After a very solid Friday of practice and qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was injured in a crash during Saturday’s Superbike race one, while Mathew’s teammate Cody Wyman nearly had a podium finish in Junior Cup race one to conclude what was a tumultuous day for the team.
Mathew was in the lead group when the frontrunners went into an area on the track where another rider towards the back of the field had crashed during the previous lap. Some of the lead riders got through the turn with their bikes only sliding slightly, but Mathew wasn’t so lucky. The back end of his #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 suddenly snapped around--obviously due to fluid spilled on the track by the previously crashed motorcycle--and he and the machine went sliding off the track. Almost simultaneously, Cameron Beaubier also crashed because of the fluid, and his bike unfortunately slid into Mathew and made hard contact with Mathew’s right leg.
The race was red-flagged and, after a short period of time, Mathew got to his feet, was transported to the track’s medical facility, and then his fiancée Kiara drove him to the hospital to be evaluated and treated for a fractured right ankle and a deep laceration to his right thigh.
Mathew’s prognosis for returning to racing is still to be determined, and an update on his condition will be provided in the coming days. For now, he has been ruled out of Sunday’s two Superbike races, and the entire team sends their best wishes to their rider.
In Saturday’s Junior Cup race and aboard the only Yamaha YZF-R3 in the field, Cody started on the third row in seventh position, and he knew he was in for a fierce battle to reach the podium, as has been the case all season long. He used the knowledge he gained from his previous visits to Indy as a driving instructor, as well as some inspired late-breaking maneuvers, to get himself into position for a coveted spot on the podium, which he had going onto Indy’s long front straightaway on the final lap. At the checkers, third place was a photo finish between Cody and two other riders, and Cody was gutted by the fact that he missed out on third place by just .151 of a second, ultimately finishing fifth, which is still a very good result, but not quite what he wanted.
“On Friday, we were really struggling, and in the first qualifying session, I ended up way down in 14th place. I didn’t have a lot of front-end feel because we decided to use old tires so we could save the new tires for this morning’s final qualifying. During Q2, I felt great, and an overnight change in the bike’s gearing helped me qualify seventh. The afternoon race was red-flagged, and on the restart, I was ninth on the first lap, but I eventually fought my way up to third. I’ve been so close to getting on the podium, and I thought I was in a good spot on the final lap, but I got drafted to the finish line, and I ended up in fifth. I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow and make the bike better for race two.”
Sunday’s Junior Cup race two is at 2:10 p.m. Eastern, and it will be streamed on MotoAmerica Live+. FOX Sports 2 (FS2) will broadcast both of Indy’s Junior Cup races via tape-delay on Tuesday, October 13th starting at 9 p.m. Eastern.
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