Twenty-one-year-old Cameron Beaubier is no stranger to winning, but this year he has proven his ability to grab checkers in a new venue– the AMA’s premier road racing class.
Notching a win in his second race in the AMA Pro SuperBike class proved to his competition that not only is he capable of winning, but he is capable of winning early, and quite possibly often.
He dominated the Daytona SportBike class last year, winning 12 of 13 races en route to an uncontested championship. His only non-first place finish was a second place, leaving him with an average finishing position of 1.1. That he came out so strong in 2014 is no surprise, even with his graduation to the SuperBike class.
Opening weekend at Daytona in March proved that Beaubier is a force to be reckoned with, landing on the podium in both races. Initially, Race One appeared to be typical AMA SuperBike racing, with Josh Hayes taking the win, but the rookie Beaubier managed to snag a third place finish. Despite a slip up early in the race, Beaubier managed to climb back to second place, and even grabbed the lead for a lap late in the race. When he ran too wide into Turn 1 a second time in the final laps, he lost his chance for a win.
Beaubier would not make the same mistake twice. The next day, he rode his Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 to victory, and in only his second Pro SuperBike race. After hanging in the top-three throughout the race, Beaubier made his move to second place in the final laps, and on the last circuit played the draft in the final turn to blow by Roger Hayden for the win.
Despite the AMA’s huge scheduling gap between early March’s weekend in Daytona and the following race weekend at Road America May 31-June 1, Beaubier has kept himself busy and successful elsewhere.
Aside from currently leading the AMA Pro SuperBike points after two solid finishes at Daytona, Beaubier also leads the point standings in the GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout series, a three race series that is heading into its final round at Miller Motorsports Park on May 25. His finishes in the first two races: second at Auto Club Speedway and first at Sonoma Raceway.
The weekend following the GEICO series championship will turn Beaubier’s attention back to the AMA series, where the daunting four-mile Road America awaits.The longest course on the circuit is also one of the most popular in all of road racing, and a couple solid finishes there will solidify Beaubier’s position as a serious championship contender in his rookie season, in case anyone has any lingering doubts.
It was obvious that his time to graduate to SuperBike had come. From winning the Daytona 200 last year by 22 seconds, to capturing every pole of the year en route to a 12-win championship season, the question was not if he would race in the SuperBike class, but how dominant he would be. He has exceeded all expectations. While a jump to the internationally acclaimed MotoGP series may undoubtedly be a option in the future, Cameron Beaubier should relish in the fact that he is sitting on a rookie season that may very well be one for the record books.
