AMA Road Racing: Larry Pegram Stars in Discovery HD Theater's 'Superbike Family'

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Steve Rapp on the #82 Vance & Hines Ducati 996 leads a group of riders during race two action at Mid Ohio during the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire running of the AMA Superbike Championship in July of 2000. Following are #69 Nicky Hayden on the American Honda RC51, Larry Pegram on the #72 Competition Accessories Ducati 996, #43 Jason Pridmore on the Yoshimura American Suzuki GSX-R750 and eventual 7-Time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin on the #1 Yoshimura American Suzuki GSX-R750. 2000 was the first year that both Mid Ohio and Road America debuted the double round weekends that were initially made part of the schedule with the Big Kahuna Nationals at Road Atlanta in the '98 season.
Pegram, who after campaigning Foremost Insurance-sponsored Ducati 1098/1198-based machines the last couple of years in the AMA Superbike Championship, made the switch to the new for AMA Road Racing BMW S1000RR during the off season, and will be keeping Foremost as his premier sponsor in the series for the 2011 season. His off season testing at track such as Jennings GP and at the official Daytona tire test have shown great promise, and as always 'The Worm' should prove to be a threat for the top podium spots during the upcoming season that kicks off at Daytona on March 10. He finished the '09-'10 seasons both years fourth in the championship standings winning several races along the way, after going winless since his initial AMA Superbike win at Willow Springs in 1999 while riding for Eraldo Ferracci's Ducati team.
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Larry Pegram and his Pegram Racing/Foremost Insurance Group-sponsored racing family and team debuted today on a new program on Discovery HD TV's channel called 'Superbike Family.' The docu-reality series follows Pegram, his family and his race team from just before the start of the '10 AMA Superbike Championship Series season kick off at Daytona as they prepare for the 2010 AMA Superbike season.

Not being a fan of reality tv, when I first read the news of this new show I was just a little hesitant to get on board with it, even if it DID involve the high speed ballet of superbike racing in the United States. But after watching the first two half-hour eps (of six total to be shown) I can say I was very impressed with not only the presentation of the show itself, but of the background and race film used in the show to highlight the season's goings on. It did a very nice job of presenting the United States' premier road racing series, let alone the hard work, dedication and effort put forth by the entire Pegram Racing family and team. If you are a fan of the AMA Superbike Championship like I am (as well as a big LP fan!) you will want to catch this show.

You can read the press release below thanks to Dean Adams' SuperBikePlanet.com, and you can catch the remaining episodes on the next two Saturdays (March 5 and 12) at 1100 EST on The Discovery Network's HD Theater TV channel. If you aren't familiar with that channel (it's on DirecTV channel 281 in the Eastern United States), you can bring up your own local U.S.-based tv listings by going to Zap2It.com or TitanTV.com to determine via your local television provider if your provider does carry this HD-only channel.

Good luck to Larry Pegram and Pegram Racing in the upcoming 2011 AMA Superbike Championship, and we hope to see ole Lare back on top of the box again at a few rounds this season!
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SuperBikePlanet.com has the press release and times for 'Superbike Family' on Discovery HD TV right here:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2011/Feb/110222wormteevee.htm
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You can follow #72 Larry Pegram and his Foremost Insurance Group-sponsored BMW S1000RR team here via Larry's official website:

http://pegramracing.com/
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Jason Pridmore Catches Up With RRX

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Jason Pridmore dives into turn 11 on the #43 American Suzuki/Yoshimura USA/Dunlop/Showa-sponsored GSX-R750 during qualifying for the AMA Superbike Series stop in Mid Ohio for the Honda Super Cycle Weekend in July of 1999. Pridmore 'retired' from active U.S. road racing competition at the end of the 2006 season after winning the '97 AMA 750 Supersport Championship as well as the '02 AMA Formula Extreme Championship, while also garnering the '03 FIM World Endurance Championship along the way.
Expected at the time to put more time into his golf game and possibly even touring the pro schedule, he has spent the better part of the last four seasons with his riding school, Star Motorcycle Schools, as well as competing in the FIM World Endurance Championship over the course of the last few years. Pridmore raced for several major teams in the U.S. over the course of his career, including Hyper Cycle, Team Yoshimura Suzuki and the Michael Jordan Motorsports team during the '05 season, their second in the series and first as a Suzuki team. Jason has stayed actively involved with the Jordan group, and currently is the man who gives the 'two-up' rides on the team's bikes during AMA Superbike Series weekend event's and press days.
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Anyone that has followed AMA Road Racing for any length of time will recognize the name Jason Pridmore from the many years he graced the sport with his riding prowess. The son of the very first 3-Time AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore, Jason went about setting a legacy of his own throughout the various AMA Road Racing classes for better than a decade and a half, as well as competing in Europe in the FIM World Endurance Championship for the last several years.

