VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P137
C
hampions find a way. And four-time AMA
Superbike Champion Josh Hayes has
found his way over and over again. This
year's Superbike title was no exception. The series
was in dire straits and he had a young rookie on
the same machinery nipping at his heels, poised
to take over the crown and being the Alpha in the
U.S. But Hayes didn't work his way up from club
racing to the top of the National Superbike series
to let that get in the way.
Hayes' road to being on top has involved over-
coming injuries and setbacks, one after the other.
It has also involved being overlooked in favor of
bigger names. He was in danger of always being
the underdog, which is a great story line, but not
so great living it when you're looking for a top ride.
But perseverance and hard work paid off and
Hayes landed his dream job. A top U.S. factory
ride at Yamaha. And the rest is history, except for
the fact that it's not all history. He's not done yet.
At 39-years old he secured his fourth Superbike
title and Hayes is looking for more, with no signs of
slowing down yet.
ODD SEASON
A black cloud kind of loomed over the 2014 AMA
Pro Road Racing season. The schedule was
short, there was no TV (only online streaming) and
the series lost its primary sponsor. The future of
professional road racing in America was in a pre-
carious position.
"After 2013, I felt like it was another kick in the
guts when they announced such a small sched-
ule, so small that they lost their primary sponsor,"
Hayes said.
Add to that, when he and his wife and fellow
racer, Melissa, stopped off for a visit with friends
at their local coffee shop before heading to the air-
port for what used to be one of the biggest races
of the year, Daytona, there was no way to answer
the question: how to watch the race?
"You're trying to convince these people that
you're one of the best motorcycle riders in the
country, maybe one of the better ones in the world,
but you can't even tell them how to watch what you
do for a living," Hayes said. "There were no an-
swers because they didn't even announce Fans
AFTER A ROUGH 2013 SEASON, THE SERIES
WAS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION WITH A
HOT NEW KID READY TO DISPLACE HIM, JOSH
HAYES ROSE TO THE OCCASION
BY ANDREA WILSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON AND BRIAN NITTO
TRUE GRIT
