No WSB Surprise: Spies - Spies

After taking Superpole number 7, Ben Spies ran away with both WSB races on home soil at Miller in Utah. Can you say "9 second lead"? I knew you could. It's always interesting seeing how the Euro riders do on American tracks. In this case, race one saw Checa and Fabrizio follow Ben to the podium and race two saw Fabrizio grab second, followed by Brit Rae. With his big crash on Saturday, Haga did well to even ride, finishing ninth and eighth respectively. Biaggi managed 6th in race one and pulled off a 4th in the second race. Poor showing by Hopper's replacement rider Jake Zemke, 18th and 15th ... I was expecting much more from him on this track. Hopper obviously didn't make the Miller race but is expecting to get back on the bike for the next race, June 21st at Misano. Haga's big lead protected him in the standings. He still has a 53 point lead over Spies, with Fabrizio not too far behind with an 11 point gap. With seven rounds to go, making still 14 races, it's likely this is the order they'll finish in ... but anything could happen and either of these three could be the 2009 champion. My money's still on Haga ... for now ;-)