This weekend, the stars of the AMA Pro Superbike series took to the winding corners of Barber Motorsports Park for the Triumph SuperBike Classic. Riders battled the brutally hot conditions on both Saturday and Sunday which ultimately delivered a result more reminiscent of the race of attrition endured last time out at Road America, albeit due to heat instead of precipitation.
As was the case in Wisconsin, it was the experience and rock solid riding of three-time AMA Pro SuperBike champion Josh Hayes that won out in the end. The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rider held strong at the front all afternoon on Saturday despite the extremely trying circumstances while all of his major rivals faltered. The 39-year-old now owns the inside line to a fourth-career SuperBike crown with a commanding 17-point advantage as the season approaches its halfway point.
2011 Barber Motorsports Park SuperBike race winner Martin Cardenas was the first to see his chances end with a crash, falling out of the race on its opening lap. The Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing star was joined a handful of laps later when Hayes’ Monster Energy Graves Yamaha teammate, Cameron Beaubier, fell in the same area of the racetrack.
“I had a really good lap going in qualifying and for whatever reason I tucked the front,” Beaubier said. “I got in a little hot. Same thing this afternoon – I just felt like I had no grip compared to earlier and I made a mistake. And then I was trying to catch back up and I just washed front in the last right-hander. I don’t know – I’m pretty disappointed at this point. I’m sick of crashing.”
GEICO Motorcycle Road Racing Honda’s Chris Ulrich crashed in Turn 1 on the next lap, bringing out a red flag. At the restart, Hayes and title hopeful Roger Hayden immediately resumed the intense fight for first they waged prior to the stoppage.
Hayden, who twice pushed Hayes to the checkered flag at Barber Motorsports Park last season only to come up fractions of a second short of victory, battled hard to overcome him this time around. However, perhaps the Yoshimura ace battled just a bit too hard, crashing away a potential win while running in Hayes’ shadow on lap 16 of 21.
“To me, the race was very reminiscent of last year,” said Hayes after claiming AMA Pro SuperBike victory No. 43. “It was hot, greasy and very easy to make mistakes. … Fortunately, once the pressure was off, I was able to back things down a little bit and I felt pretty safe and sound the last few laps.”
Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram climbed his way up to fourth, while Team AMSOIL Hero’s Cory West made it two EBR 1190RSs in the top five.
Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Dane Westby won the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike race on Saturday, snatching an epic victory after 19 laps of battling with Yamaha Extended Service/Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha pilot JD Beach to win by 0.310 seconds in the Alabama heat.
“I saw one guy go flying past and I knew in the last couple of laps they were going to try to do something, so I just tried to attack back as quick as I could,” said Westby of his third career DSB win and first since forming his own squad. “It’s so ridiculously hot here today – the humidity. I was dying in the truck before this race, but we come out and you get going and there’s no one in front of you … that stuff just disappears.”
Bobby Fong and his Latus Motors/Castrol/Triumph Racing entry went from the ground to the podium at Barber, with the team repairing crash damage during the red flag he brought out for a fall and the rider making moves to earn third place after restarting last.
Points leader Jake Gagne and his RoadRace Factory/Red Bull machine crashed with Garrett Gerloff just after the restart. Gerloff said after the race that he had fractured his radius bone in the incident and could miss time as he heals.
On Saturday, Hayden Gillim won his second AMA Pro SuperSport race in a row. The TOBC Racing team and Gillim managed to take the race by 5.987 seconds over Houston Superbike’s Dustin Dominguez and De Keyrel Racing’s Kaleb De Keyrel in the hottest event of the year.
“I’ve been able to get good starts this year,” said Gillim. “We were able to get out front. I didn’t believe my pitboard, so I kept my head down and pushed as much as I could. I was second in qualifying, so I didn’t think I could get away like I did.”
De Keyrel scored his first finish on the podium. The 17-year old fought with Dominguez until the checkered flag, getting by his more experienced counterpart before losing the position at the end.
