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AMA Superbike
AMA SBK: Role Reversal: Hayes on the Inside Looking Out
Josh Hayes paid his dues for so long it was starting to look as if he might receive retirement benefits on them before ever getting a crack at a factory Superbike.
Chris Martin  |  Posted December 12, 2008   Iowa City, IA
Yamaha USA's Josh Hayes (Photo: Brian J Nelson)
Yamaha USA's Josh Hayes (Photo: Brian J Nelson)

33-year-old Josh Hayes had paid his dues for so long it was starting to look as if he might receive retirement benefits on them before ever getting a crack at a factory Superbike.

Despite having three AMA undercard titles to his name, punctuated by a monster '07 in which he scored a second consecutive FX crown and claimed a combined eleven victories, Hayes was relegated to the outside looking in again in 2008. Already frustrated, matters were further complicated when he was stripped of a runaway victory in the 2008 Daytona 200 and he spiraled into something of a slump, going well past the season's halfway point without a single (official) victory to his credit.

However, a convincing flourish to close out the year, in which he racked up five quick wins, at last opened the door to a factory gig on Yamaha USA's all-new R1 American Superbike machine.

Now Hayes finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being one of the few racers in America with a confirmed factory Superbike seat for '08 with many top teams and riders yet to have officially announced their plans for the upcoming season.

Interestingly, that realization is bittersweet for the Mississippian. "It means a lot to finally get this chance but right now I'm just hoping the rest of the guys don't take their ball and go home. The reason I wanted to ride factory Superbikes is because I wanted to race the best racers in the country, and some of the best racers in the world. And just racing against my teammate isn't necessarily what I wanted to do.

"I feel so fortunate that Yamaha has made the commitment and we have a plan and we're going racing. That, I'm excited about. I hope that the rest of them decide to come too because that's what I wanted, a legitimate shot at beating those guys. I'm still going to work hard like they're coming and if they don't, it will hurt my feelings pretty bad, but I'd still have a job to do and I'd go out and put everything out there."


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