RPS riders click it up a notch at MRA Second Creek round.

RPS sponsored riders and customers really stepped it up a notch at the MRA/Second Creek championship round held June 26th and 27th. Leaky fork seals greeted many riders before their weekend even began. The rocky and gravel laden La Junta track left pits and burrs on over 16 sets forks serviced by RPS. Almost 10 gallons of fork oil was recycled from this last weekend which equates to about 40 quarts (each set of forks uses approximately 1.2 quarts of oil). IT WAS A BUSY WEEKEND!!!

Leading the RPS charge this weekend was rider Ryan Burke. Ryan found out after the La Junta round that the practice crash that went largely unnoticed was much more serious than he thought. Ryan was having a hard time walking about and fluid was accumulating around his knee at an alarming rate. Saturday night, Ryan had his knee drained and crossed his fingers for Sunday. Ryan completed practice with no noticeable issues and apparently would be able to race which just stiffness around his knee the only lingering issue. In the Open Superbike race, Ryan finished 3rd and solidified his season standings. In the Race of the Rockies, Ryan started off the race in 5th place. After 2 laps, Burke quickly dispatched Cahill for 4th place and set his cross hairs on Ricky Orlando for the 3rd spot on the podium. Over the next dozen or so laps, Burke analyzed the veteran Orlando's riding. Looking for any opportunity to take advantage of his strengths, Ryan found his mark with just a few laps to go. As he and Orlando came up on some back markers entering the "rat's nest" turn, Burke stunned the crowd as he stuffed not only Orlando, but the two back markers also. With dust and dirt being thrown up from Ryan's insanely close to the dirt line, Ryan locked down the final podium position. The reward for this hard work was not only 3rd spot on the podium, but an interview with the Speedvision cameras pointed at his grill. Great Job Ryan!!!

Rich Deeming continued to run strong and make his presence felt as he captured a win in the Open Supersport race while finishing well in the Solo Endurance Open and Open Superbike races as well as Race of the Rockies. Dennie Burke struggled a bit this weekend with his tires and looks to be making a profile change to get back to his winning ways in the Open Supersport class. Mike Applehans had a somewhat of a breakout performance this weekend. With his long in the tooth GSXR-600 underneath him. Mike improved his lap times and stayed in touch with the leaders much more effectively that in previous races. With this kind of improvement, Mike may very well be a regular top 3 finisher by the end of the season despite his machinery not being up to snuff with his competitors. RPS Sponsored riders Alex Kuretz, Drew Brown, Jake Latimer, Gene Bazyl, and Greg Greenwood also showed their racing prowess this weekend. Watch out for each of these riders as they all have the potential to make it to the "next step" very quickly.

RPS Customers Dave Gossett and Mike Applegate also ran strong this weekend as they both competed with customer shock valving and have finished well since using RPS suspension products.