If I can’t go to an AMA Superbike race in person, one of my favorite things to do is call my buddy Tom Riles to get the lowdown on everything that happened that weekend. Riles is a longtime photographer who has photographed everyone from Kenny Roberts to Valentino Rossi and everyone in between.

Kevin Schwantz perhaps telling Young to keep the inside line when racing aganst Aaron Yates. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Riles has an uncanny ability to predict future champions. In 2006 at Daytona when Mladin made his crafty last-lap move to force Ben Spies in front of him before the banking, enabling Mladin to draft to victory, Riles came into the press room and announced Spies as that year’s champion.

That was a bold prediction. After all Mladin had dominated the preceding seasons and had just beaten young Spies in the Daytona Superbike race, yet Riles said he saw that Spies was very comfortable at the speeds they were running and Mladin was on the edge. I had my doubts, but it turned out Riles was right. I listen to the guy when he talks about racers and right now he’s talking a lot about Blake Young.

Riles says Young has the raw speed, he now just needs to calm down and work on being smoother and race smarter. Riles tells me that Young can already run at Mladin’s pace at times. He even noted that Mladin seems to be cooling in his praise of Young, much in the same way the Mladin-Spies relationship evolved.

Blake Young in action on the Yoshimura Suzuki. (Larry Lawrence photo)

There’s no doubt that Mladin is still the man, but according to Riles he sees Young emerging as the next champ, perhaps as soon as next season.

When Riles speaks we listen.