That question has now been answered as McCarthy arrived back in the U.S. last week and will stay through the end of the season. Kirk is the current point's leader in Buell Pro Thunder and is looking for his next win this weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

The friendly Aussie has never raced at PPIR but showed at Daytona that he is fully capable of learning new race tracks very quickly.

Also returning to PPIR is Mike Ciccotto on his Hal's Performance Advantage Buell 1200. Ciccotto lost the championship in 2001 by two points and is currently five points behind McCarthy going into round two. Ciccotto has proven time and again that he is able to save something for the last few laps of a race to take the win.

Defending Buell Pro Thunder champion Thomas Montano is looking for his first win of the season after he finished fifth at the opening round in Daytona Beach.