Riders twist their throttles at the start of the AMA 750 Supersport final at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in June of 1988. It was the first year of the 750 Supersport class on the national level and it attracted some of the top road racers in the country, as this photo shows. It looks like David Sadowski ((No. 4) and Scott Russell (No. 22) both nailed the start perfectly. Surprisingly Doug Polen (No. 23) seems to have gotten a bad launch causing Mike Smith (No. 19) to veer hard to the right to try to get around. Also visible in the photo are Russ Paulk (No. 15), Mark Chin (No. 77), John Eidenberger (No. 17) and Rick Shaw (No. 223). You can also just make out Scott Zampach’s distinctive helmet directly behind Russell. The only riders I can’t ID for certain are bikes No. 14 and No. 75. Polen went on to win the race over Russell and Sadowski. Paulk and Chin rounded out the top five. Polen went on to be the inaugural series champ.

The field jumps out of the starting gate at the start of the AMA 750 Supersport final at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in June of 1988. David Sadowski ((No. 4) and Scott Russell (No. 22) both nailed the start perfectly. Surprisingly Doug Polen (No. 23) seems to have gotten a bad launch causing Mike Smith (No. 19) to veer hard to the right. Polen won the race and eventually the championship. (Larry Lawrence photo)