The Superbike Championship is Wide Open

What a time to be a fan of MotoAmerica Superbike. Look let's be honest, on paper to start the season, everyone had the pairing of Cameron Beaubier and the Ducati Corse V4 at the top of the list for who was going to be tough to beat this season… And while it took them a minute to find their groove, as it has for everyone aboard the new Ducati on Dunlop tires, it looked like they'd found it until about half way through Race 1 on Saturday. Checking out at the front from pole position - Beaubier hit the deck in a tip over crash at the kink and is out for an undisclosed amount of time after dislocating his shoulder.

A bit of a dominant run from Mathew Scholtz to start the year aboard the Strack Racing Yamaha has been met with adversity the last few rounds. The team, and frankly all the Yamaha's on the grid arrived in Wisconsin knowing they'd be on the back foot against the Ducati's and BMW's, but Strack caught the worst of it. An issue out of their control in Race 1 caught them out and a motor failure in Race 2 saw them leave the track on Sunday 1 point out of the championship lead. We're not sounding the alarm bells at all, you have to believe they'll bounce back just fine, but it's proof that it doesn't take much to balance out the points and it sure is keeping things interesting.

Sean Dylan Kelly and the Orangecat BMW have been consistent and firmly in the mix at all the races so far, only missing one podium in his run to securing the points lead as the series heads to The Ridge. His performance over the first three round puts him squarely in the conversation for a title favorite, but let's see.

Attack Yamaha had a solid weekend at a track 'the Yamaha doesn't go well at' with a double podium 3-3 for Bobby Fong and his teammate JD Beach right in the fight for podiums all weekend as well. The duo had it out pretty good in Race 2, while JD seemed a bit fired up over it, cooler heads prevailed by the time they reached the paddock.

Additionally, PJ Jacobsen has seemingly come to grips with the new Ducati. Healed up after his Road Atlanta crash and with more time on what's been a bit of a unpredictable bucking bronco so far, PJ scored Rahal Ducati Moto their first ever Superbike podium in Race 2 with a second, and battling for the win throughout the race. File under: things you love to see.

That said, with Beaubier out, all of the aforementioned riders, and maybe even Beaubier if the injury isn't too hateful, have a legitimate shot at this thing and there's still plenty of time left in the season.

The kicker that could add some spice in the next few rounds? Hayden Gillim. The Real Steel Honda rider went 6-7 at Road America and they were down major in trap speed. He's clearly riding well as we'll get to in the Bagger talk, but there could be some tracks coming up quick that will benefit the Honda and Gillim likely won't make waste of an opportunity for a podium, that's for sure.