Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas.
Taking Stock In MotoAmerica
The story arcs for Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee and runner-up JD Beach were decidedly different, and yet, both riders concluded their seasons just two points apart.
OrangeCat Racing’s Lee began his season like gangbusters, with the win in race one at Road Atlanta, followed by a second-place finish to his teammate Jayson Uribe in race two. Lee then got the double win at the next round of the championship at Road America.
Meanwhile, Beach finished fourth in both races at Road Atlanta. Things improved for JD when he got to Elkhart Lake, as he was second in race one at Road America, and third in race two. Starting at VIR, the Jiggy Dog won five of the final six races of the season.
Going into the final round at COTA, Lee knew that, if Beach were to win both races in Texas, Lee would have to finish in fourth or better to clinch the title. That’s exactly what Lee did.
“My goal for race one was to try to win, of course.” Lee said. “Race wins are always the goal. But, when I was with the lead pack at the beginning of Saturday’s race, my bike started to overheat. So, I had to be careful. I backed off my pace a little bit, and the engine temperature came back down. So, I managed my position and brought it home in fourth. Race two was all about winning the championship. Another fourth-place finish was exactly what I needed, so I paid attention to my pit board, stayed where I needed to be, and brought it home safely.”
For Lee, it was his third MotoAmerica Championship, and his third in the stock literbike class. “I won the very first MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Championship, and the last one, too.”
“Bookends,” he quipped.
To lose a class championship by just two points is a tough pill to swallow, but on the bright side, Beach won the Superbike Cup and the $25,000 check that goes with it. Given a choice, would Beach have rather won the Stock 1000 title?
“The $25,000 is, of course, great, and I can really use it,” Beach said. “But, I’d rather have won the Stock 1000 title. That one is a true class championship, and the wins count. But I did all I could to win it, and getting an AMA #1 plate for Superbike Cup feels really good.”
I asked JD if losing by two points made him think about the crazy situation that befell him in race one at Mid-Ohio where he couldn’t overcome a technical problem with his bike, and he was unable to get any points—not even two—as a result. He said, “Not just that race. There were a whole bunch of times this past season where, looking back, I could have gotten that extra two points. But I’m happy with what we did this year. I feel like I’ve been riding more like myself this year. This is the best I’ve ever ridden in my career. Even better than I did in 2018 (Beach won the Supersport Championship in 2018 with 11 wins on the season).”
Set Records. Break Records. Shatter Records
Despite the high temperatures in Texas, new lap records were set in all five MotoAmerica classes that were in action at COTA. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier didn’t quite eclipse the Superbike lap record of 2:06.559 that he set last year during Qualifying 2, but he did break the race lap record with a 2:07.497 in Sunday’s race two.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates set a new lap record in Stock 1000 with a 2:09.553 in Saturday’s Qualifying 2, breaking the previous record Bobby Fong set back in 2017.
Garrett Gerloff’s Supersport lap record and JD Beach’s Supersport race lap record—both set in 2016—were finally broken by Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz. The South African did a 2:11.765 in Saturday’s Qualifying 2, and then, in Saturday’s race one, Scholtz set a new race lap record of 2:12.544.
Hayden Gillim also broke both the lap record and race lap record in Mission King of The Baggers. The RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider did a 2:12.975 in Qualifying 2, and then, he did a lap-record-breaking 2:13.150 during Sunday’s race two.
The third rider to set a new lap record and race lap record at COTA was Warhorse Ducati/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario. The newly crowned Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul Champion did a 2:26.620 during Sunday’s race two, which is a new lap record and race lap record.
“Tony, You Go Racing”
You’ve probably seen the movie, “The Blind Side,” and/or you’re a fan of the NFL. So, you know how important to a football team the guy who plays left tackle is. Left tackles are BIG. Tony Ugoh played offensive tackle for five seasons in the NFL, including for the Peyton-Manning-led Indianapolis Colts and the Eli-Manning-led New York Giants. Also, he has two Super Bowl rings from the 2006 season when the Colts won Super Bowl XVI and from the 2011 season with the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI.
The former Arkansas Razorback is 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and he weighed over 300 pounds when he was in the NFL.
This past weekend at COTA, Tony Ugoh made his debut as a professional motorcycle racer in the MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Championship. He’s still 6’ 5”, but he’s at least 100 pounds lighter than he was when he played pro football.
With his he and his team decked out in Ugoh Racing-branded gear (including the snarling Razorback as an homage to his days as a University of Arkansas student-athlete), the Texan’s goal was to qualify and finish in the top-20 in both races. Aboard his #528 Ugoh Racing BMW M 1000 RR and entered as “Anthony Ugoh,” he qualified 26th out of 40 riders and made the show.
Ugoh went fast in both races. He maintained his starting-grid position and finished 26th on both Saturday and Sunday. It was a very solid weekend for Ugoh’s first time in MotoAmerica.
We hope to see him on the grid again in 2026, and maybe even in more than just one round at COTA. He knows he’ll need to up-spec his bike and race at least in Superbike Cup since the Stock 1000 Championship is going away. But he knows fully well how to train during the off-season. Good luck, Tony.
Cárdenas Regresa A Estados Unidos
Colombian Martín Cárdenas is one of the most popular riders in AMA road racing history. He competed in the series from 2006 through 2014, and he won the 2010 AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike Championship with Team Hammer’s M4 Monster Energy Suzuki team.
This past weekend at COTA, Cárdenas seemingly emerged from a time machine. Looking every bit as fit and race ready as he was nearly 20 years ago when he first started racing in the U.S., Cárdenas reunited with Team Hammer and raced in the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship in Texas aboard a Coatzymoto LatinWE Powered by Team Hammer Suzuki GSX-R750. With his signature number 36 emblazoned on the bike, of course.
Cárdenas notched a ninth-place finish in Saturday’s race one and a result just outside the top 10 in Sunday’s race two. Team Hammer produced posters featuring Cárdenas, and I saw a lot of happy fans lined up to say hello to the man and get a poster autographed by him.
