The Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend is coming to Infineon Raceway May 16-18, where top road racers in the country will go head to head on the 12-turn, 2.22-mile road course. Competitors will race in Superbike, Pro Honda Oils Supersport, Superstock and Formula Xtreme over the event-packed weekend on the challenging and highly technical road course.

Infineon will mark the fourth race on a 20-race Superbike schedule for 2008, and so far it’s pretty much been the Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki “Mat and Ben Show.” Six-time AMA Superbike champion and points leader Mat Mladin, and second place rider Ben Spies, are the only two riders to have won a Superbike race so far this year. Mladin won the first three races of the year—one at Daytona in March and two at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham in April. Spies won both races of the doubleheader at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana two weeks ago.

The two have been dueling it out on the asphalt since the season-opening Daytona race. If Spies wins, Mladin comes in second. If Mladin wins, Spies comes in second (with the exception of the first race at Birmingham, where Jason Disalvo placed second). Mladin led all but the first lap at Daytona and led from start to finish in both races in Birmingham. Spies led every lap in the first race at Fontana. At the second Fontana race, Mladin led all 28 laps, then lost by a mere 0.011 to Spies at the checkered flag.

Mladin and Spies are teammates, but they are also rivals and are extremely competitive with one another. Mladin said earlier this year that he’s had to lift his game with the arrival of Spies in the Superbike class in 2005. Spies upset Mladin’s hope for a fourth consecutive Superbike championship in 2006, and then beat him again in 2007 by a mere one point for the championship. Mladin is the defending Superbike champion at Infineon, winning both races of last year’s doubleheader.

Formula Xtreme rider Jake Zemke will be coming to Sonoma off a win in Fontana for Erion Honda, along with teammate Joshua Hayes, who came in second in Fontana. Hayes won both the Formula Xtreme and Superstock in Sonoma in 2007.

Seventeen-year-old Bobby Fong from Stockton is in his second year competing on the AMA circuit. He will race in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport division on the No. 65 Suzuki GSX-R600 on May 18. Fong is the youngest racer in the AMA. He finished ninth last year at Infineon, and is looking forward to coming back.

“It’s an awesome track. It’s a tight and technical track, a rider’s track,” Fong said. “It’s my home track and I hope to do good there.”

Also racing in the Supersport division will be Ben Bostrom (Yamaha), Josh Herrin (Yamaha), Roger Hayden (Kawasaki,), Joshua Hayes (Honda) and a host of other top Supersport riders.

In addition to the division races, there will be motocross on the hillsides around the track, with over 600 participants expected over the weekend. Supermoto USA will race at the Infineon Karting Center and will feature performances by legendary freestyle motocross rider Carey Hart. The SB Freaks Freestyle will be at the track, and the 5th annual Motorcycle Charity Fundraiser will be held on May 18, with all proceeds benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities. Other weekend activities include live music, a motorcycle art show, a Grape Crushers Run with Eric and Ben Bostrom and a trials exhibition by Geoff Aaron.

For more information on the Superbike Showdown racing weekend, visit www.infineonraceway.com.