Monster Energy Yamaha’s Josh Hayes kicked things off at Road America with a bang by dominating Friday’s qualifying session. Where differences between the top riders are normally measured in the 100ths of seconds, Hayes’ 2:12.869 on the four-mile circuit was nearly a half-second faster than Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Young. There were a lot of smiles in the Yamaha pits, while Suzuki was full of looks of concern.

Josh Hayes wheelies his Monster Energy Yamaha out of turn five en route to turning the fastest time by nearly a half-second in Friday’s first Superbike qualifying session at Road America. (Larry Lawrence photo)