MotoAmerica previews the upcoming round of the MotoAmerica Championship at VIRginia International Raceway August 1-3.
It’s Herrin By 31 Points Over Beaubier But Fong Holds The Hot Hand Heading To VIR
Will Cameron Beaubier And The Red-Hot Bobby Fong Claw Back Josh Herrin In Run For 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike Crown In Virginia?
This is a press release from MotoAmerica…
Irvine, CA (July 29, 2025) – The last time MotoAmerica made a stop at VIRginia International Raceway, Josh Herrin left Alton with a 31-point lead in the Supersport Championship he would ultimately win. After a two-year hiatus, MotoAmerica returns to VIR with Herrin atop the 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship by… 31 points.
Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati arrive at VIRginia International Raceway with a 31-point lead in the 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
In May of 2022, VIRginia International Raceway hosted the second round of the MotoAmerica Championship. In 2025, VIR is round number six, and Herrin’s 31-point lead comes after 11 impressive races for the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R.
How impressive? Well, Herrin has won five of the 11 races with five additional podiums (two seconds and three thirds). Herrin’s only non-podium finish came way back in the opening round of the 2025 series at Road Atlanta when he finished fifth. Since then, he’s been virtually unstoppable.
Key word: virtually.
If you can call two second-place finishes in a row a chink in the armor, then Herrin now has the tiniest of chinks. After winning five in a row, including the first of three races in the most recent round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Herrin was beaten in races two and three at Laguna Seca by Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong.
Fong showed that he’s a force to be reckoned with after finishing second to Herrin in race one and then beating the championship leader in races two and three. The two wins were the first of the year for Fong, and he adds those to his five runner-up finishes. In total, it puts him 37 points behind Herrin in the championship, but there’s plenty left to play for, and the two VIRginia International Raceway races may prove to be pivotal in the ’25 title chase. Fong, however, has an 11th and an eighth-place finish on his scorecard, and he can’t afford any more lackluster finishes as the series heats up in the dog days of summer.
Fong’s strong Laguna Seca weekend puts him just six points behind Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier. Surprisingly, Beaubier came out of the Laguna Seca round, his home race, with just two thirds and a sixth-place finish after remounting from a crash out of the lead in race one. Everyone expected more of Beaubier at Laguna. No one more so than Beaubier himself.
This weekend’s two races at VIR are by no means must-win races for Beaubier, but we’re getting close to that. Neither he nor Fong can allow Herrin to come into Alton and win both Superbike races.
Fong’s teammate Jake Gagne could prove to be a bit of a spoiler as the championship heats up. The three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion heads to VIR with the knowledge and confidence of having won the last two Superbike races in Virginia in 2022. He’s also the only rider other than Herrin, Beaubier, and Fong to have won a Superbike race in 2025. Gagne continues to get stronger, and he is coming off a third, a fifth, and a fourth in the three races at Laguna Seca. Gagne is fourth in the title chase, but 59 points behind Herrin.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante seems to be stuck in the rut of finishing somewhere between fourth and sixth, though he does have a third-place finish in his points tally from Road America. Escalante’s only non-finish was in the first race of the season, and he sits in a solid fifth, 22 points ahead of Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach.
Although Beach’s main goal is to win the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup for those competing on Stock 1000-spec motorcycles, he’s proving to be a thorn in the side of many a Superbike rider. At Laguna Seca, Beach was fourth, eighth, and sixth.
Somewhat surprisingly, Beach is nine points ahead of his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP Superbike-mounted teammate Hayden Gillim. Gillim’s Laguna Seca weekend was one to bury somewhere that he never sees it again. Over the course of the three races, Gillim only scored 17 points, and we shouldn’t even bring up the fact that he appeared to be on the road to two Mission King Of The Baggers wins when he suffered mechanical failures in both.
Sean Dylan Kelly’s season has sort of derailed after a start to the year when he finished fourth in four straight races on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. The results have plummeted downhill since then with his fourth-place finish in race two at Laguna Seca bookended by crashes in race one and three. Kelly sits five points behind Gillim.
BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau and Flo4Law/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith are ninth and 10th, respectively, in the title chase as the series arrives in Virginia. Smith has non-finishes in three of the past five races and is just a single point behind Kornbau.
