ALTON, Va. — The MotoAmerica Superbike Championship was flipped upside down on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway with Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong racing to an immaculate doubleheader sweep while championship points leader Josh Herrin crashed out of the lead on the third lap of race two.
And just like that the complexity of the championship has changed, and things are now suddenly tight at the top as Herrin’s championship points lead has been cut down to just five points with three rounds and seven races left to run in the season.
Fong was even more unstoppable on Sunday than he was on Saturday as he simply raced at a different level than the rest of the class. After 20 laps of Virginia International Raceway, he was a tick over 14 seconds ahead of the battle for second place.
And what a battle it was. Five riders raced to the checkered flag with the five separated by just .702 of a second.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly led the battle behind him for almost the entire race. The almost came in the final two laps when Kelly’s teammate Richie Escalante, who was having the best ride of his Superbike career, not only threatened but led Kelly with Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, and Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim all in position to pounce should it go badly for the two Suzukis.
The war went to the final lap and the run to the finish line with Kelly besting Escalante by .093 of a second. Beaubier, whose title hopes got a lot brighter with Herrin’s miscue, was a shadow fourth with Gagne and Gillim breathing down his neck in fifth and sixth, respectively.
It would have been the race of the year if not for Fong, who was miles up the road from the fighting fivesome.
BPR Racing Yamaha’s Bryce Kornbau was seventh, almost five seconds behind but four seconds clear of Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach, with the Kentuckian winning the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup for the top finishing rider on a Stock 1000-spec motorcycle.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates and Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Danilo Lewis rounded out the top 10.
With Fong closing the gap on Herrin, who scored two points for remounting and finishing 14th (three laps behind), to just five points, 242-237, the race for the title is now white-hot. Beaubier was also a benefactor of Herrin’s tip over as he is now 16 points behind with 226 points.
Fong’s teammate Gagne is fourth in the title chase with 187 points, 50 points clear of fifth-placed Escalante. Beach is sixth but leads the Superbike Cup by 59 points over Jason Waters, 283-224. The win at VIR was Beach’s 12th in the class within a class.
