Pinch me I might still be dreaming. Three full days wrapped in a blanket of AMA roadracing at Barber Motorsports Park. Alabama heaven for sure.
This is my third year to go to the AMA races at Barber and they get better and better. I spent Friday wandering the paddock, talking to some of the privateers and watching the factory teams prepare. You start to notice the little things after you've been to a few races. Like the Ducati mechanic who used to shave his rider's number in his hair wasn't there this year. I guess he moved on to World SBK.
The AMA paddock can be a strange place for sure. One minute you're walking by the million dollar plus haulers and posh opulence of the factory setups and the next minute you're watching a guy unload his own bike from a dinky little trailer and start working on it himself. Somehow the haves and the have nots come together to produce a truly entertaining weekend of racing.
After the dampness of Friday practice and qualifying, Saturday and Sunday were clear and somewhat warmer. In fact, Sunday was downright hot. The superbike races produced he most drama with Ben Spies taking the double from a disappointed Mladin. It was good to see Duhamel back on the podium.
Miguel is starting to look really tired. I wonder if his career is finally winding down. His Honda still misbehaves and it is easy to see that he is having to ride much harder than the three Musketeers from Yoshimura with their near perfect bikes.
I wish him well this year. Hopefully he can win at least one or two.
I only managed one autograph this year, Marty Craggill who rides for Mat Mladin Motorsports. He was friendly enough and didn't seem to mind. You never know with the mid pack guys whether or not they care about the fans. Some are really open and friendly like Larry Pegram and others are just jerks. There must be a lot of pressure on them to try to compete against the factory boys. Good luck with that.
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