One of the first times I really noticed Jason was at Road America in the summer of '92 when he actually beat Scott 'The Screaming Chief' Russell in the AMA 750 Supersport event, when Russell was on a major tear in that class. The previous year Russell had gone undefeated in the old 750SS class, and was near that again in '92, when Pridmore managed to put a small, but noticeable dent in his streak at the sprawling four mile course in Elkart Lake, WI. He was riding a Suzuki at the time that was sponsored by his and his father's Star Schools that year.

Jeff Feathers over at RoadRacerX.com caught up with Jason about what he has been doing as of late and what his plans are for the 2011 season and beyond. Thanks to Jeff and RRX and you can read up on Jason here:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/tuesday-conversation/tuesday-conversation-jason-pridmore/
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Thanks for dropping by as always here at Stu's Shots, and we wish everyone a very Happy and SAFE Thanksgiving! God Bless and Safe Journeys to all!
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Jason Pridmore To Ride For Celtic Racing at Laguna AMA Superbike Round This W/E

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Jason Pridmore celebrates after winning the AMA 750 Supersport final at Road America in '92, beating Scott Russell in the process (okay, so Scott started at the back of the grid, but still...)
Jason was riding his Class Schools sponsored Kawasaki ZX-7R in the 750 Supersport series that year and this was quite a monumental win considering Russell dominated the class in winning 3 titles from '90-'92, and winning EVERY race in the series the year prior.
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Great news to come across this week----yeah, I'm a little behind----in hearing that Jason Pridmore will be running the AMA Superbike class at Laguna for Celtic/Orient Racing on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the team. Celtic, having fielded riders Chaz Davies and Canadian Brett McCormick in the past, has been competing in the AMA Road Racing Series regularly now for the last 4-5 seasons in various classes.
Jason, who is a former AMA 750 Supersport and AMA Formula Extreme Champion, not too mention the '03 FIM World Endurance Champ, has been away from the AMA scene since the end of the '06 season, concentrating on running his Star Motorcycle School, his professional golf game, doing the two-up rides for Michael Jordan Motorsports this year, as well as a part-time announcer for the AMA SpeedTV team and it's coverage of the races (which he adds a great turn to as a former/current racer.)
It will be great to see Jason hit the track here in the States again! Always a great guy and a great champion, JP43 is one of the better 'elder' spokespersons for the sport. Let alone his very colorful personality. You can read more below!
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Here's the official news on Jason's return to the AMA Superbike Series at Laguna today thanks to David Swarts at RoadRacingWorld.com:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=41299
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Here's a little more background on Jason from his Star Motorcycle School website:

http://www.starmotorcycle.com/jasonpridmore.html
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Here's Celtic Racing's website that will give you a little more background on them and their machines and riders in the past:

http://www.celticracing.com/
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We wish Jason the best of luck this weekend. It should be a good weekend for Jason in the AMA Superbike class as Celtic has been producing some great racing bikes over the course of the last 4-5 years and has proven themselves to be one of the top-tier privateer teams in the AMA paddock. Good luck to Jason and Celtic this weekend on and off the track!
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Stu's Shots Previews Michael Jordan Motorsports Going Into Fontana This Weekend

