Riders See Danger in Every Corner

James Stewart is in a heated battle to win this year’s supercross motorcycle title, but even he wouldn’t dare try his hand -- or risk the rest of his body -- by riding the superbikes that are racing this weekend at California Speedway.

They simply go too fast, he says.

Whereas supercross requires deft navigation of tight turns and high-flying jumps from hills on a dirt track, superbikes are mostly about speed and precision on the pavement.

At the AMA Suzuki Superbike Challenge that runs today through Sunday, riders will reach speeds of 165 mph along the front straightaway of the Fontana track. It’s the centerpiece of a 2.3-mile, 21-turn layout that mainly uses the speedway’s infield course.

The riders repeatedly lean nearly 90 degrees one way and then the other, their heavy-duty kneepads scraping the pavement, as they traverse each turn on the circuit.

The riders seem to defy gravity and the rest of physics, but they don’t. Riding a superbike with a 1,000-cc engine -- or even the machines in the sport’s support classes, such as supersport and superstock -- is exceptionally dangerous.

Injuries such as broken bones are not uncommon, despite the best efforts to enhance safety by the sport’s sanctioning body, AMA Pro Racing.

Last weekend, Roger Lee Hayden of the Kawasaki Racing Team broke his right leg in a crash during a supersport race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

Hayden, 22, finished second in the supersport class last year to his older brother, Tommy Hayden, 27, and was leading in points this year until his accident. He could be out until June.

The premier road-racing class, superbike, has been dominated for the last decade by Suzuki, whose top rider is Australian Mat Mladin, 34, who has won a record six championships.

But this year it’s Ben Spies, Mladin’s teammate at Team Yoshimura Suzuki, who comes to Fontana with the hot hand.

Spies won both rounds at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend to take an eight-point lead over Mladin. (The field also will race twice this weekend, Saturday and Sunday.)

They’re followed by Miguel Duhamel of American Honda and Neil Hodgson of the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin Team.

Spies, 31, said, “It seems like I’ve always been up front at California Speedway. Whatever we run at that race has some good speed.”

But Mladin remains the favorite, having won five of his last six races at Fontana.

“Mat’s not going to slow down,” Tommy Hayden said. “It’s up to us to catch up to him.”

Stewart, meanwhile, is in a tight race with archrivals Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed for the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross title as the series heads into its final two races: Seattle on Saturday and Las Vegas on May 6.

Stewart and four-time title winner Carmichael have dueled for the leadership for much of the season, which opened Jan. 7 at Angel Stadium.

Carmichael, who rides for Team Makita Suzuki Racing, still has the lead. But Reed, after winning last week in Dallas for Yamaha, has jumped to second, just two points behind.

Stewart, a 20-year-old who extended his contract with Kawasaki Racing with a multi-year agreement this week, is 10 points behind in third.

Stewart moved up to the big leagues of supercross last year as a prodigy, but missed much of the season because of a broken forearm during a practice run and a stomach virus later in the season.

This year, he has won six races and two additional AMA World Supercross events in Canada.

“I just never gave up on myself,” he said. “I knew I had the talent, I knew I had the heart.”

Regardless of whether he wins the title, Stewart also said racing a full year had provided valuable experience -- and taught him the importance of patience.

“I just learned that it’s a lot longer season than you think it is,” he said.

Last Laps

* Top-fuel drag racer Melanie Troxel could tie teammate and defending top-fuel champion Tony Schumacher for the most consecutive final-round appearances -- seven -- this weekend in Bristol, Tenn.

“It would be neat to have that record,” said Troxel, 33, the NHRA Powerade points leader in top fuel. “But for me it’s far more important for us to be looking at the long-term points chase.”

* USCA/CRA driver Cory Kruseman holds a 26-point lead over Damion Gardner as sprint car racing resumes Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway in Riverside County.

Ventura Raceway also holds its third program of the season Saturday, led by VRA 360 Sprint Cars. Josh Ford won last week’s race over points leader Troy Rutherford.

* Jesse James, host of the TV show “Monster Garage,” returns to Irwindale Speedway for another figure-8 race Saturday night, part of a five-race program.

James finished second behind Tom Smith in the division’s season opener April 8.