Mat Mladin is the best AMA Superbike racer of all-time. His career numbers are nothing short of stunning.
One thing that sets AMA Superbike apart from many racing series over the years is the fact that the class was not a marketing idea or a championship that was artificially forced upon the fans and manufacturers. Superbike racing sprang up naturally from the grassroots level and had such momentum by the early 1980s that it became the de facto premier class of American professional road racing, although it wasn’t officially recognized as so until 1986.
Just about every leading road racer in America since the late 1970s came through the AMA Superbike ranks. Kenny Roberts (both Senior and Junior), Randy Mamola and John Hopkins are the only notable exceptions. Even riders like Rich Oliver, John Kocinski and Jimmy Filice, all more closely associated with 250GP racing in this country, all raced AMA Superbike during their careers.
Arguments as to the greatest AMA Superbike rider of all time are numerous. Some say Eddie Lawson, who had the highest winning percentage of any rider in the history of the series (he won nearly half the races he entered) and went on to four Grand Prix World Championships. Those who point to Lawson often point not only to prime years of his remarkable AMA Superbike career in the early 1980s, but his triumphant one-off returns to the series in the 1986 and 1993 in the Daytona 200. Lawson’s last-lap duel with Scott Russell in the 1993 Daytona 200 was one of the most riveting AMA Superbike races of all-time.
Others point to Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, who brought the series its most intense rivalry during the memorable 1987 series before going on to world titles. Some say Fred Merkel, who dominated in the mid-1980s. Merkel was the first rider to 20 AMA Superbike wins and held the record for the most wins for 12 years. His 1984 record of 10 wins in a single season was not eclipsed for 21 years! Merkel then went on to win two World Superbike Championships for good measure.
Doug Polen, Doug Chandler, Scott Russell, Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies all have records that one could make a good argument for them being the best. Polen could have thrown up gaudy numbers, but in his prime chose to go after the money and went to Japan for a couple of seasons (winning that country’s championship) before returning and dominating on a Ferracci Ducati to the extent that rules were changed mid-season to try to slow him down. Chandler had two distinct AMA Superbike eras, pre and post-GP career, and won titles on either side, beating Miguel Duhamel in an epic battle that came down to the final event in 1996. Scott Russell was amazing during the 1991 and ’92 seasons and of course was nearly unbeatable at Daytona during the 1990s. Duhamel had a stunning 1995 campaign, winning six straight a record that would hold for 13 years. Hayden was the youngest ever to win the title and promptly left for MotoGP. Spies threw down outstanding numbers while battling Mat Mladin. Perhaps one of the most jaw-dropping stats in the history of AMA Superbike was the fact that Spies finished on the podium in 92 percent of the times he raced, this in addition to setting the record for the longest winning streak ever.
Regardless of how you slice it though, it is very hard to deny that Australian Mat Mladin is indeed the best AMA Superbike racer in history. Mladin’s numbers are simply awesome. The most championships (double that of any other rider), most wins, most poles, the first, second and third most wins in a single season. Mladin accomplished all this during a time when there was the highest amount of factory participation in series history.
Some argue Mladin ran up the score in the AMA by never making the jump to MotoGP, but keep in mind he tallied these amazing numbers against riders like Doug Chandler, countryman Anthony Gobert, John Kocinski, Neil Hodgson, Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, not to mention a slew of other talented factory riders like the Bostrom brothers Eric and Ben, Jamie Hacking, Jake Zemke and Aaron Yates. He faced the best.
Mladin raced against and defeated much deeper Superbike fields than Lawson, Rainey or Schwantz dreamed of – considerably stronger than Merkel, Polen and the rest.
The history of AMA Superbike racing is rich with great races, teams and riders, but Mladin stands alone as the best AMA Superbike rider of all time.
Rider Files 
“Some argue Mladin ran up the score in the AMA by never making the jump to MotoGP”.
Yep, that’s the argument that I’ll make. Thanks for saving me the effort. It doesn’t matter how deep the field is. What matters is how good the other two competitive riders are. When you’re at the top levels, you only actually compete with one or two other riders. I think there are other riders that could equal Mladin’s stats if they had stayed in the US. On the other hand, I think Mladin could have been very successful and probably a world champion if he had made the attempt. In fact, I have defended his decision to stay in the US many times in arguments with my friends.
