2014 New Jersey AMA SuperSport Recap
Heading into the final AMA Pro SuperSport race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, TOBC Racing Suzuki’s Hayden Gillim held a seven-point lead over Houston Superbike Yamaha’s Dustin Dominguez.
The two had battled throughout the seven-round SuperSport series, but Gillim would eventually walk away the 2014 Champion – by a mere two points.
Dominguez gave it all he had in race 2 at NJMP, taking the win. But Gillim’s second-place finish allowed him to take his first title in the series. Gillim wrapped up 2014 SuperSport with 246 points after taking nine of 10 race podiums, including three wins.
Taking third overall was Celtic HVMC Racing Suzuki’s Wyatt Farris; he finished the season with 183 points.
Following are the official race recaps from the 2014 AMA Pro SuperSport season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park:
2014 New Jersey Motorsports Park AMA Pro SuperSport Race 1 Recap:
TOBC Racing’s Hayden Gillim won Saturday’s shortened AMA Pro SuperSport race and increased his points lead to seven with one race to go. Gillim took a bold approach to the difficult conditions at the beginning of the race, taking the holeshot over fast local ace Mar Del Racing’s Mark Miller, Jr. and the polesitter, HSBK’s Dustin Dominguez.
Gillim did relent the first position for a time, but the points leader rallied to take back the lead before the rain increased and the race was stopped after a crash.
“I wasn’t worried about the weather too much. I was worried about the gap back to Dustin,” said Gillim. “The red flag was out and it must have been pretty bad. I know tomorrow is going to be hard because Dustin is so quick and this being a wet race, it didn’t help our dry setup t all. We’re going to be fighting as hard as we can for these precious points.”
Dominguez took second place on the day, having run down Miller before the stoppage as he continued to build his pace after what the Oklahoman described as a too-cautious start.
Gillim and Dominguez will settle their championship battle with tomorrow’s finale.
Wyatt Farris was classified fourth even though he had fallen on his Celtic Racing/HVMC-backed Suzuki as did several members of the group fighting for those positions. Justin Jones (Showtime Inc.) and Richie Escalante (Escalante Racing) also fought for the position.
2014 New Jersey Motorsports Park AMA Pro SuperSport Race 2 Recap:
Houston Superbikes’ Dustin Dominguez won a tight 16-lap race in AMA Pro SuperSport over TOBC Racing’s Hayden Gillim, but Gillim won the championship by two points anyway after winning on Saturday.
Wyatt Farris of Celtic Racing/HVMC earned third to end his year with a podium result.
Dominguez shadowed Gillim in the early going, then took control at the midpoint as the duo hit traffic. Unfortunately for the Dominguez, winning was not enough. He needed other riders to join the battle for the lead and relegate Gillim to at least third in the race standings. That never happened as Dominguez and Gillim finished ten seconds in front of the pack led by Farris.
“This is probably the most depressing win I’ve ever had but it’s a win and that’s good,” said Dominguez. “Hayden got a good start and I chased him down and tried to pressure him. I thought if we went at it, someone might catch up.”
Gillim made a late run and nearly won the race, finishing just 0.041 seconds back. After finishing second in his championship four straight years, Gillim finally took the No. 1 plate.
“I’d rather fight my hardest and crash away the championship than give away a race. That’s how I’d rather have it. The strategy was to win. It always is,” said Gillim. “The first few laps, I was pushing as hard as I could. We were having a really good battle. It’s insane the support I have gotten and I can’t thank everyone enough.”
Farris topped Kaleb De Keyrel (De Keyrel Racing) for third as well as fast local rider Mark Miller Jr., of Mar Del Racing. Miller was a little more than 1.5 seconds from repeating his Saturday podium result.
