While Triumph was making history, JD Beach was the big winner at Sturgis as the full-time roadracer returned to his flat track roots filling in for an injured Dallas Daniels. Beach is now just 1 mile away from winning a historic Grand Slam! Beach bagged the first Half Mile of his career to kick off Sturgis and he closed the Rally down with the TT win on Sunday afternoon… and bagged an epic Cycle News cover to boot!
“To get the old school Grand Slam has always sounded so cool to do but after the years of flat tracking full time and not being able to get the Half Mile and Mile win was tough. It started to seem so far away from achieving. Now I’ve got that Half Mile win, I’ve matched my lifetime hero Nicky Hayden. I just need the Mile now.” Meanwhile Sunday’s TT in the streets of Sturgis increased his career TT wins total to nine, equal to Steve Eklund for third all-time and now training only Henry Wiles and Chris Carr. It also saw him set the new standard for wins at the most different TT courses at six.
“I’ve got to give it up to the whole fansbase. All of the fans were going crazy all day long, and so many people stuck it out despite all the rain. I think this race was awesome. And I’ve got to thank the Estenson Racing Monster team for letting me come out and do these three rounds to fill in for Dallas (Daniels). I’m bummed he’s not here because I know he would have given me a run for my money too, but it’s been a real good three races.”