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Scott,
That’s the main argument against Mladin being the best AMA Superbike rider. He just happened to be racing here when there was more money to be made as the AMA champ than would be for World Superbike and even all, but world champ of MotoGP. It simply made no sense as a family man for him to leave a secure and incredibly well-paying gig here in the US.
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And Scott I think you’re right – no question he could have been World Superbike champ. MotoGP champ? That would have been really tough, especially at his size.
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Mladin was certainly the greatest businessman to ever race in the AMA Superbike series… but greatest racer? Ben Spies beat him for the AMA Superbike championship three years in a row and then went to WSBK and won that championship on his first try. So if Mladin was the AMA Superbike’s best racer, then what was Spies?
Whenever I think of Mladin’s career I’m reminded of the line delivered by John Belushi’s character in Animal House when he laments about being kicked out of school, “Seven years of college down the drain.”
Contrary to what admin says in the reply above, Mladin could not have been World Superbike champion for the same reason I cannot win the lottery: in order to win you first have to play the game. To say anything else is foolish.
It seems that taking it to the competition in the AMA and then proving where you measure up against the whole world, is in total a better measure than any number of minor league wins. So with that said, Mladin well might have been the greatest AMA Superbike racer ever, but we’ll never know because he never moved above it to show the measure of his abilities.
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Lets not forget Mladin rode for Cagiva in the 500cc GP’s in 1993 and collected 45 points finishing 13th overall
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Peter,
You make some good points, but after seeing what Spies did in WSBK, I’m quiet certain that Mladin in his prime could have been multi-time WSBK champ. Look what happened when WSBK royalty came to face him in AMA.
Gary,
Mladin was in his second full season of road racing when he went to GP. He benefited from the Aussie craze of that era, but he’s even admitted he wasn’t ready to race at that level that early in his career.
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admin,
If you insist on this fantasy, then try this on: if Mladin had gone to WSBK then Spies would have beaten him there too.
But I just find it impossible to play fantasy racer. While you say you’re quite certain Mr. M could have been a multi-time WSBK champion, I’m quite certain that he isn’t, and I have reality to back me up on that. Talent is a good place to put your money, but as we’ve seen it doesn’t mean squat in the complicated details of achievement. You have to do it to have done it, and “could haves” are meaningless. For instance, I could have been the queen of England, if I’d been born there, if I’d been royalty, if I’d been shorter, if I’d been a woman, if… I mean, it was so close to happening. I was robbed, I tell you. Mladin could have been multi-time WSBK champion if he’d ever competed in that class for more than once a year, if he avoided injury, if he had a competitive bike, if his crew chief wasn’t a jerk, if his alarm went off properly, if his flight connections weren’t cancelled, if his team didn’t have a flat tire in the rain at night in Germany…
I stand by the reality of history; Mladin could not have been WSBK champion because he never once even tried. Why disgrace those who did try with a fantasy about someone who didn’t. I just don’t get it. A fantasy like this only pisses on racers who did take a great challenge and applauds someone for not even trying. Mladin won many AMA championships, why no leave it at that, where he left it? He proved he could not win a world championship because he didn’t win one, and that fact has nothing to do with whether or not one respects him or considers him the greatest AMA racer.
And I wish you a wonderful holiday.
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Peter,
I take it you’re not big on Fantasy Racing either.
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Larry
1) typo : Mladin is indeed the best AMA Superbike race in history (racer)
2) interesting “fantasy” racing, but there are too many variables, esp. teams and equipment.
While it was after my time, I suspect that the combination of Matt & Yosh were head and shoulders above the field.
We all think of a “golden age” but I do happen to think we had one back in the 80’s with Honda (under Udo), Suzuki (with Pops) and Kawasaki (Rob the mustache) …
And if I had to pick one race – it was Eddie in ’93 at Daytona.
Watched that from “the hook” and you could see that he was flat flying, on the edge, using every inch of track, cocked just a tiny bit sideways coming out of the right hander to run down Scott.
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Thanks for the edit JT. And thanks for the comments. I think there are a lot out there who would be with you on Lawson.
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