For more than a decade, there have been two permanent fixtures on the podium for America’s longest-running motorcycle race, and neither rider intends on ending that streak any time soon. Shane Narbonne and Scott Greenwood will both take the green flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Saturday for the 97^th Annual Loudon Classic, both fighting to be the first to the checkers among a deep field of competitors.

Narbonne, who hails from Tyngsboro, Mass., was dubbed “King of the Classic” after winning his fourth consecutive Loudon Classic in 2018 and his seventh overall. He still holds the records for being the youngest Loudon Classic winner, which he achieved in 2009 when he was just 19 years old, and most Loudon Classic wins with seven.

“Scotty and I have been the guys to beat for a while now,” said Narbonne. “I remember being a 16-year-old kid racing him on a Suzuki 600 trying to win back in 2006, but this year, Scotty is definitely going to be a hard rider to beat.”

Greenwood, a Dunbarton, N.H. native, was able to take advantage of his ability to ride strong in the wet last year, earning his fourth Loudon Classic win.

“It’s going to be really competitive,” said Greenwood. “I was able to beat him last year in the rain, but Shane’s coming back to try to win another. We faced off in the second round back on July 4 in the Dash for Cash, and I was able to beat him there, so it’ll be really interesting how the Classic plays out.”

In addition to Narbonne and Greenwood, this year’s starting grid will feature other riders who have consistently been on the podium this season during the first two rounds of competition for the Loudon Road Race Series as well as some new faces to the event.

“It’s a pretty deep field,” said Greenwood. “We’ve got guys like Alex Guilbeault, who’s always there doing a good job, and [Tyler] Wasserbauer is definitely one to watch. It’s a large group of guys who, on any given day, can ride up front and it’s always a focus and a chore to make sure you ride strong and have a good solid effort so you can try to capitalize on experience and try to keep the winning going.”

Making his Loudon Classic debut is Teagg Hobbs from Auburn, N.H., who first competed with the Loudon Road Race Series in 2017 and has been competing in MotoAmerica for the past year.

“Teagg Hobbs is a homegrown kid who moved to Florida for a year and is back in New Hampshire making his debut at Loudon on a 600,” said Eric Wood, co-executive director of the Loudon Road Race Series. “That should be an interesting twist to see how he does, because he’s got a lot of talent and could be kind of a dark horse in this thing.”

The 97^th Annual Loudon Classic will run as an expert Middleweight Grand Prix on Aug. 29 as part of the three-day third round of competition for LRRS, Aug. 28-30. This weekend will wrap up the Laconia Motorcycle Week Rally, which kicked off Aug. 22 after being postponed from its typical week in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.