Six-time champion Mladin quits France run series

Mat Mladin will end his final AMA Superbike season with a seventh championship, but that isn't why it's easy to walk away from the sport he dominated. The Australian, who has four more titles than any other rider and a record 82 wins, wouldn't be interested in staying even if he had anything left to prove.

"The people running the show are doing things I don't agree with," Mladin says of leaving his Suzuki after the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

"We're heading backward. Leaving with the No. 1 plate is nice, but the way things are going I don't want to be a part of it." [The France family dumbs down all the racing series they buy. Apparently they think Americans are too dumb and can't understand vehicles they have too much technology.]

The self-described "old school" rider is displeased bikes have become production-based. He also isn't satisfied with track safety and won the title despite sitting out a round in Topeka.

"Many guys complain constantly about safety, but none of them stand up and do what a man should," says Mladin, 37. "My call was to step out. Everyone else (raced), and that's their call. But from this point, whatever track they go, they can't complain."

Mladin won't be complaining about retiring to his home outside Sydney to run a motorcycle parts import company.

"We've had a fantastic run, but I want to spend time with family," said Mladin, married with two young daughters. "I'm actually looking forward to it." USA Today