Today was far more action-packed than Friday, with the 4th of July bringing fireworks right from the first practice session.

Stoner led the way the entire time this morning, only to have Jorge Lorenzo oust him right at the end as time ran out. Stoner was visibly mad to lose the top spot and also looks to progressively be getting more worn out throughout the weekend. No one within the Ducati GP team will speak too much of the lingering illness the Aussie shows signs of, but it seems tell-tale for ebstienbar or mono.

The 4th also brought quite the MotoGP crashfest, which started in the morning with Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Chris Vermeulen all hitting the pavement. But it wasn’t until the afternoon qualifying session that the sparks really started to fly.

First to fall was front-man Lorenzo, who saw the gravel in Turn 10 just after setting a hot lap, losing the front and destroying his A-bike mid-way through the session. After running back to the pits and cleaning the gravel out of his helmet, Gorgeous Jorge was back on track and immediately dropped his quick time to put him back on top of the board. Impressive no doubt. This was followed by bolting on a soft rear tire as he continued to push for an even faster time. With under five minutes left he crashed yet again in Turn 10, this time in the form of a massive highside, slamming back into the pavement from orbit and smacking into the ground hard. Visibly shaken, Jorge tried to get up and walk but was unable to, falling back into the gravel trap and being taken off in a stretcher.

"I was trying to push hard but first I had some traffic and the tires were cold and I wasn't in the right shape to try and improve my time," said Jorge about the second crash. "I'm disappointed in these two crashes but I am okay and I am optimistic that I will be able to ride tomorrow. Now American doctors and the Clinica Mobile are working together to try to help me best they can and make me more comfortable."

Then only a couple minutes later Stoner followed Lorenzo’s lead, highsiding himself to the moon in Turn 3. Seen clutching his chest and being helped off the track, we spoke to Ducati’s press officials and they say he’s “going to be okay” - whatever that means.

This left Rossi as the only contender still on track, who bolted on a soft rear and went for it with under a minute to go. He was able to improve his time slightly, enough to take second spot, but not enough to best his beat-up teammate for pole. This left parc ferme and the post-qualifying TV conference as a one-man show, with Rossi there and Stoner and Lorenzo off being attended to in the medical center.

“Yes, first I hope Casey and Jorge are fit to race tomorrow,” said Rossi. “I am very happy about my second position. We have some problems to fix. The last part of the track I’m not that strong at and we need to work to improve my time. For sure it will be a great battle.”

Now it remains to be seen how fit the two crashers are come race time tomorrow. Word is that Lorenzo tweaked his foot and right shoulder and Stoner is just generally banged up.

Our American homeboys didn’t fare as well as most probably would have liked, though considering Nicky Hayden was 14th yesterday, his eighth-place qualifying today was a major improvement. Hayden seemed outwardly pleased with it, wheelieing after the checkered flag for the Laguna Seca fans. Colin Edwards has been much closer to the pace this weekend on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, though in qualifying was relegated to seventh position, just barely in front of Hayden.

“Our bike felt better than yesterday but I’m still not completely comfortable and I’ve still got a few issues to iron out before the race,” said Edwards when we talked to him. “I made a mistake this morning when I fell in practice and it did a bit of damage to my finger, but nothing that is giving me too many problems. Highsiding in Turn 10, though, wasn’t fun as that’s not a slow corner. But if I can eliminate a couple of the problems in the warm-up tomorrow I’m confident of a good race. I know it’s going to be tough to get a podium but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got for the American fans!”

On the AMA side, or should I say laughing side of the fence, qualifying was no surprise, with Mat Mladin dropping well into the 1:24-range to top teammate Blake Young by almost half-a-second for the American Superbike pole position.

In Daytona SportBike, or should I say Daytona NASBIKE as most here in the GP pits are calling it, Martin Cardenas topped qualifying with a blisteringly fast lap of 1:27.586, some half a second quicker than Ben Bostrom in second position. Bostrom and fellow factory Yamaha pilot Josh Hayes are both running Daytona SportBike this weekend in one-off rides on the Graves Yamaha team.

We caught up with Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin in the Bell Helmets suite during MotoGP qualifying and asked him about his chances. In the morning warm-up he was back in ninth position, though only half a second off the pace in the tightly-knit class.

“I can win tomorrow, definitely,” Herrin commented when we spoke to him pre-qualifying. “I was back a bit this morning but the times were close. I’ve got more in me and the bike for tomorrow.” Herrin was sporting special red/white/blue Shift leathers and star-covered Red Bull/Bell helmet to celebrate the 4th and it seemed to work as he qualified in fourth spot on the front row.

That’s all for now, stay tuned for the Sunday wrap-up. If the race is anything like qualifying it should be one heck of a battle.