American Ben Spies may actually be a bigger fan of roadracing than you are. When he raced in America full time he could rattle off the last ten 250 world champions and talk about their decisive wins. To Spies, Gary Nixon wasn't the ex-President's long-lost brother. And while Spies wasn't the biggest fan of World Superbike before he started racing in the championship--and confessed at one point he didn't know former series champ Doug Polen was from Texas--once he arrived in WSBK he dove straight in and became a huge fan.

Spies is the latest American rider that through hard work, luck and perseverance is now living in a reality which at one point seemed an impossible dream. He says even now, at times, he almost has to pinch himself.

"You know, I really do, because I am a fan of racing. Where really it hit me, too, is at Indy GP last year. I was in fifth or sixth on the first lap, and I remember looking ahead of me, and it was Nick Hayden, Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino, Casey Stoner and Dovizioso in front. I was just like, "Wow. What the hell am I doing right now?" And the same thing in World Superbike. When we'd come through the pack, and we were coming through Max Biaggi and Troy Corser and Xaus and Nakano and people like that. I'm not going to lie, it does feel good."

"It was really special," says Spies. "It really was."

Spies will team with fellow Texan Colin Edwards on the Tech Three Yamaha MotoGP team for 2010.