Photography by Brian J. Nelson
BIRMINGHAM, AL (June 22, 2014) — Josh Hayes is once again looking like the dominant rider of the AMA Superbike Championship after winning Sunday’s race at Barber Motorsports Park in convincing fashion. Hayes built over a 10-second lead on his Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha R1, before backing off late and taking a 7.807-second margin of victory over Martin Cardenas. Cameron Beaubier finished third, after suffering a slow start to the 21-lap final.
The victory extended Hayes’ points lead to 29 points over a surprising David Anthony (145-116). Roger Hayden, who shared the points lead with Beaubier coming into the weekend, leaves in third with 113 points. After his crash Saturday and third today Beaubier is fourth in the series with 110 points.
Anthiny has clearly emerged as the leading privateer in the championship. He took another solid finish in fourth today and actually battle for quite a while early with Beaubier and passed Hayden late.
The race opened with Yamaha’s Hayes taking the lead with the two Yoshimura Suzuki’s of Cardenas and Hayden in hot pursuit. Beaubier ran fourth, but was actually passed for a lap by David Anthony. By lap three Beaubier was back to fourth, but was already over four seconds behind Hayes.
As the race progressed Hayes was pulling away at about a second per lap. Cardenas and Hayden, having both crashed out dramatically yesterday, ran together in a close fight for second. Surprising Beaubier was having a hard time shaking Anthony. Chris Clark, Cory West and Chris Ulrich were in a nice tussle over sixth, with Larry Pegram trailing not far behind. However, AMA Pro officials announced that Ulrich and Pegram were penalized 10 seconds for jumping the start.
In the middle stages Beaubier seemed to find his legs. He got away from Anthony and began chipping away at the two Suzuki riders at almost a second per lap. With six laps to go Beaubier had caught them and the trio of Cardenas, Hayden and Beaubier ran nose to tail.
On lap 17 Beaubier zoomed around the outside of Hayden with a strong drive coming out of turn five/six. He then pressured Cardenas for a few laps before slipping up and losing touch again.
For Hayes part, he was thrilled with how the weekend went. Sweeping both races and taking a commanding series lead was more than he could have hoped for.
“I was pretty surprised I was able to get away like I did today,” Hayes said. “It was really hot today and it’s races like this where my training really pays off.”
The series next moves to Laguna Seca for the combined World Superbike event on July 11-13.
AMA Superbike Results from Barber Motorsports Park – June 22, 2014
1 4 Josh Hayes Gulfport, MS Yamaha R1 21 Laps 1:25.695 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha
2 36 Martin Cardenas Medellin, Colombia Suzuki GSX-R1000 +07.807 1:26.026 Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing
3 2 Cameron Beaubier Roseville, CA Yamaha R1 +12.305 1:26.282 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha
4 25 David Anthony Murrieta, CA Suzuki GSX-R1000 +18.746 1:27.066 ADR Motorsports, Sic, Motul Fly Racin
5 95 Roger Hayden Owensboro, KY Suzuki GSX-R1000 +29.328 1:26.522 Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing
6 6 Chris Clark Las Vegas, NV Suzuki GSX-R1000 +42.257 1:28.077 Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing
7 18 Chris Ulrich Lake Elsinore, CA Honda CBR1000RR +52.754 1:27.947 GEICO Motorcycle Racing
8 13 Cory West Eureka Springs, AR EBR 1190RS +53.903 1:28.288 Team AMSOIL Hero
9 72 Larry Pegram Hebron, OH EBR 1190RS +55.890 1:28.162 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing
10 361 Sean Dwyer Palm Beach Gardens, FLSuzuki GSX-R1000 +1:09.005 1:29.507 Vicious Cycle Racing