“I figured instead of duking it out with two to go, I’d do a little studying,” said Dominguez. “It was a pretty cool pass.”
Points leader Corey Alexander crashed out of the race while in the top five.
On Sunday, Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes completed the Triumph SuperBike Classic weekend sweep at Barber Motorsports Park, putting on a clinic in Race 2 of the AMA Pro SuperBike class. The cagey three-time premier class champion exploited the Saturday misfortune endured by his three biggest threats for victory – teammate Cameron Beaubier and the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing duo of Roger Hayden and Martin Cardenas – and cruised to an easy victory.
The win represented a triple-double of sorts, as Hayes equaled the Barber Motorsports Park feat of the legendary Mat Mladin (2007-2009) by claiming six straight victories over three years at the impressive facility.
“It was a lot different race than I expected and how I expected it to play out, being able to get a little gap early and being able to stretch it out pretty quickly,” Hayes said. “I was happy to be able to kind of cruise toward the end of the race and just be careful. I feel a little lucky all of these guys have a rough-and-tumble day yesterday and that kind of leaned in my favor.”
It was a weekend to forget for HMC/KTM Racing’s Chris Fillmore. After his bike overheated late in Saturday’s race while holding down a podium position, Fillmore encountered electrical problems with both his ‘A’ and ‘B’ bikes on Sunday and was forced to retire after running just a single lap.
Hayes now boasts an imposing 29-point lead with the season now just past its halfway point. Anthony continues to rank in second (145-116) while Hayden (113), Beaubier (110) and Clark (105) all remain well within in striking distance of the Australian.
Dane Westby made it a double victory at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, capping off a charge through the field to repeat his Saturday performance. Westby won the race by 0.235 seconds over MotoSport.com/Meen Yamaha Jake Lewis and RoadRace Factory/Red Bull’s Jake Gagne.
“For a second there, it looked like I didn’t have much for ’em, but I was telling myself I was as fast as anybody out there and I proved it yesterday. And here we are today,” said Westby. “Just an amazing feeling – it’s my first double. Like I said yesterday, everybody out there watching, you can do it too. I came from clubs and here I am.”
Westby trailed early, running as deep as sixth well into the race, but systematically picked off rivals until he led. The Oklahoman was remarkably quick in the final section and overtook several competitors in the long right-hander, the track’s penultimate corner.
Lewis valiantly attempted to pick up his first class win. For many laps, he chased Gagne at the front as it looked like a showdown of the Jakes before Westby flew past them both.
Houston Superbikes’ Dustin Dominguez won his first AMA Pro SuperSport race of the year on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. The Oklahoman had a tough battle with yesterday’s winner, Hayden Gillim of TOBC Racing, and upstart Kaleb De Keyrel of De Keyrel Racing, but Dominguez earned his seventh career AMA Pro SuperSport victory and the first of 2014 with a solid run.
Defending AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson champ Steve Rapp took out his early-season frustrations on the opposition today in Alabama. The Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson star registered a dominating ride in the 11-lap Harley-Davidson final today, ripping free from the pack early and extending his advantage by more than a second per lap en route to a lopsided 11.114-second margin of victory.
“That’s my favorite kind of race,” the triumphant Rapp said. “I like riding by myself out front – I ride like that in practice in lot so that when it happens in a race, I’m ready for it. The bike was awesome; the guys from Suburban build the best bike out here – the best bike in America probably – and I’m happy to ride it.”
FansChoice.tv is the official home for live streaming coverage of AMA Pro Road Racing and AMA Pro Flat Track events in 2014. The site also provides coverage of IMSA’s development and single-make series, and NASCAR’s touring and weekly series.
The stars of AMA Pro Road Racing will share the spotlight with world-class company as the GEICO Motorcycle U.S. Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is up next. The joint AMA Pro-FIM event will take place on July 11-13 in Monterey, California.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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