Cameron Beaubier Crowned Champion at MotoAmerica Season Finale in Alabama

The Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing Team scored the results needed for Cameron Beaubier to retain his number-one plate in a spectacular come-from-behind run for the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff capped off the season in dominant fashion finishing first and second, respectively, at Barber Motorsports Park on September 20-22.

Beaubier had a 16-point deficit going into the season finale. With the cards out of his hands, the reigning Superbike champ was all in for the wins. He also needed his teammate Gerloff to join him on the podium in second for that final push in his late-season charge to the title.

From the start, the Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing duo showed speed, topping the timesheets, with Gerloff leading the way on Friday and Beaubier taking Superpole. In race one, the Californian got a great start from pole but was shuffled back to third. His younger teammate put his head down and built a healthy lead up front. On lap six, Beaubier made his move into second and set after the Texan. With five laps remaining, he was able to make the pass into the lead, and the factory bLU cRU riders set a hot pace to cross the line 1-2, over 18 seconds ahead of the competition.

With the championship still in sight, Beaubier lined up again in Sunday’s race hoping for a repeat performance. That nearly went up in a puff of dirt going into the first corner as he was pushed wide into turn one. He recovered but was shuffled back to sixth. As champions do, he kept fighting while Gerloff was once again out front setting the pace. Beaubier was able to move his way through the pack fairly quickly and take the number two spot by lap five. He caught up to his teammate and moved into the lead four laps later. Once again, the pair set a fast pace and kept it on two wheels to get the job done, securing Beaubier’s fourth MotoAmerica Superbike Championship and Yamaha’s 10th AMA Superbike title. It also marked Beaubier’s sixth win of the season and his 17th podium. The cherry on top for a successful weekend was an all-Yamaha YZF-R1 podium with Mathew Scholtz joining the factory riders on the podium.

It was a solid end to an impressive year for the sophomore Superbike rider. The Texan overcame challenges and really hit his stride in the second half of the season. After scoring his first career win in the premier class in race two at Laguna Seca, he backed it up with three more victories and earned a total of 15 podiums to end the year third in the standings.

Tom Halverson

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

“I am just so incredibly proud of our entire organization, our riders, crew, supporters and sponsors. This was a really special championship for us. We came in here having to get first and second in both races. Our guys pulled it off. It was just an unbelievable effort. We never gave up. Again, I’m just so proud of everybody. It’s a really emotional victory. Congratulations to Cameron for his fourth Superbike Championship and to Garrett for ending the season on such a high note. Both guys rode so great. They are incredible teammates. Together they brought home this championship for us, so again congratulations to the whole organization.”

Cameron Beaubier

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing

“I did everything I could to stay on the track there (in turn one). Herrin got in there hot and I was on the outside of him. I clipped the dirt a little bit, got shuffled way back and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I felt so good going into the race because of the pace Garrett and I had yesterday and it felt even better this morning in warmup, so it put me on the back foot right away. I just gave it everything I had to pass all those guys. They were so tough to pass. They’ve been ripping all year. I was so happy I was able to put a little gap on them. I just can’t believe it.

“My teammate helped me out a little bit there at the end without fighting me too much. Hats off to him. He’s been riding incredible. It’s really tough but really rewarding having such a fast teammate like that. It feels so good to keep the number one on my bike for everyone that supports us and especially Yamaha. It really is a big family. I love all of those guys. This one’s definitely for my crew chief, Rick Hobbs. He’s been my crew chief ever since we started on the Superbike together. He’s an amazing crew chief and an even better guy. This one’s for him.”

Garrett Gerloff

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing

“It was awesome. I started off slow. The tires were working great, but it just kind of took me a while to get comfortable on them. I’ve also been having a little bit of an issue with my brakes all weekend, just fading and stuff, so I was kind of fighting that. I’m super happy to be on the podium to finish the season off.

“I’m really happy that Yamaha was able to get the championship today. They’ve been like a family for me since I started road racing. They’ve always had me by their side, so I’m just super happy that they were able to get another championship this year. We had to fight for it. I was hoping a couple races ago that this could have been my championship. I was fighting for it, but I’m so happy for Yamaha, happy for the whole team. These guys work their butts off. Coming into this, we didn’t know what was going to happen so to walk out, coming from so far back to getting the championship, it’s awesome. Congrats to Cameron. Congrats to the whole team.”

2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Barber Race One Results

1. Cameron Beaubier

2. Garrett Gerloff

3. Toni Elias

4. Josh Herrin

5. JD Beach

6. Jake Gagne

7. Kyle Wyman

8. Cameron Petersen

9. David Anthony

10. Travis Wyman

2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Barber Race Two Results

1. Cameron Beaubier

2. Garrett Gerloff

3. Mathew Scholtz

4. Toni Elias

5. Kyle Wyman

6. Cameron Petersen

7. Josh Herrin

8. Jake Lewis

9. David Anthony

10. Max Flinders

2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings

1. Cameron Beaubier 367

2. Toni Elias 362

3. Garrett Gerloff 316

4. JD Beach 226

5. Josh Herrin 213

6. Mathew Scholtz 204

7. Jake Lewis 172

8. Jake Gagne 131

9. Cameron Petersen 128

10. David Anthony 118

About Michael Le Pard 10165 Articles
"Mr. Totalmotorcycle". Owner and Founder of Total Motorcycle, the World’s Largest Motorcycle Site with over 425 million readers since 1999. Total Motorcycle is my pride and joy and being able to reach 425 million people has been incredible and I could not have done it without the support of my visitors, readers and members...thank you so much! We are all making a difference to millions of riders worldwide.