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Jason Pridmore's #43 Team Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbikes and superstock bikes get
some attention from the Michael Jordan Motorsports techs in the paddock area during the AMA Road Racing round at Road America in June of 2006. For the 2006 season the team also featured riders Steve Rapp #15 and Jake Holden #59 in the Superbike and Super Stock classes.
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Michael Jordan's maiden voyage into the world of AMA Superbike racing saw the team come into the series with Yamaha YZF-R1 Super Stock-spec bikes like the one above ridden in the Superbike event by multi-time Canadian Champ #21 Pascal Picotte at Road America in June of '04. The team also featured rider #123 Montez Stewart, who was MJ's initial hire and stalwart in getting the team started. The story goes they met on the streets of Chicago and decided racing belonged on the track and thusly Michael Jordan Motorsports was born into the AMA Pro Road Racing series. This will be the team's seventh season, and with the double wins at Daytona by Jake Zemke and the Daytona pole going to team mate Aaron Yates, the team is off to a great start to say the least.
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Montez Stewart's Team Jordan/Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 #123 Super Stock bike sits in the paddock area during the Honda SuperCycle Weekend at Mid Ohio in July of 2005. The team also featured riders Steve Rapp #15 and Jason Pridmore #43 in the Superbike and Super Stock classes for the 2005 season. Rapp finished 3rd for the year in the Super Stock class and 8th in the Superbike class for the team's best overall showing.
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Jake Holden on the Team Jordan #59 GSX-R1000 Super Stock entry during qualifying for the Barber round in April of 2007. Holden finished the season ranked 8th in points while team mate Aaron Yates in the #20 entry placed 3rd behind the two Ben's in the class--Spies and Bostrom. Yates also placed 4th overall in the Superbike class for the '07 season.
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One of the Michael Jordan Motorsports team members works on one of Aaron Yates' #20 GSX-R1000 Superbike's in the paddock at Road America in June of 2008. His back-up bike sits idly on display as Aaron can be seen working at the desk in the background checking out telemetry from the previous practice sessions. Aaron garnered a 6th and 8th place finish for the two Superbike races for the weekend and got 2nd to Blake Young in the Super Stock class race. Yates ended the season ranked 9th in the Superbike class and was the '08 AMA Super Stock Champion garnering MJM their first championship in the AMA series while team mate Geoff May on the #99 entry won two races and placed 2nd behind Aaron in the Super Stock class.
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The view above is the many changing faces of Michael Jordan's Team Jumpman23 AMA Road Racing team over the course of the years since they originally came to play in the 2004 season.
After a great showing in Daytona three weeks ago, the Michael Jordan Motorsports team of #54 Jake Zemke and #23 Aaron Yates heads into the Fontana round this weekend in full steam ahead-mode. Joining the MJM team in the off season was obviously a great move for Zemke as he garnered both wins in the Superbike class in his initial voyage on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the world center of racing. And with Aaron Yates winning the Daytona pole and getting two 4th place finishes, the team has great motivation and reason to feel very positive for the next round, let alone the season ahead.
After campaigning the AMA Road Racing series for what is their seventh season now, Team
Jumpman23 is finally feeling and gaining the laurels of their hard work. Add to it their initial championship won by Yates in the '08 AMA Super Stock class the team is starting to look like it has been around for some time now. And with superior backing by the Jordan Brand, National Guard and Hanes, the team, bikes and riders are sponsored by some of the series most high profile names. You can check out the offical team links below as well.
Jason Pridmore, former Team Jordan pilot on the #43 machines, and former AMA 750 SuperSport Champion, and owner of the Star Motorcycle Schools, is still with the team as a rider mentor and team liaison, and will also be providing rides on the two-up spec Michael Jordan Motorsports GSX-R1000 throughout the season at each of the AMA rounds. You can check out a video below of Jason breaking in the new machine earlier in the year at Fontana.

Also of note, while in Daytona, the ESPN film crew led by Hannah Storm was in town to do an interview with Michael Jordan about life after playing basketball, his new role of team owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, and most importantly his ownership role and putting together a top-flight team in the world of AMA Road Racing. Currently there is no set airtime for it but the official story as written by the good people at RoadRacerX.com is below to check it out. Anytime you can get big network news to do a story on AMA Road Racing is not only great, but big time for the sport!
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We wish Team Jordan riders Jake Zemke and Aaron Yates the best for the next round, as well as the rest of the season. If the racing is half as exciting the rest of the year as what we saw at Daytona, the 2010 season is going to be a barn burner of excitement, and you can bet these boys will be right in the thick of it.

Below is the official AMA link the for the upcoming round at Fontana this weekend. It has all the weekend schedules on it as well. As of this writing their are 23 entries in the Superbike class and 27 for the Daytona SportBike class. TV times are Saturday 3/27 at 10 P.M. EDT and Sunday 3/28 at 11 P.M. EDT on SpeedTV. You can also check the TV times on the left side column to be safe in case there are any changes between now and this weekend (there shouldn't be as those times have been posted/set for weeks now, but you never know.... )
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It looks like the Jordan team will be providing 'ride alongs' at each round of the AMA Road Racing series for 2010, and championing those rides will be team liaison, Jason Pridmore. Having been around racing since all but dropping out of the womb, and nabbing a few championships on his own, the two-ups should be well received by the press and the paying public. And I'm sure they will be in for a great ride as this short but sweet video shows compliments of the great people of 2WheelTuesday.com who put this up some time ago:
http://2wheeltuesday.com/2010/03/ama-sbk-ride-on-board-with-jason-pridmore-as-he-breaks-in-the-jordan-experience-gsx-r1000-at-fontana/
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Here's the interview with Hannah Storm of ESPN talking about covering the team at Daytona, what she learned about AMA Road Racing, and what Michael Jordan brings to the table in his endeavors with the series. Thanks to RoadRacerX.com for the link to this great news event that hopefully will air at a time when stick and ball people will be watching to see what they are missing in the world of 180mph+ AMA Superbikes:
http://www.roadracerx.com/features/between-the-races/between-the-races-hannah-storm/

Updated Thurs 4/1/10 1825 EDT---
Here is the updated and current tentative time for the above mentioned show to be aired on ESPN:
http://www.roadracerx.com/breaking-news/tentative-air-date-set-for-espn-piece-on-jordan-motorsports/
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Here's the official link to MJ's road racing team:
http://www.23race.com/michael-jordan-motorsports.html
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And here's the link to the event info for the AMA Road Racing round at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana coming up March 26th-28th:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?eid=2010011010
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