Ben Spies aka "Elbowz" was born July 11th 1984 in Germantown, Tennessee. The triple AMA Superbike Champion started racing 125cc bikes as a teenager in Texas and turned professional in 2000 racing with the Valvoline Suzuki team in the AMA 750cc Supersport series. Ben won his first Championship in 2003 whilst competing in the AMA Formula Xtreme series. In 2006 Ben moved up to the AMA Superbike series racing with the Yoshimura Suzuki team alongside the defending champion Mat Mladin. In his rookie season in the AMA Superbikes, Ben out classed his Australian team mate, Mat Mladin to win the Championship. Ben defended his AMA titles in 2007 & 2008 which earned him his World Superbike ride in 2009 with the Italia Yamaha Team. As we now know, Ben rode a terrific season and won the 2009 World Superbike Championship.