AMA SuperSport Sunday Race Results

SuperSport Road Atlanta

After the dramatic action in yesterday’s AMA Pro SuperSport race, it seemed that there was no way these talented group of young riders could possibly top it, but once again, J.D. Beach and his Rockwall Yamaha teammate Cameron Beaubier put on a display of skill and finesse that thrilled the sun baked crowds around the 2.56-mile Road Atlanta road course during the Suzuki SuperBike Showdown weekend.

Beach, in winning his second race in two days and taking home an extra $3,000.00 from ProRacing Sports Marketing for accumulating the most points over the course of both Road Atlanta races, stamped his mark on the series that so far has been dominated by LTD Yamaha Racing’s star rider, Joey Pascarella.

Unfortunately for Pascarella, he sustained an injury to his right shoulder in yesterday’s race warm-up crash and wasn’t able to compete in today’s final. Fortunately, however, he is registered to accumulate points in the Western Division of the Young Guns category and therefore didn’t lose any overall points in his quest for the divisional championship.

Huntley Nash and Tomas Puerta, Pascarella’s LTD Yamaha teammates, carried the flag today in Pascarella’s absence and Nash continues to shine as he took another podium finish, one better than yesterday, in second. Beaubier took third ahead of Puerta.

Today’s race began under clear blue skies and at the start, Elena Myers on her Richie Morris Racing Roadracingworld.com Suzuki, still sore from her unfortunate problem in yesterday’s warm-up, made a perfect launch and led into and up the hill in turn one.

Beach, Nash and Beaubier were all right behind Myers and by the time the group got to the turn two-three section, they had all swept by her in a big group draft. Beaubier was all over the back of Nash’s Yamaha and he swept by and took up station right behind Beach.

The young riders then put on a display of riding that was almost poetic in nature as they rode in perfect synchronization, banking left and right for each corner but all the while riding as if it was the last lap of qualifying. Nash gamely tried to hang, and slightly back, Myers and Puerta were battling with Travis Wyman on his Wyman Racing Yamaha in their own battle. But the front three were gone and Beach and Beaubier had turned this race into their own private affair.

On lap five, Beaubier pulled out in the draft as the two headed off the back straight and down into the turn ten complex that had been the scene of so many passing moves all weekend long. As the two Rockwell bikes dove down the hill, Beaubier braked as hard and as late as he possibly could, to the point where he did a masterful job of maintaining control.

He almost had to put his left foot down to steady himself and as a result of this brave passing attempt, Beach was forced out to the edge of the track and had to give way. Beaubier now actually had a bit of a gap back to Beach after this moment, but the race was far from over.

On lap seven, Puerta got by Myers but she re-passed him into turn ten before the end of the lap. They went back and forth over the next couple of laps as one would pass the other, only to have the favor returned before the end of the very same lap. At this point the race was interrupted by an unfortunate fall by Sam Nash, Huntley’s brother, who was riding another LTD Yamaha.

The race was stopped to attend to Nash, who was transported to the infield medical center for examination. The race was quickly restarted and this gave Beach the chance to take another shot at Beaubier, who again got a great start, this time with Nash behind him as they went into turn one.

Nose to tail, the three ran as one and as they once again ran down into turn ten, Beach made a strong move from third to first and led down the front straight, even pulling a slight gap back to a furiously battling Nash and Beaubier.

How this would all play out was again unfortunately disrupted by a major mechanical problem for another rider back in the pack which necessitated what was determined to be a lengthy track clean-up for spilled fluids. The race was declared final and Beach completed a hard fought and well deserved double win weekend. Nash took second ahead of a disappointed Beaubier. Puerta held on to fourth in a solid showing with the brave Myers taking fifth ahead of Wyman.

Rounding out the top ten was James Rispoli in seventh on his Suzuki, followed by Eric Stump in eighth on his Stump Racing Honda and David Gaviria taking Top Gun honors on his Kawasaki. Miles Thornton was tenth on his Thornton Racing Yamaha.

It was another great race, even with the interruptions, and the AMA Pro SuperSport Young Guns continue to show the way to the future and in the process deliver some of the most exciting racing of the AMA Pro Road Racing weekends.

Highlights from this today’s AMA Pro SuperSport race can be in seen in a same-day delay broadcast Sunday evening on SPEED. Check your local listings for broadcast times.

Up next for AMA Pro SuperSport will be the Western Division at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on the weekend of May 14-16.