Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha’s Josh Hayes Wins SuperBike Race 1 At Barber Motorsports Park; Teammate Herrin Second

Birmingham, AL June 23, 2012**** – Under near-triple-digit temperatures, two-time reigning AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes blazed his #1 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R1 to victory in Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park, and his teammate Josh Herrin stayed right on his tail until the final couple of laps where Herrin brought his #2 R1 home for a safe second-place finish.

It was the seventh win of the season for Josh Hayes, who earned a bonus championship point for leading the most laps, which, as has been the trend in his past few wins, was all 21 laps of the race.

Commenting on his win, Josh said, “It was a fun race and exactly what I expected. Super-hot, but fun. It was great having Josh up there with me, and he really pushed me the entire race.”

Josh Herrin, who started from second position on the grid, pulled one of his now-patented “Herrin Holeshots,” which put him in the lead for part of the first lap. Josh stuck right to the back of his teammate, and the boys in blue stayed one-two throughout the remainder of the race.

“Josh helped me a lot in qualifying here at Barber, and it’s really paying off,” Josh commented. “I’m able to run a much-quicker pace than I was earlier in the season. My conditioning has improved, too. It was crazy-hot out there, and I thought my feet were going to catch on fire, but I’m so happy that I could race at the front with Josh. I want that win, and it’s going to be a ‘Monster’ task, but I can’t wait till tomorrow to race again.”

SuperBike Race 2 will go green on Sunday at 3:30 PM CST. For news, results, and other team info, be sure to check out Yamaha’s Facebook page.