SHELTON, Wash. — Prior to Saturday’s Superbike race one at Ridge Motorsports Park, Josh Herrin had never won three Superbike races in a row. On Sunday, he made it four straight, with a dominating victory in the Pacific Northwest.
If Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin was good on Saturday, he was even better on Sunday as he rode away from his challengers, never put a wheel wrong, and cruised home with five seconds in hand.
The win was Herrin’s 20th career AMA Superbike victory, a win that puts the defending class champion in a tie for eighth with two-time World Superbike and three-time AMA Superbike Champion Fred Merkel.
For the second straight day, second place went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion pleased with what he felt was the result he could get with the package he was dealing with.
Although Beaubier’s two second-place finishes cost him the lead in the championship, he goes to his home track of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in two weeks with high hopes.
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne was third for the second straight day, making for identical podiums on both days in the Superbike class. Gagne is getting closer to being the Gagne of old and he turned in another solid ride on Sunday, finishing 2.8 seconds behind Beaubier.
Richie Escalante was fourth, one spot better than his Saturday result as the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider showed good speed all weekend and ended up slightly less than 10 seconds behind race-winning Herrin.
Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim was fifth for his best finish of the season thus far as his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP continues to improve.
Gillim was well clear of BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau with sixth also a high-water mark for the Californian and his Yamaha YZF-R1. Real Steel Honda’s J.D. Beach was seventh, which earned him the win in the Superbike Cup for those racing Stock 1000-spec motorcycles in the Superbike class.
Gagne’s teammate Bobby Fong struggled with mechanical ills on his Yamaha YZF-R1, and he barely topped Thrashed Motorcycles’ Max Flinders and BPR Racing’s Deion Campbell at the finish line with half a second covering the threesome that rounded out the top 10.
