Image: Brian J Nelson.

Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes completed the Triumph SuperBike Classic weekend sweep on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, putting on a clinic in race two of the AMA Pro SuperBike class.

The cagey three-time premier class champion exploited the Saturday misfortune endured by his three biggest threats for victory – teammate Cameron Beaubier and the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing duo of Roger Hayden and Martin Cardenas – and cruised to an easy victory.

Armed with the knowledge that all three had crashed in the heat on Saturday and were likely still suffering both physically and psychologically as a result, Hayes dropped the hammer from the start. He didn’t allow his challengers a chance to find their footing or work up their confidence, dropping them right from the race’s opening corners.

The Mississippian assembled an advantage of over twelve seconds before calling off the dogs late. He backed down his pace with just a few laps remaining and ultimately eased his way to a near-eight second margin of victory at the checkered flag.

The win represented a triple-double of sorts, as Hayes equaled the Barber Motorsports Park feat of the legendary Mat Mladin (2007-2009) by claiming six straight victories over three years at the impressive facility.

“It was a lot different race than I expected and how I expected it to play out, being able to get a little gap early and being able to stretch it out pretty quickly,” Hayes said. “I was happy to be able to kind of cruise toward the end of the race and just be careful. I feel a little lucky all of these guys have a rough-and-tumble day yesterday and that kind of leaned in my favor.”

Rookie Beaubier’s confidence appeared to be the one to take the biggest hit following a string of front-end falls. The 21-year-old made a pair of early mistakes and dropped well off the fight for second, which turned into an all-Yoshimura affair with Cardenas running directly in front of Hayden for the race’s opening 14 laps.

However, Beaubier slowly rediscovered his mojo and ran the two down from over five seconds back, arriving in Hayden’s wheel tracks with eight laps remaining.

Hayden then started a rapid descent in the opposite direction at that point, ultimately falling to fifth, one position behind the surging David Anthony of ADR Motorsports/Sic/Motul Fly Racing, who continued his run of all top fives in 2014. The day prior Anthony starred on his way to second behind Hayes.

It looked to be only a matter of time before Beaubier overtook Colombian Cardenas as well, but the rising star made yet another mistake on lap 19 of 21. He stayed upright but thought better of resuming the chase, accepting a podium finish in third.

“It feels very good,” Cardenas said. “I feel for sorry for my mechanics because I destroyed the bike yesterday. They did a great job building the bike back up and I just wanted to get a good result today. We ended up second and that’s pretty good. We’re looking forward to the next race. Hopefully we won’t make mistakes and improve a little bit.”

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Chris Clark backed up the first podium of his AMA Pro Road Racing career by coming home in sixth a day later. He was followed to the stripe by GEICO Motorcycle Road Racing Honda’s Chris Ulrich.

Ulrich hounded Clark on track but was 10 seconds adrift in the official results after getting hit with a 10-second penalty for anticipating the start. However, the finishing order was the same.

It was a weekend to forget for HMC/KTM Racing’s Chris Fillmore. After his bike overheated late in Saturday’s race while holding down a podium position, Fillmore encountered electrical problems with both his ‘A’ and ‘B’ bikes on Sunday and was forced to retire after running just a single lap.

Hayes now boasts an imposing 29-point lead with the season now just past its halfway point. Anthony continues to rank in second (145-116) while Hayden (113), Beaubier (110) and Clark (105) all remain well within in striking distance of the Australian.

Dane Westby made it a double Daytona SportBike victory at Barber Motorsports Park, capping off a charge through the field to repeat his Saturday performance. Westby won the race by 0.235 seconds over MotoSport.com/Meen Yamaha Jake Lewis and RoadRace Factory/Red Bull’s Jake Gagne.

2014 American Superbike Championship
Round three – Barber Motorsport Park, AL

Superbike race one results:
1. Josh Hayes
2. David Anthony (AUS)
3. Chris Clark
4. Larry Pegram
5. Cory West
6. Sean Dwyer
7. Reese Wacker
8. Trent Gibson (AUS)
9. Johnny Rock Page
10. Frankie Babuska

Superbike race two results:
1. Josh Hayes
2. Martin Cardenas
3. Cameron Beaubier
4. David Anthony (AUS)
5. Roger Hayden
6. Chris Clark
7. Chris Ulrich
8. Cory West
9. Larry Pegram
10. Sean Dwyer
11. Trent Gibson (AUS)

Superbike championship standings:
1. Josh Hayes 145
2. David Anthony (AUS) 116
3. Roger Hayden 113
4. Cameron Beaubier 110
5. Chris Clark 105
6. Martin Cardenas 90
7. Chris Fillmore 69
8. Cory West 65
9. Trent Gibson (AUS) 55
10. Larry Pegram 50

Click here for detailed results