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TOOELE — Some of the top SuperBike riders in the world will converge on the Utah Motorsports Campus this weekend.
The track formerly known as Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele will host the 2016 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championships beginning Thursday in the annual event that is one of the track’s top races.
And it’s not just racers from around the country, either. Locals like Ryan Richardson will national names like Josh Hayes, a four-time circuit champion who has won four races in the Utah leg.
“We have several local riders competing at the national level this weekend,” Utah Sportbike Association president Scott Rybarik said. “They’re taking a private tier chance in the national races.
“These are guys who have raced in our club series and are making the graduation to the national stage.”
But that’s not the best way to convince you of SuperBike; you’ve got to see it. KSL reporter Brittany Copeland jumped on a bike with 20-year veteran rider Chris Ulrich. The two-time AMA Pro race winner has raced more than 900 times, and he took the TV reporter on a 170-mph ride around the track.
“What we’ve found with this program is that I can tell you how cool motorcycle road racing is all day long, and you can see it,” Ulrich told Copeland. “But until we suit you up and put a helmet on you and rip down the straight at the motorsports campus, you don’t get it.”
Click the video above to see the full ride.
Four classes will compete on the 3.048-mile out course at the motorsports campus beginning Thursday, when admission is free. Qualifying races begin Friday in Supersport, Superstock 1000 and KTM RC Cup, with the finals scheduled for Saturday in all four circuits.
Admission starts at $25 for adults, and children under 12 get in free. Tickets can be purchases at utahmotorsportscampus.com.
