Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin (Photo: Brian J Nelson) » More Photos

Despite not falling, Spies was in visible pain as he returned to the pits following a near highside. Meanwhile, Mladin remounted and made it back fairly quickly while Hacking finally did the same after having to push his ZX-10R for a considerably distance before finally getting it running again.

The third start was red-flagged four laps later after Corona Honda's Matt Lynn went sliding across Turn 2 with his CBR1000RR right on his heels in a full-on fireball. Moments later Miguel DuHamel (who crashed in the original start but was given new life by the original red flag) came sliding off his bike right alongside Lynn.

The final restart saw the races last nine laps raced in succession. The Australian grabbed yet another holeshot and quickly worked up an advantage.

Behind, Hacking held off title leader Spies until the Texan finally ducked to the inside on the brakes entering Turn 6 on the penultimate lap. Spies went on to finish second after the arduous affair while Hacking rounded out the podium.

Yamaha USA's Jason DiSalvo worked past third works Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden to pick up fourth late, with Monster Energy Kawasaki's Roger Hayden narrowly beating DiSalvo's teammate, Eric Bostrom, to the stripe for sixth.

Superstock specialists Geoff May, Chris Peris, and Scott Jensen completed the top ten.

A second (and hopefully more conventional) AMA Superbike race will take place tomorrow at Mid-Ohio.