MOTOAMERICA
AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
P98
ROUND 3 / MAY 3-5, 2019
VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY / ALTON, VIRGINIA
JD "JIGGY DOG"
WIN AS THE CHAMPIONSHIP
JD Beach holds off
Garrett Gerloff for
a historic race-two
victory at VIR. The last
rider to score an AMA
Flat Track National
and Superbike win in
the same year was the
late Nicky Hayden.
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON
E
very dog has his day. The rider affectionately
known around the MotoAmerica paddock
as "Jiggy Dog," JD Beach, became the first
rider since his great friend, the late Nicky Hayden,
to bring home an AMA Superbike and AMA Flat
Track victory in the same season (actually, the
same week) with a stunning win in race two at
Virginia International Raceway.
Beach was superlative on a treacherously
drying track as he passed early race leader Kyle
Wyman on his rain-tire-shod Ducati Panigale V4 R
and Monster Energy Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff,
taking the win as race-one winner and current
MotoAmerica number one Cameron Beaubier
(Monster Energy Yamaha) crashed out, with Toni
Elias (Yoshimura Suzuki) salvaging third.
There was an extra cherry on the sundae for
Beach as the win came on the 12th anniversary of
his good friend Ethan Gillim's passing, with Ethan's
brother and Beach's roommate Hayden taking the
Sunday Supersport race win.
"It just feels like the stars just aligned this whole
week," Beach said. "For me to get my first win last
week, and to get this win today with Hayden win-
ning the 600 class, it's just amazing. The desire
to win last weekend was like a childhood goal. It's
kind of like when you're a kid [and] you're like, I
want to be a firefighter or whatever. For me when
I was a kid that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to
be a dirt tracker. I wanted to win races, and I still
do. To win this Superbike race is something I've
GETTING
JIGGY
