Mladin has won five of seven in '07

Much has been made of the gap between the two fastest machines and the rest of the field in AMA Superbike. To make matters worse, an interloper like Aaron Yates of the Jordan Suzuki satellite team has run among the factory boys on many occasions this year.

Neither of these facts sits well with the other factory teams.

The pace at the front has heated up. The dominant Suzukis of Mat Mladin and Ben Spies are -- on average -- about a half second per lap quicker than they were last year, on pretty much the same tires as last season. Since most of the field needed to find time last year, the situation isn't rosy. Most are looking to make up quite a gap in race conditions.

Only two men have managed to pester Spies or Mladin at the front of 2007 races -- Honda's Miguel Duhamel and Yamaha's Eric Bostrom. But that has happened far less that Yamaha and Honda fans would like. Most of the 2007 races have been complete routs.

Someone has to bring it up sometime, so why not now? It's looking more and more like Spies or Mladin will win every Superbike race this season. Last year, they won them all, save for Jake Zemke's Utah victory.

In times like these, mechanics and riders pray for The Great Equalizer -- rain. With a suspect forecast for Elkhart this weekend, will this be the one where someone besides Mladin or Spies wins?