Hayden Gillim Wins Both Stock 1000 Races And Goes One-Two In Mission King Of The Baggers
via www.motoamerica.com BRAINERD, MN (July 30, 2023) – Hayden Gillim wore a path in the grass from the podium to the media center this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway with the Kentuckian making the trip four times in two days. First came the celebrations on the podium with his young son, Stone, on his shoulders, then the walk to the media center for interviews.
He didn’t mind the walks.
With two wins in the Steel Commander Stock 1000 class and a first and a second in Mission King Of The Baggers, Gillim had the most successful weekend of his career in Minnesota. Oh, and he also finished seventh and sixth in the two Medallia Superbike races.
Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim was asked on Sunday afternoon if this weekend was the best racing weekend of his career. Gillim pondered the question briefly before saying, “Yes.”
Gillim won his second Steel Commander Stock 1000 race of the weekend on Sunday at BIR, the Kentuckian not only winning the race but moving to within eight points of championship points leader Ezra Beaubier after scoring a perfect 50 points in the two races.
Gillim’s effort on Sunday was a carbon copy of his race on Saturday. He jumped off the line and led by the time the pack got to turn three. From there he never looked back and ultimately won by 8.9 seconds over Orange Cat Racing’s Kaleb De Keyrel with the Minnesota native finishing second for the second straight day.
Benjamin Smith Racing’s Benjamin Smith was third in his first weekend in the class and his first weekend on his Yamaha YZF-R1. Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin was fourth with Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman rounding out the top five.
Ezra Beaubier was sixth on his Orange Cat Racing BMW, despite getting a five-second penalty for jumping the start.
“Honestly, before this weekend I was ready to kind of call it quits on the Stock 1000 class for myself,” Gillim said. “So, this has definitely rejuvenated me a little bit and given me some more confidence going into COTA (the final round of the Steel Commander Stock 1000 series). That’s the only bad thing. That first weekend at Road Atlanta really had me down and out, and I was down a lot. With only five rounds this year for Stock 1000, I was a little nervous because I knew Road America was going to be tough. I expected Road Atlanta to be a little bit better than it was. I don't know about COTA. We’ll see. I ran pretty quick there last year, so we’ll see. It will be interesting. I know these guys will be running for it. It’s a tight race at the top right now, so it’s coming down to the wire. unfortunately, I’ve been in a lot of these situations where it’s come down to the wire and almost every time, I’ve come out the loser. I’m hoping to do a little bit better than last year (when I) tied for the championship at the end of it but getting second place because he (Corey Alexander) had more race wins. So, trying to get those race wins right now just in case. But this was a really good weekend to do it. I knew coming in that this one and Barber I knew for sure were going to be the ones where I had to do the job and get it done.”
Hayden Gillim’s Big Weekend At Brainerd
