Miguel Duhamel, the all-time wins leader in AMA Superbike history with 23, comes to Mid-Ohio this year fifth in the series standings. The 34-year-old Montreal native who rides for Honda is not in serious contention for the title, but he still feels he has a good shot at winning some races this year. After a slow start this season Duhamel has come on strong with two runner-up finishes in the last three series rounds. At the last round in Monterey, Duhamel showed flashes of greatness by passing early leader Jamie Hacking and then holding off eventual winner Eric Bostrom for several exciting laps.

Mid-Ohio is a good track for Duhamel. He first won on the 2.4-mile circuit in 1995. That year his Mid-Ohio Superbike victory was the first of record six-straight AMA Superbike wins. He went on to claim the championship that season. Duhamel would love nothing better than to start another winning streak this weekend.

"I'm finally feeling totally 100 percent after battling injuries for the last three years," said Duhamel, an 11-year veteran of the series. "I've done well at Mid-Ohio before and there's no reason I shouldn't be able to be in the hunt for another win this year. I don't regret riding the way I rode there last year even though I crashed – that part I guess I do regret a little. But I'm not going to let that hold me back in the way I approach the race this year."

Defending two-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin comes to Mid-Ohio with one goal in mind – winning. Mid-Ohio is one of the few circuits on which Mladin has not been victorious. He was runner-up to teammate Aaron Yates in the Sunday race last year and to Doug Chandler in 1999.

Mladin holds a 24-point lead over Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom coming into this weekend's doubleheader, although that lead has shrank over the last few rounds with Bostrom riding a two-race winning streak.

Bostrom, like Mladin, has never won a Superbike race at Mid-Ohio. His previous best result was third in Saturday's race last year. Bostrom, however, seems to be brimming with confidence after winning the last two races and having an excellent showing in the World Superbike round in Monterey a few weeks ago. Bostrom has an extra incentive in that if he still has a strong chance of catching Mladin in the series standings if he can keep winning.

Leading the way in 600 SuperSport is Eric Bostrom with a 21-point lead over Anthony Gobert.  The Australian is still recovering from the injuries he sustained a couple of rounds ago and may stick to riding the 600 if he finds the SuperBike again too hard to handle with his weakened arm.

Local resident Larry Pegram, riding the #72 Competition Accessories Ducati, is currently 10th in AMA Superbike points with five top-ten finishes so far this season. In two of his last three races at Mid-Ohio, Pegram has two top-ten finishes. He'll have two chances this weekend to build on his Mid-Ohio successes, with a Wiseco Superbike 100 main event race on Saturday and a second on Sunday.

"I feel pretty confident coming into Mid-Ohio," Pegram said. "We had a rough couple weeks and crashed last week at Laguna, but my confidence is where it needs to be."

"I want to win at Mid-Ohio more than any other track. Any time you want something this bad it helps you stay focused."

In the highly competitive Formula Xtreme series another Australian leads the way in the shape of Gravesport Yamaha rider Damon Buckmaster.  Buckmaster holds a 25-point lead over Valvoline EMGO Suzuki rider John Hopkins. Hopkins will need to finish ahead of Buckmaster at Mid-Ohio to have any real chance of winning his second straight AMA road racing championship.

Local favorite Tom Kipp is expected to compete in the race this weekend, still filling in for the injured Jason Pridmore on the Attack Suzuki team. 

Aaron Gobert fell down the rankings a few places after an unfortunate crash at Laguna but will be keen to put himself back on the rostrum this weekend.  Honda riders have won every Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme race at Mid-Ohio but they will be hard pressed to continue that form this weekend.