Pacifico Supermoto's Mark Avard rode a strategic race in the penultimate AMA National Supermoto event held at Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale California, netting seventh and taking the overall championship lead going into the final event. This gives him pole position for the final event.

Mark liked the Irwindale track layout and quickly had the lone Suzuki, in a sea of Hondas and KTM's, up to speed. Mark said; "The bike is working well. We have a new engine and it is really tractable. The track layout is helping, not too many long straights so I can keep in touch with the more powerful Honda's and KTM's!" His speed qualified him for the Superpole event, a clear track run for the two front row grid positions.

In his heat race, Mark got a great start and was holding down a solid third, well clear of fourth placed Ben Bostrom, when the two in front both took themselves out handing him first. Mark backed off the pace a little to take no risks and a strong points finish.  Bostrom had fell during the race but remounted to chase down Avard to take the win at the final curtain. But second place for Avard was good enough to qualify him for the main event. A small mistake in his superpole lap put him on the outside of the second row after setting the eighth fastest time.

In the National Supermoto Championship main event, Mark's start did not match his heat performance and dropped him to tenth after the first lap. He lost another position on lap four before getting in the groove and starting a charge. On lap nine championship leader Jeff Ward went out so Mark was able to back it off a bit. He still rode hard though making up three positions to get back up to seventh on lap seventeen. He held the position to the finish. After the race Mark said; "I really started feeling good towards the end and was able to push quite hard. I knew Wardy (Jeff Ward) was out, but the bike and tyres were working really well so I kept up the pace. It's really good to be back on top of the championship and get that pole for Vegas - every little bit helps!"