Recapping the MotoAmerica SBK/STK/SS action from Mid-Ohio

MotoAmerica 2025

Round Nine – Mid-Ohio

Images by Brian J. Nelson

Superbike Race One

On a sunny and hot day in central Ohio, Bobby Fong rode his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 to a fifth-straight victory and that victory, combined with Josh Herrin’s seventh-place finish, vaulted the Californian into the championship points lead.

The race was delayed after a red flag was thrown on the opening lap as oil had been dropped in the all-important turn six, the right-hander at the end of the backstraight. It’s important because it’s the place where many a pass is made. Not so after oil left on the racing proved slippery when the race was restarted, forcing riders to either go inside or outside the oil.

The first to suffer from it was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. The championship points leader was demonstrative on the start line, waving his arms to try and get things stopped. The race went on, and Herrin almost crashed in the problem area on the opening lap, which led to more arm-waving as he lost several positions and fell back to the bottom third of the results. From there he would forge forward, ultimately finishing seventh to score nine points.

Turn six struck again on the final lap when Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier attempted to pass Fong and had to run off the track to avoid crashing. It took him a bit to navigate the gravel trap and by the time he’d rejoined, he’d dropped from a certain second place back to sixth.

Beaubier’s miscue slotted everyone back to Herrin up a spot with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly inheriting second place after fighting off the barrage of late-race attacks from Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach.

It was a magical day for Beach as he not only put his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP on the podium, but in the process, he was the highest- finishing MotoAmerica Superbike Cup rider for the 13th time this season. Oh, and Beach also won the Stock 1000 race held earlier in the day to move into serious championship contention.

With Beaubier’s run-off, Fong crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of Kelly with Beach, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, and Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim all crossing the finish line in close succession. Second to fifth were separated by just .805 of a second.

After his extended run through the gravel, a disappointed Beaubier rejoined in sixth place, some four seconds ahead of an angry Herrin.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10.

Superbike Race One Results

Superbike Race Two

Cameron Beaubier won his 90th career AMA road race on Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, making him the all-time winningest AMA road racer in history. The 90th win came today via his 69th career AMA Superbike victory, and it ended a winless streak that dated all the way back to May 2 at Road Atlanta in a weekend that saw him sweep the Superbike doubleheader. Since then, the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion has struggled, yet somehow remained in the hunt for a sixth title.

Sunday’s 90th victory was a big one as it moved him to within 17 points of championship points leader Bobby Fong and 10 points ahead of Josh Herrin with the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ending what was a miserable weekend for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati rider with a crash that left him with lower-leg injuries.

It all started with Herrin and Fong making contact in turn six at the end of the back straight on the seventh of 19 laps while disputing second place. Fong had moved to the inside to protect from being passed, but Herrin still tried to go there. The two made contact and ran off track, with Herrin getting the worst of it. Fong was able to get back on track quickly, rejoining in seventh place. Herrin wasn’t as fortunate as he had to remove his Ducati from the air fence. By that time, Herrin was way back in 17th, and it only got worse.

With five laps to go, as he was trying to make up positions and championship points, Herrin crashed out of the race, bringing out the red flag and ending the race prematurely.

By the time Fong and Herrin had their altercation, Beaubier was in the lead. With his top two rivals buried at the middle and back of the pack, the Californian was able to control the pace to win by 3.4 seconds over Fong’s teammate Jake Gagne, with the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion continuing to gain strength in his right arm.

Fong, meanwhile, was on a charge that got him all the way to third by the time the red flag was thrown. Fong and his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 ended up 7.4 seconds behind Beaubier and just .224 of a second ahead of Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim, who was fighting to try and get his first Superbike podium with the Honda CBR1000RR-R SP after his teammate JD Beach was able to make that happen in Saturday’s race one.

Beach, meanwhile, was a tick over a second behind the Fong/Gillim battle and some four seconds clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, who in turn was eight seconds ahead of his teammate Sean Dylan Kelly.

Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith, and BPR Racing Yamaha’s Bryce Kornbau rounded out the top 10.

With two rounds and five races left on the MotoAmerica Superbike schedule, Fong leads Beaubier by 17, 278-261, with Herrin third with 251 points. Gagne and Escalante round out the top five with 220 and 154 points, respectively.

