One Week Remains Before the Penultimate Round of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship at the Santa Rosa Mile

With just one week remaining before the penultimate round of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season, the fans, riders, teams and sponsors are on the edge waiting for what will surely be a battle royale at the Santa Rosa Mile on Sunday, September 29 for the fight in the run to the 2013 AMA Grand National Championship.

With the top-3 riders locked into a fight to the finish that are within 13 points of one another (Brad Baker-184 points, Bryan Smith-174 points and Brandon Robinson-171 points) and a fourth (Henry Wiles-159 points) and fifth (Jared Mees-158 points) lurking close behind, the run to the championship is looking more exciting then ever for The Rolling Thunder Show.

The event, promoted by Circle Bell Motorsports, promises to be one of the best races of the year, and as always with one of Bob Bellino's group behind the races, will surely see a packed house on-hand to witness all of the action. For those of you lucky enough to be in the area, tickets are still available for the Santa Rosa shakedown, and for those of you who aren't able to make it, the race will be live streamed with premium access viewing for only $4.99 to watch from the comfort of your laptop or pc at home.

With action set to hit the track with the first practice set to roll out at 1:15 PM EDT/10:15 AM PDT, the riders will be ready to go for the final mile event of the 2013 season, and the teams will be ready to go for broke in this event set on the left coast.

In the shot above from the Springfield Mile I, round 10 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship on Saturday, August 31 the riders and their team members assemble their machines on the grid for the first of what was a stellar doubleheader of racing at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

(L-R) Brandon Robinson on the #44 TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki, Jake Shoemaker on the #55A Montgomeryville Cycle Center Kawasaki, Willie McCoy on his #59 H-D of Wausau XR750, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. on the #2 Harley-Davidson Motor Company XR, Jared Mees on the #1 Rogers Racing XR750 (seen talking with the lovely Kelly Bell of the AMA Pro Flat Track scoring team), and JD Beach on the #95 TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki fill out the front row.

Also seen on the second row are Jake Johnson on the #5 Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati (talking with chief wrench spinner Brent Armbruster), championship points leader Brad Baker on the #12 Dodge Brothers Racing XR (getting some helmet adjustment help from rider-coach Kevin Atherton), and Rob Pearson on the #27 Weirbach Racing XR (also getting some last minute help from team owner Richard Weirbach.)

And if you look closely, the man who sits in the 2nd-place in the championship, Bryan Smith, makes some adjustments to his gear (just over Armbruster's left shoulder) while the owner and builder of the #42 Howerton Motorsports Kawasaki, Rick Howerton, holds his machine in place (just to the right and behind Jake Johnson's left shoulder.)

So set your clocks and get ready for one of the final two rounds of the season as the greatest racing show on two wheels in the world gets ready to blast off the line next Sunday for the run to the checkers and the final roars of the year in what will be a great fight to the end for the 2013 AMA Grand National Championship.