Ribs Will Hold Bostrom Out Of Final AMA Race

A pair of broken
ribs will keep superbike rider Ben Bostrom out of the final AMA
race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, this
weekend.
Bostrom brokes his fourth and fifth ribs in a non-serious crash at
the last race in New Jersey. The rider, who has raced with broken
ribs before, didn't initially believe the injury would threaten his
participation. But after testing his Yamaha R1 over the past few
weeks, he determined he simply couldn't risk puncturing an organ on
a more serious accident.
"Holy cow, I made about five minutes and just realized I can't
ride. I can't hang off the right side because my ribs four and five
are broken. Normally you break six through 12," he told the Cycle
News. "I would ride through on any injury. This is the only one I
realized I can't ride safely and strong enough, because our bike's
easy to ride around Barber. I think we have the best bike, a
winning bike. But I'm not in shape to ride it."
The race will determine whether points leader Josh Hayes can keep
his lead, or if Tommy Hayden can put in a dominant performance and
sneak away with the championship.
Bostrom is currently in fourth place in the points standings,
meaning he didn't have a chance of winning the title this weekend.
However, the incident has ended any hopes of a third place finish
and may force him further down the standings should Larry Pegram or
Blake Young post strong finishes.
Jake Holden will take Bostrom's place for Yamaha.