Jamie Hacking earned Kawaski's lone AMA Superbike podium this year in Wisconsin

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki -- Spies crashed twice at Elkhart and Mat Mladin was faster on a dry track. Still, his Superbike win in the wet (when combined with Mladin's third) put him back in the points lead.

Spies came up big both days despite being battered from a horrific highside just before Saturday's race. He managed second place despite being knocked silly and bruised to the point that he could barely stand up straight, then he won in the rain on Sunday. If -- and it's a huge if at this point -- Spies manages to retain his number one plate, we'll be able to look at Elkhart and say it's a place where Spies averted disaster.

2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki -- Mladin was the fastest Superbike racer at Elkhart in the dry and won Saturday's Superbike race going away. In doing so, he took sole leadership of the Superbike points (if only for a day, it turned out) for the first time since Daytona '06.

Mladin took third in the wet, and it certainly would have been better for the championship if he had been able to hold off Jamie Hacking for second place. But as he pointed out after the race, most AMA Superbike events are held in the dry. Mat has said the season is about momentum and he continues to ride a wave of speed. He's won the last four dry races in a row and six of the last eight races regardless of weather.

3. Aaron Gobert, Erion Honda -- Gobert's Elkhart Supersport win was a thing of beauty. Aaron carved his way through the competition in the rain and earned a quality win. Some of his passes defined the term "aggressive" but he was in control the entire race. The victory was well received within the team and not even Kevin Erion falling off the pit wall could contain the ebullient mood.

4. Josh Hayes, Erion Honda -- Hayes took victory in the FX race in a super battle with Attack Kawasaki's Steve Rapp, with the two trading positions throughout the race. It's been a dream season for Hayes, who leads both Supersport and FX championships.

5. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki -- Hacking went from a no-hoper in the dry to second place in the wet on Sunday with a quality ride from the third row. Kawasaki is struggling in Superbike right now but Jamie gave the team a good result and one that might offset the disappointment from Infineon when Roger Hayden's engine blew as he was charging to the podium.

Hacking also finished second in Supersport in Wisconsin and gained points on Josh Hayes.

6. Rain Heroes -- Scott Jensen earned a podium for Halof Suzuki in the Superstock race. Chris Ulrich earned Superstock pole for Roadracing World Suzuki in the wet.

7. Rider safety -- Road America removed the Billy Mitchell Bridge this offseason, undertaking a huge expense to make the track safer for motorcycle racing. More safety improvements are planned in Wisconsin.

If a track like Road America is making big improvements and circuits like Infineon, Laguna Seca and Barber are constantly making safety adjustments, it keeps the pressure up on the other tracks to do the same.

The Super Seven is our very unscientific and totally subjective list of the top seven people, or groups of people, who stood out at the most recent race meeting.