Josh Hayes captured the 2006 Lockhart
Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series title by
taking a dramatic victory in the series
finale at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on
Sunday, Oct. 1.
Formula Xtreme was the most closely
contested series in AMA championship road
racing this year. Hayes, Eric Bostrom and
Jason DiSalvo came into Mid-Ohio all with a
good shot at winning the title. Hayes turned
in one of the best races of his career to
secure his second AMA title. He rode an
Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR-based machine to
a 2.355-second margin of victory over
Yamaha’s Bostrom. In the end the two were
separated by just seven points, 358-351.
“I’m proud of myself in a lot of ways
because to beat a guy with the reputation of
an Eric Bostrom on the track was such a hard
thing to do,” Hayes said. “My team did such
a good job and Honda was behind me so much.
We were very fortunate. We kind of found
some things and we found a good bike and I
felt like I was riding the thing better and
better, especially towards the end of the
season. And I learned a lot from Eric, just
racing with him.”
This year’s Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme
championship is the second national title
for Hayes. The 31-year-old Mississippi
native also won the 2003 AMA Superstock
Championship.
For Hayes to keep Formula Xtreme in the
Honda camp was a major accomplishment.
Yamaha made a major push in the class this
year with Bostrom and DiSalvo. Honda’s main
factory squad departed the series after
winning at Daytona with Jake Zemke, leaving
its primary support squad, Erion Racing
Honda, to uphold company honors. Erion and
Hayes did a remarkable job staying in the
hunt all season and emerging as the top
team. Hayes quietly kept early leader
DiSalvo in sight in the first half of the
season before breaking through with a
victory in June at the new Miller
Motorsports Park in Utah. Hayes then closed
the season with a flourish, winning the
final two rounds at Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio.
“We came against a truly formidable opponent
who put a lot of effort into making sure
that they squashed us,” Hayes said of Yamaha.
“They came fully loaded with big guns. I
didn't really have a lackluster part of the
season. I have one race I wish I could give
back and try again. But Eric deserves so
much. The guy won more races than anybody in
the series. There's no doubt he deserves a
lot. I just was able to put the pieces
together and win the right races at the
right time.”
Bostrom was gracious in defeat. “I think
that Josh is one of those guys that’s had a
career that's kind of stumbled because of
bad luck, but is immensely talented, so it's
cool,” Bostrom said. “As bummed as I am,
it's cool to see somebody that's so well
deserving, and that's had so many tough
breaks, to come out on top. That makes it
worthwhile.”
Hayes’ three wins this year put him 10th on
the all-time Formula Xtreme wins list. He is
the eighth winner of the series that began
in 1997. The title was the seventh for Honda
in Formula Xtreme and the third straight.
