VOL. 51 ISSUE 22 JUNE 3, 2014 P47
year keeping Cameron Beaubier
from a perfect season. "We kind
of didn't know if we were going
to restart and we got the three-
lap dash. I knew it was going to
be a battle. I knew Garret, J.D.,
Jake Lewis, all those guys, Dane
[Westby], I knew they'd all be
there. I knew it would probably be
a fight to the line. Jake Lewis got
by me a few times on the first lap -
he outbroke me. And then Garrett
got by me. And then I think going
on the last lap I just tried to put my
head down and get a good clean
lap. I knew we had a strong bike to
the line. I thought Garrett or J.D.
or someone was right behind me
going to the finish line."
But no one was close enough
for a draft move. In a brilliant fi-
nal two miles, Gagne opened just
enough of a gap again that he
ensured his victory. He was 1.318
seconds ahead of Gerloff, who
in turn won out in a great fight
over second with Beach, Lewis
and Dane Westby. Westby's bike
blew up late on the final lap trail-
ing a smoke screen behind him,
dropping him from the fight.
Rain Creates Confusion
Rain fell in different sections of
the vast Road America in the
closing laps of Sunday's DSB
race. It created confusion among
the riders and interfered with a
great scrap for second between
Beach and Westby.
Gagne was flawless and quick-
ly gapped the field and built a
massive lead. On the final couple
of laps it began drizzling on sec-
tions of the track. Gagne, backed
off his pace, pointed to the sky,
but the race continued.
"It started raining and made
me a little nervous," Gagne said.
"I was trying to let everybody
know that it was raining. These
guys [Beach and Westby] were
too, but, yeah, we came home
with two wins.
"There were some spots
where it wasn't raining and some
spots where it was actually rain-
ing pretty good. So it was kind
of hard to tell for the AMA and all
those guys for sure. Luckily no-
body went down and we made it
home safe."
Westby, desperate to just finish
a race after crashing out of Day-
tona and then blowing up in Satur-
day's race at Road America, saw
the rain on his visor and broke off
his battle with Beach for second.
"I felt like the wisest decision
was to just stay on the podium
and let those guys go," Westby
said of the treacherous final laps.
"I think we had the ability to run
for that second-place position
and I wished there'd been a real
battle and I'm sure J.D. does too,
but that's how it goes." CN
Race One
1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
2. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
3. JD Beach (Yamaha)
4. Jake Lewis (Yamaha)
5. Jason DiSalvo (Triumph)
6. Blake Young (Yamaha)
7. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)
8. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha)
9. Benny Solis (Yamaha)
10. Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
Race Two
1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
2. JD Beach (Yamaha)
3. Dane Westby (Yamaha)
4. Danny Eslick (Triumph)
5. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)
6. Benny Solis (Yamaha)
7. Steve Rapp (Triumph)
8. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha)
9. Jake Zemke (Honda)
10 Blake Young (Yamaha)
AMA PRO GOPRO DAYTONA SPORTBIKE SERIES
Dane Westby made up for
Saturday's disappointment
to finish on the podium in
Sundays' race.
