, followed by Scott Jensen, David Anthony and Joshua Day, all just a small fraction of a second apart.
A second qualifying session for each group occurs Saturday morning, plus practice and qualifying for the Superstock, Supersport, Formula Xtreme and Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup racers, before the races begin at 3:30 p.m. The Superbike race flags off at 3:30 p.m. for 28 laps or 100 kilometers of two-wheeled excitement. The Formula Xtreme bikes take to VIR’s North Course at 4:40 p.m. for their 17-lap Saturday race.
Sunday’s track action starts at 8:30 a.m. with warm-ups for the Rookies Cup, followed by Superstock, Supersport and Superbike, with the first race at 11 a.m. for the Rookies Cup riders. Following the autograph session in the paddock at the team transporters during the lunch break, action resumes with a stunt show in Turns Four and Five, then a collection of vintage bikes takes to VIR’s scenic course before the 1 p.m. start for Superstock bikes. The Superbike feature race begins at 3 p.m. for their second 28-lap feature of the weekend.
Tickets are available at the gate: $60 daily for Saturday and Sunday, or $75 for the combined ticket.
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08-16-2008, 12:54 AM
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