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TOOELE -- It's called the largest, fastest and most exciting motorcycle racing series to ever come to Utah, otherwise known as the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship. It all starts Friday at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele.
This weekend's race will be the only appearance in North America for the season, and many eyes will be on one of America's own: Ben Spies.
"It's been good. It's been definitely different for me, just coming from America," Spies said. "The fans are different. The culture's different. You know, it's just, it's a big step. But it's been fun. I mean, I've loved it and, you know, from traveling the countries, the food, the everything. It's been pretty good."
After winning three straight AMA Superbike Championships, Spies moved to the world stage. So far, he has five wins out of 12 races.
Greg Miller is hoping for a large crowd, since the event is expected to reach nearly 120 million TV viewers around the world.
"One thing people don't realize very often is that they can come out there in their RVs and just have a barbecue and do a tailgate party and just kinda have a base camp. And then we have shuttles that go all around the park, so they can watch the race from one vantage point for a few minutes and jump on the shuttle the next time it comes around and go to a different spot, and wind up back at their own RV. And it's, like I say, a great time to spend time with the family," Miller said.
Practices are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and all the races will be on Sunday.
E-mail: kaiken@ksl.com