Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies took the AMA Superstock pole position Saturday during qualifying at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Riding his Dunlop-slick-shod GSX-R1000, Spies turned a lap of 1:25.341 on the 2.36-mile, 17-turn road course. Not only was Spies’ time good enough for pole and a class lap record for the revised-for-2004 Superstock class (the old record of 1:27.989 was set in 2003 by Tommy Hayden on a 636cc Kawasaki ZX-6R), it would have put the 19-year-old Texan second on the AMA Superbike grid.

“I’ve always gone real good here,” Spies told reporters. “I like this place. It’s a lot of hard braking, a lot of tight chicanes.”

Counting his Championship-winning 2003 AMA Formula Xtreme season and the 2004 race at Daytona, Spies has earned 12 consecutive pole positions on GSX-R1000s.

Graves Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster, Aaron Gobert, Jamie Hacking and Jason DiSalvo qualified second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on their Yamaha YZF-R1s.

Buckmaster was disappointed with his second-best 1:25.882 but more upset with AMA Pro Racing for refusing to adjust the Sunday schedule so that the Superstock and Supersport races would not run back-to-back.

Buckmaster races in both classes.

Gobert said he had a problem with the front end of his Yamaha, which was made worse by mounting a sticky Dunlop qualifying tire, but he still managed a 1:26.019.

Tommy Hayden was the first rider on a Kawasaki, turning a sixth-fastest 1:26.838 on his factory ZX-10R.

Recent improvements to his Erion Honda CBR1000RR allowed Alex Gobert to qualify 10th, first Honda rider, with a 1:27.859.

Prieto Racing’s Geoff May, 12th-fastest with a 1:28.165 on his Pirelli-sponsored Suzuki GSX-R1000, was the fastest non-factory-supported rider.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp qualified 13th with a 1:28.210 in the AMA debut of the 2004-model GSX-R750.

The eldest Gobert brother, Anthony, qualified 16th on the Erion Honda CBR1000RR with a 1:38.800.

Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.340
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:25.882
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.019
4. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.136
5. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.796
6. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:26.838
7. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.442
8. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:27.578
9. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:27.626
10. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:27.859
11. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.903
12. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.165
13. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.210
14. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.460
15. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.477
16. Anthony Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:28.800
17. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.813
18. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.046
19. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.228
20. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.948
21. Corey Eaton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.081
22. David Sanders, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.030
23. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.035
24. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.718
25. Mark Ledesma, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:32.401
26. Brien Whitlock, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.911
27. Eric Haugo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.010
28. Christopher Ancien, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.225
29. John Scott Wilson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.741
30. John Chen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.793
31. Garry Combs, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.083
32. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.435
33. Montez Stewart, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.451
34. Raul Padilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.643
35. Brad Puetz, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.924
36. Paul Timman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.211
37. Tony Cook, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:43.947