Josh Hayes came into the 2025 MotoAmerica season with 88 victories across all classes, making him the winningest racer in AMA history. On Friday, Hayes turned 50. Today, he added to the Hayes legacy by winning the 89th race of his career in a rainstorm at Barber Motorsports Park. And all this after sitting out last year’s championship.
Hayes and his BPR Racing Yamaha YZF-R9 didn’t have the pace in Saturday’s Motovation Supersport dry race, with the four-time AMA Superbike Champion finishing 10th. On a rainy Sunday in Alabama, Hayes definitely had pace. He shot ahead at the start and though he was never headed, he was most definitely hounded from behind. Initially, the challenge came from Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Corey Alexander, then Saturday’s race-one winner Mathew Scholtz took up the cause and was all over the back of Hayes. With four laps to go, Scholtz crashed, leaving Alexander’s Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL teammate PJ Jacobsen to take on the challenge of trying to beat Hayes.
Jacobsen waited for a miscue that didn’t come, and the victory went to Hayes by just .789 of a second over the New Yorker. Scholtz, meanwhile, remounted to finish third on his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R9.
Scholtz’s teammate Blake Davis was fourth and right on Scholtz’s tailsection. Davis had been in a battle with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, with Scott crashing right in front of Davis, who was forced to take evasive action. Davis rode on to fourth with Scott remounting to finish ninth.
Fifth place went to Scott’s teammate Max Van, who was well clear of Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis. Jacobsen’s teammate Kayla Yaakov was on Lewis’ tail in seventh.
BPR Racing Yamaha’s Teagg Hobbs ended up eighth with Scott ninth. Altus Motorsports’ Jaret Nassaney rounded out the top 10.
With round one complete, Scholtz leads Jacobsen by one point, 41-40, with Hayes third on 31 points.
“I won the last National I rode in the rain in 2023 at New Jersey,” Hayes said. “My expectations were not this today. Somebody asked me and I’m like, ‘Supersport in the rain right now is so stacked.’ We’ve seen what Mat (Scholtz) can do. We’ve seen what PJ (Jacobsen) can do in the rain. Blake Davis has really grown in the rain. Kayla (Yaakov). There’s so many people that have shown great speed in the rain. I just tried to be smart. They had some moments, and I really tried to learn as much as I could this morning and in that warm-up lap that we had. I committed to what my lines were going to be, and I pretty much stuck to them the whole race. I said, okay, when Mat (Scholtz) caught me. ‘If he’s got the speed to go, I’m going to do what I can to learn from him and hang on, but if he goes… If I finish here in this area, I’m in pretty good shape.’ His (Scholtz) confidence has been incredible to watch him. I just feel lucky to be a part of the success of the R9 program right from the beginning. What an incredible weekend. I watched these two guys battle last year, and with any stroke of luck they’re going to have to deal with me more than in the rain this year, and that’s our goal and our hope. I’m looking forward to some more racing.”
SC-Project Twins Cup – Di Mario’s Turn
Sunday’s SC-Project Twins Cup race was red-flagged on the seventh of 10 laps, and the only thing that was a certainty was that Alessandro Di Mario was the winner. The rest was as clear as mud, and it took a while to sort it all out.
When it was all said and done, it was Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle taking second with Karns/TST Motorsports’ Levi Badie finishing third in the rain-lashed race two. Weyh Racing’s Andrew Weyh was a career-best fourth with Moto-Ace Racing’s Zachary Foster fifth.
Di Mario was one of the few who didn’t crash in the race. With Di Mario out front, Doyle was battling with Speeddemon Racing’s Logan Cunnison until Cunnison crashed out. That left Doyle to fight it out for second with Karns/TST Industries’ Isaac Woodworth. Then Woodworth crashed.
Shortly thereafter, it was RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin’s turn to crash out of fifth place. Chapin remounted only to crash again on the same lap when his throttle stuck wide open going into turn one.
With five laps to go, Doyle crashed out of second place, but a red flag was thrown, and the South African was credited with second place behind Di Mario.
In total, there were six DNFs and six non-starters in Sunday’s race two.
After two rounds of the SC-Project Twins Cup Championship, Di Mario leads Chapin by 19 points, 85-66. Doyle is third with 52 points, five ahead of Saturday’s race winner Avery Dreher.
“I just got flashbacks from last year,” Di Mario said. “In race one last year, it was in the rain, and I crashed, and then I won on Sunday in the dry. So, this year was split. I kinda lost in the dry and then won in the wet. I wasn’t really expecting it. Earlier I was just like, ‘I’m gonna go out there and win.’ I was so pissed about yesterday. I had a big moment in the big esses. I’m really happy, but I can’t really enjoy it right now. I have to go put my other helmet on and go race Talent Cup.”
Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul – Vossberg’s Rain Dance
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg won the first Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul race of his promising young career on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, taking full advantage of the mistakes of others to earn victory in the wet race that was red-flagged on the eighth lap.
Vossberg rode a near-perfect race, topping Jones Honda’s Julian Correa, who was second, 7.6 seconds behind Vossberg and a little less than a second ahead of Saturday’s race winner Alessandro Di Mario. Di Mario ran off track on the fourth lap, which basically took him out of contention for another victory.
Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane was fourth after starting from the back of the grid after he missed the sighting lap following his crash in the track familiarization session that was held just prior to the race. Drane’s Australian countryman Bodie Paige, meanwhile, had a big crash on the fifth lap of the race that ended his day.
Envy Powered by Warhorse’s Derek Sanchez rounded out the top five.
Di Mario now has a 21-point lead in the Talent Cup Championship over Drane, 86-65. Vossberg and Correa are tied for third with 54 points, one ahead of Paige. The collective age of the Talent Cup podium at Barber Motorsports Park was 46 years old – four years younger than Mr. Hayes.
