It was a landmark AMA Superbike qualifying session Saturday morning at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies took his first-ever AMA Superbike pole position, with a time of 1:24.830 on his Tom Houseworth-tuned GSX-R1000, setting a new lap record for the 2.3-mile road course and ending an 11-race streak of pole positions belonging to six-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. Mladin, Spies’ teammate, qualified second with his 1:24.942 from Friday afternoon’s session, which offered better track conditions, according to Mladin. The last time Mladin did not qualify on pole position was at the 2004 AMA Superbike season finale at Virginia International Raceway, when Miguel Duhamel had pole. Mladin is still the all-time leader in AMA Superbike pole positions with 47 pole positions. Earning the final two spots on the front row were Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden (1:25.670) and Roger Hayden (1:25.792), marking the first time Kawasaki has been on the front row of an AMA Superbike event since 2001, according to AMA Superbike Media Relations Manager Larry Lawrence. It was also the first time ever that Tommy Hayden, who raced Superbikes for Yamaha and Kawasaki previously in his career, had qualified on the AMA Superbike front row. Starting from the second row of the grid for the first of two Superbikes races this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park will be: third Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke and Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Neil Hodgson. Row three will include: Hodgson’s teammate Ben Bostrom, Millennium KWS Suzuki’s John Haner, Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore and Leo Vince/Pegram Racing Honda’s Larry Pegram. Due to the 108% qualifying cut-off, Spies’ time eliminated 10 riders who attempted to qualify for the race, which will now include 34 riders. AMA Superbike Championship Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama April 22 Provisional Overall Qualifying Results: 1. Ben Spies (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.830 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:24.942 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.670 4. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:25.792 5. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:26.069 6. Miguel Duhamel (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:26.142 7. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:26.191 8. Neil Hodgson (Duc 999F06) 1:26.205 9. Ben Bostrom (Duc 999F06) 1:26.572 10. John Haner (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.043 11. Jason Pridmore (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.316 12. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:27.470 13. Steve Rapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:27.915 14. Pascal Picotte (Yam YZF-R1) 1:27.939 15. Jake Holden (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.216 16. Jason Curtis (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.287 17. Francis Martin (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.420 18. Clint McBain (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.756 19. Eric Wood (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.892 20. Matt Lynn (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:28.933 21. Jordan Szoke (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:29.013 22. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.213 23. Brad Hendry (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:29.921 24. Akira Tamitsuji (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.019 25. Kevin Lacombe (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.091 26. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.190 27. Andi Notman (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.474 28. Mike Sullivan (Yam YZF-R1) 1:30.474 29. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.585 30. Michael Sanchez (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:30.966 31. James Stroud (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.229 32. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.273 33. James Kerker (Hon CBR1000RR) 1:31.348 34. Scott Carpenter (Suz GSX-R1000) 1;31.526 108% of Fast Time: 1:31.617 Did Not Qualify: 35. Dean Mizdal (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:31.731 36. C.R. Gittere (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.162 37. Marco Martinez (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.167 38. Matt Furtek (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:32.893 39. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:32.950 40. Ricardo Sune (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.343 41. Victor Chirinos (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.571 42. Armando Ferrer (Kaw ZX-10R) 1:33.974 43. Reno Karimian (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:34.671 44. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000) 1:39.323