ROUNDS 3/4/JUNE 1-2, 2013
ROAD AMERICA/ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN
AMA SUPERBIKE
P36
AMA NATIONAL GUARD SUPERBIKE SERIES
THE CLIMB
BEGINS
JOSH HAYES STARTS TO CLAW
HIS WAY BACK WITH A SWEEP
AT ROAD AMERICA
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
A
fter his Daytona debacle, Josh Hayes was
looking nearly straight up at what seemed
an Everest-like climb to get back in championship contention. The plan for Hayes in this short
AMA Superbike season is easy – be perfect. After
scoring a doubleheader sweep at Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin's famous Road America, the Monster
Energy Graves Yamaha is on the right path.
Consider the numbers: His sweep at Road
America catapulted Hayes from 18th place and
48 points down in the standings, to fourth place
and 34 points behind Yoshimura Suzuki's Martin
Cardenas. It also earned him his fifth straight AMA
Superbike victory at the track, breaking the record
of four-straight Road America victories held by Mat
Mladin.
Hayes is still far from planting his flag at the peak,
but he's left base camp and the peaks in front of
him look considerably less daunting.
Colombian Cardenas finds himself leading the
AMA Superbike Championship for the first time in
his career. He took over the lead after Saturday's
race when he finished second and early series
leader Josh Herrin ran off the track and ended up
sixth. Cardenas expanded on that lead with another
