Philpot motorcyle racer JD Beach wrapped up the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport title with a third place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday.
Going into the race, JD needed two points to clinch the title. When Josh Herrin crashed during a restart, Beach’s third place finish gave him a 57 point lead in the Supersport Championship standings, securing his first professional title. “We only have one round left, at New Jersey, and the maximum points anyone can get is 50,” Beach explained. Typically, the New Jersey track has been troublesome for Beach, “so it makes it nice for me because now I can go into the last round, have fun, and not worry about it. I’m just going to focus on getting to know the track better and improving.”
Beach said after the race that his first championship was “something that I’ve wanted for a long time and I’ve worked since I was a kid to have. It was just me and my dad going dirt track racing and then moving away from my dad and moving back east and living with a great family. We all had the same goal and having Hayden [Gillim] win the Supersport Championship last year and being able to bring it home this year…it’s just an amazing thing. I’m just thankful to have a team behind me like I do and a family there that has the same goals as me. Me and Hayden are always pushing each other each day and it’s just amazing.”
As for the other Owensboro racers: Hayden Gillim, last year’s Supersport champ, finished 7th in Indy and is currently 10th in the championship standings; Roger Hayden made the podium twice this weekend, finishing second in both Superbike races and is currently 3rd in the championship standings; and Nicky Hayden finished 16th in the MotoGP race Sunday. (The appreciative Indianapolis crowd gave Nicky, the 2006 world champ and only American racing MotoGP this year, a standing ovation during his cool-down lap.)
Beach won the first race of the season and went on to win eight races total, six of which were back-to-back wins. Hopefully winning the title will help solidify his racing career.
The team celebrated Saturday night, but today it’s back to training with Gillim like normal – a long bike ride around Philpot followed by working out in the gym. “Even though I’ve wrapped up the title, I still want to go win (New Jersey). It’s still work time,” Beach said.
Read more about JD in this exclusive Owensboro Living interview with fellow racers Roger Hayden and Hayden Gillim.