Cameron Beaubier – Winner  – 90th Victory

“Honestly, it doesn’t really even feel real. I remember sitting on the couch with my dad watching the Daytona 200 when Miguel Duhamel high-sided and his shield flew off, and they were duct-taping it back on in the pit lane. I was like, ‘Man, that is some cool stuff.’ To be sitting here with 90 wins to my name, it doesn’t even feel real. I have so much respect and look up to all those guys that are up there, too. Like I said out there on the podium, I have so many people that have helped me along the way. Just too many people to even thank them. My mom and dad for all the sacrifices. Not only just them, but my grandpa, Josh. Too many people to thank. Super special. I remember growing up racing with these guys. Me and Bobby (Fong) would be out on Monday nights playing cards. I remember just trying to keep up with this guy and his little brother, Anthony, too. To see how far we’ve both come since then… it’s been pretty amazing. Also, Jake (Gagne). I spent most of my pro career racing against him. It’s pretty special.

“Not going to lie, at the beginning of the year I had a lot of confidence going. I was like, I’m going to reel 90 off pretty quick. Then the last three rounds have been just a straight struggle. We’ve been struggling so bad with tire life. The Tytlers guys have been flipping the bike upside-down trying to find grip, trying to keep up with Bob (Fong). The Superbike field right now is just stacked. It’s pretty crazy how much the points have flip-flopped in the last few rounds. I’d say after VIR last week, we were scratching our heads pretty bad. To get one (a win) today felt awesome. I know (Josh) Herrin and Bob (Fong) kind of got into it earlier on in the race, because I saw my gap grew pretty big all of a sudden. So, I knew something happened. But I just kept my head down and tried to bring it home.”

Jake Gagne – Second Place

“It’s a bummer to lose those two guys (Fong and Herrin) out of the race. Luckily Bob (Fong) came back on track and was reeling me in pretty quick. It’s hard to say (what happened). Josh (Herrin) was just trying to get up the inside. From my perspective, I think he (Herrin) kind of ran into Bobby’s leg there and stood them both up. From then on, I didn’t have the pace to run with Cam (Beaubier) but just kind of settled into my own rhythm. It was kind of nice the last couple races not getting starts and duking it out with some of those guys. I was kind of struggling yesterday. It sucked because that’s not like this bike and this team. I’m happy to get a second even if it’s under those circumstances. At least I was a little bit closer to those guys than yesterday, that’s for sure. We’re doing all that we could.”

Bobby Fong – Third Place

“Before all that, congratulations for 90. It’s so cool to see a Nor Cal boy get 90 wins. It’s really cool. We grew up together. I can’t imagine winning 90 races. It’s unreal. About the incident, that sh*t happens. It’s a part of racing. He (Herrin) tried. He failed. I would have probably done the same thing. So, it happens. I’m happy to get third and get some points. But you could hear him behind me and I knew at some point he was going to do something. Unfortunately, he ended up going down. Hopefully, he’s okay. No hard feelings. Like I said, we all ride aggressive up here. We want to win, and we want to pay the bills. It’s a part of it. I’m sure I’m going to be dive-bombing him at some point, too. So, it’s part of it.”

Superbike Race Two Results

Superbike Championship Points

Superbike Cup Championship Points

Supersport Race One

With Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz winning four of the past six Motovation Supersport races coming into the Mid-Ohio round, it was imperative that Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen turn the tables. On Saturday, he did just that.

Jacobsen got the jump on the field from pole position, led into turn one, and was never headed with the New Yorker doing exactly what he needed to do to close the gap to Scholtz in the Motovation Supersport Championship. He also got a little help from Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen, with the South African finishing second, which pushed championship points leader Scholtz down to third.

So, after 18 laps of racing, Jacobsen went from seven points behind in the championship chase to two points ahead of Scholtz, 260-258. Blake Davis is third with 199 points.

The rider who gave Jacobsen the most to think about was Petersen, with the South African staying within striking distance for most of the race. In the closing laps, Scholtz made a charge, though, finishing just .109 of a second behind his countryman.

Scholtz’ teammate Davis won the battle for fourth over Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott by .013 of a second in a photo finish.

Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Kayla Yaakov was a lonely sixth, some nine seconds clear of BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, who won the battle of veterans over Team Hammer’s Larry Pegram. MP13 Racing’s Aiden Sneed and Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Roller Die’s Corey Alexander rounded out the top 10.

Supersport Race One Results

Supersport Race Two

By now it’s obvious that Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Rahal Ducati Moto w/ XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen are going to swap wins back and forth until someone is crowned MotoAmerica Supersport Champion in the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park at the end of September. What also became clear this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is that Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen may play a big role in the outcome.

A day after Jacobsen won the first of two Motovation Supersport races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, Scholtz turned the tables and scored the victory on Sunday. On the days those two didn’t win, they didn’t finish second. They finished third. That’s because Petersen was in the battle, and the South African came away with two third-place finishes.

Sunday’s race featured another terrific three-rider battle at the front of the pack. Scholtz did the majority of the leading as the three ran in formation with the race coming to a stop when a red flag was thrown for a downed motorcycle on the eighth of 18 laps.

When the race was restarted, it was much of the same with the top three again the top three. Scholtz and his Yamaha were able to get unmatched drives out of the Keyhole and onto the backstraight, which usually meant Scholtz was out of reach of the other two by the time they got down to turn six, the most popular place on the track to pass.

Jacobsen made one big attempt at out-braking Scholtz into six, but he couldn’t get the Ducati stopped in time to make the corner and stay on line.

Scholtz crossed the finish line just .081 of a second ahead of Petersen with Jacobsen only .323 of a second behind in third.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was fourth, almost three seconds behind, with Strack Racing’s Blake Davis and Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Kayla Yaakov right on his tail in fifth and sixth, respectively.

BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes ended up seventh after getting the best of 3D Motorsports’ Brandon Paasch, in his return to racing.

Hayes’ teammate Teagg Hobbs and MP13’s Aiden Sneed rounded out the top 10.

Scholtz leads the title chase by seven points, 283-276. Davis is third with 210 points, with Petersen on the move with 169 points.

Supersport Race Two Results

Supersport Championship Points

Superstock 1000 Race One

Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach won his third Stock 1000 race in a row on Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with the win moving him to within a championship point of OrangeCat Racing’s Andrew Lee.

Beach took off from the start and never looked back, with the two OrangeCat Racing BMWs doing their best to keep up. Jayson Uribe did the best job of it, but he couldn’t match Beach.

Lee was doing damage control in third place, and he narrowly held off BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau at the finish line. If he’d slipped to fourth, the title lead would have gone to Beach.

As it stands now, Lee leads Beach, 138-137, with Uribe third on 114 points.

Superstock 1000 Race One Results

Superstock 1000 Race Two

The Stock 1000 race got started on Sunday at Mid-Ohio with just one point separating OrangeCat Racing’s Andrew Lee from Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach, but that didn’t last as drama started before the race ever did.

Beach pulled into pit lane at the end of the warmup lap with an electrical issue on his motorcycle. The crew worked on it, and Beach left pit lane to try again. But, again, it failed him. Then a red flag was thrown, and the race would be a complete restart, giving the team more time to work on the bike.

Unfortunately, the problem wasn’t gone, as Beach found out on the sighting lap, and it was game over. As Beach said, “that’s racing.” Yesterday was the highest of highs for him and his team, and today was the lowest of lows.

Back to racing, and it was a four-rider fight at the top with Lee’s teammate Jayson Uribe leading Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, Lee, and BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau. And there was more drama to come, as with four-laps to go in the shortened eight-lap race, Yates and Kornbau came together in turn seven with both crashing into the air fence.

That left Lee vs. Uribe with the victory going to Lee, his fourth of the season, by .228 of a second.

BPR Racing’s Deion Campbell earned his first MotoAmerica podium by finishing third with the Californian taking advantage of his team owner Kornbau and Yates crashing together.

Castrol/Lamkin Racing’s Nolan Lamkin and Edge Racing’s Jason Waters rounded out the top five.

Going into the last Stock 1000 round at Circuit of The Americas, Lee holds a 26-point lead over Beach, 163-154. Uribe is third with 134 points. Fifty points will be available in Texas in a few weeks.

Superstock 1000 Race Two Results

Superstock 1000 Championship Points

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