As was the case Saturday, the six-time champ was clearly the fastest man on the track, dipping down into the ‘24s despite the fact that the track was lacking a bit of grip following a day of rain and frantic and successful efforts by track officials to prepare the surface in time to squeeze the race in on Sunday before nightfall (the race didn’t get underway at 7:15 pm, forcing the day’s support class races to be cancelled).

Mladin rapidly closed on the reigning series king but lost several tenths after getting in too deep in the hard-braking Turn 6 on lap 3 of the abbreviated 18-lap affair. The former Cagiva Grand Prix ace quickly clawed back in, however, setting up a bold maneuver to steal the lead.

Mladin took advantage of a small opening Spies provided for him through the Carousel, darting up the inside of the surprised Texan who stood up his works GSX-R1000 ever so slightly while he lost the position.

From there on in Spies did his best to keep in touch with his teammate, but Mladin was just too much at Mid-Ohio, sneaking away to his eighth career win at a venue he’s not particularly fond of.

Mladin now boasts eight wins on the year and 59 for his career. The vital double triumph draws him to within 17 points of Spies (486-469) heading into two of his favorite circuits, Virginia International Raceway and Road Atlanta.

Commenting on his aggressive pass into the lead, Mladin said, “He was covering things pretty good in most places. I figured there and the double-righthander I had a chance to get him. In the double right it would have been a little sketch to give it a go… I was a little bit better entering the left-hand sweeper entering the Carousel so I really swung it out hard to the left. Pretty early on I got a good run on him -- I jumped on the brakes and was still closing in on him pretty good. I was nice and wide so I said, ‘okay, now’s the time to go in.’ It’s pretty hard to counterattack that pass because the next corner you’re up the front straight. It was a good place to get it done if I could and it might have even given me a couple of tenths getting me on the back straight so he couldn’t draft me and do a braking move there. It all worked out today.”

Looking ahead to the season’s final five-race push, he remarked, “Listen, honestly I’m not thinking about the points and that’s it. If I win this championship then we’ve done a really good job. We’ve given away a lot of points this year, at Daytona and Utah, where I made a silly mistake crashing out of the lead. To be in the position we’re in is very good, anyway. To win the next five races would honestly mean a lot more to me than winning the championship. To win 13 races in a year would be pretty cool. It would be one of my better years, that’s for sure. And being 35 and over the hill, it’s not too bad.”

Spies, who admitted that he was fighting through brake fade issues during the race, said, “It’s going to be tough. We had some pretty good speed today but made one mistake that was completely my fault and then another one that we’ve been fighting all weekend and fighting all race. We rode as hard as we could.

“At Virginia last year before I smashed my hand up we had some pretty good speed there. It’s going to come down to crash or win -- it’s got to happen. I obviously don’t want to crash but it’s got to be put on the line if I’m going to win this title.”

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking finally capitalized on his recently-discovered speed on the developing ZX-10R, slicing up through a six-rider pack that contested third early in the race and eventually powering away to a clear podium result.

Hacking stated, “I’d like to be sitting here having three podiums under my belt. That’s where we should be sitting but unfortunately due to some of my mistakes, I haven’t come through with the results. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself and feeling down for the team because those guys are doing a great job. They’re giving me stuff we can put up front now, hopefully we can make this a trend.”

Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates picked up a second fourth-place result of the weekend, breaking the efforts of the chasing America Honda duo of Jake Zemke and Miguel DuHamel late.

Yamaha USA’s Eric Bostrom, who actually completed the opening lap in second, faded to seventh, one spot ahead of Hacking’s partner in green, Roger Hayden.

Third Yosh man Tommy Hayden came out on top of a spirited fight for ninth, edging FBF MV Augusta’s Matt Lynn at the flag.

Bostrom’s teammate, Jason DiSalvo, came in following the warm-up lap, still feeling the effects of a practice crash that took place just 15 minutes before the race.

The epic 2007 AMA Superbike Championship clash will pick back up in two weeks time at VIR, on August 17-19 in Alton, VA.