Unpredictable and rapidly changing weather conditions delayed the start of the originally scheduled 3-hour race by more than an hour and ultimately reduced its length to 1 hour and 40 minutes. Tire choice was a gamble, with the formation of a dry racing line hampered by sporadic light drizzle throughout the race that favored teams that chose intermediate or full-wet Pirellis. But the Buell pulled to the front on Lap 17 of the 36-lap race and pulled away to a 31-second lead over the second place No. 6 Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Aprilia Tuono 1000R.

“I don't have a lot of rain experience at this track,” said Higbee. “We were a little conservative early and after about 10 laps a dry line started to appear. Then it started drizzling just as I was getting happy with the track and I think that was a defining moment. I backed it down a lot and from then on the race seemed to go our way.”

Canadian Steve Crevier, who joined the Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing team at the Road America round, echoed his teammate’s comments about the weather: "It was crazy out there," the six-time Canadian Superbike champion said. "We thought about going to a slick tire on the final stint, but didn't want to take the chance in case we got downpour.”