Mat Mladin celebrated his AMA Superbike swan song with a podium appearance at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, on Sunday afternoon. Seven-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin announced his retirement from AMA Superbike racing earlier this season and this weekend’s double-header event marked the end of the newly crowned 2009 AMA Superbike Champion’s career. In Saturday’s race, Mladin was in a battle for the lead when he crashed out of the race.
On Sunday, he raced his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 as hard as ever and battled for the lead for most of the race before finishing in an impressive second place. Mladin was joined on the podium by Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates in third place. Yates and Mladin and Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden had all been battling for podium spots and Hayden was actually making a pass for the lead when he crashed out of the race. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young finished up the weekend in ninth place after struggling a bit with throughout the weekend.
Mat Mladin Speaks… (2009 AMA American Superbike Champion… Again)
"It’s been a good weekend but everything comes on to an end. I have had a fantastic career but it’s time to
spend some more time with my family and move on to other areas of my life. This weekend, we had a really
good race and I felt really good for most of it. I really didn’t want to be in second place, I wanted to lead and
do as much as I could from the front. I felt a little pressure from Josh (Hayes, race winner) in a couple of
spots, but we had a good race today and we put in as much as we could… It was a good, fun race and I’m
looking forward to hanging ‘em up, moving on."
AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers NJMP
1. Josh Hayes, Yamaha
2. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
3. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
4. Larry Pegram, Ducati
5. Neil Hodgson, Honda
6. Jake Holden, Honda
7. Cory West, Buell
8. Damian Cudlin, Suzuki
9. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
10. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
AMA Superbike Points Standings (Final)
1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
2. Josh Hayes, Yamaha
3. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
4. Larry Pegram, Ducati
5. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha
6. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
7. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
8. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
9. Taylor Knapp, Buell
10. Jake Holden, Honda