Pre-VIR Notes…
Jake Gagne was on a hot streak the last time MotoAmerica visited VIRginia International Raceway in 2022, and he kept the ball rolling with two Superbike wins on the 3.27-mile racetrack. Gagne topped Mathew Scholtz in both races, with Danilo Petrucci, who had won the first three races to start the season, and Cameron Petersen splitting thirds in the two races.
The Superbike lap record goes way back to 2008 at VIRginia International Raceway, with Ben Spies ripping off a 1:23.403 on his Yoshimura Suzuki. The current race lap record, however, is held by Jake Gagne with his 1:24.109 set in race two in 2022.
The first-ever AMA Superbike race at VIRginia International Raceway in 2001 was won by the late Nicky Hayden, the 2002 AMA Superbike Champion and 2006 MotoGP World Champion, backing that up with a second victory at VIR in 2002.
With his five wins thus far in 2025, Josh Herrin now has 21 career AMA Superbike victories. His 21st victory moved him out of a tie with Fred Merkel and into eighth place on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.
Cameron Beaubier and Josh Hayes are still both tied for the all-time lead in AMA wins across all classes with 89 victories apiece.
The last time MotoAmerica visited VIR was in 2022, and the then 47-year-old Josh Hayes won Supersport race one, beating 16-year-old Tyler Scott and 17-year-old Rocco Landers.
Jacobsen Vs. Scholtz As Supersport Series Heats Up For VIR
Supersport Title Fight Continues, Di Mario Close To Twins Title, Stock 1000 Back In Action, Six Classes To Battle In Virginia, August 1-3
It’s probably fair to say that PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz won’t be breaking bread together anytime soon as their on-track rivalry and fight for the MotoAmerica Motovation Supersport Championship has spilled over into a somewhat spicy off-track rivalry. But for a rivalry to be a rivalry, it must take place on the racetrack more than in the media center and, in the case of Jacobsen vs. Scholtz, it most definitely has.
After five rounds and 10 races, just three points separate the two in the title chase with Rahal Ducati Moto w/Xpel’s Jacobsen leading Strack Racing’s Scholtz, 195-192. Yes, three points.
Jacobsen has been the most consistent of the two (barely!) with his fourth-place finish in race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca marking his first non-podium of the season. The New Yorker has two wins, five second-place finishes, and two thirds.
Scholtz has more wins—four, plus one second-place finish, and three thirds. He also has two races where he didn’t finish on the podium, with a fourth and a fifth.
Both of them, however, may want to start paying a little more attention to the lurking teenager Blake Davis. Although he trails Jacobsen by 38 points and Scholtz by 35, Davis has proven to have race-winning speed. The Strack Racing star-in-the-making swept both races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, letting his racing do the talking with what were his second and third wins of the year. Davis has three additional podium finishes with his non-points result in race one at Road America being the big hit to his scorecard.
Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen is getting back to full strength after a myriad of injuries. He is coming off a close second-place finish to Davis in race two at Laguna Seca after finishing fourth in race one. He’s 82 points behind the tussle at the front but will likely be in the mix for race wins going forward.
Petersen is six points ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, who is coming off a disappointing round in Monterey where he took just seven points from the two races. Scott is fifth in the championship and 19 points ahead of Jacobsen’s Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL teammate Kayla Yaakov.
Four riders have won Supersport races in 2025, and one of those is four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes. It’s worth noting that the last time MotoAmerica raced at VIR, Hayes won the first of the two Supersport races.
Stock 1000 – Back To The Track
There have only been four Stock 1000 races thus far in the 2025 season—two at Road Atlanta and two at Road America—and the OrangeCat Racing duo of Andrew Lee and Jayson Uribe have won all four. With the class about to go on a four-round run at VIR, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and Circuit of The Americas, the championship is certain to heat up along with the weather.
Andrew Lee leads the championship, thanks to his three wins and a second-place finish, over Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates by 30 points. Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach is another three points behind in third and the Kentuckian leads Lee’s teammate Uribe by a single point. Uribe dropped from his spot near the top after a crash in race two at Road America.
Edge Racing’s Jason Waters rounds out the top five after the two rounds.
While most of the class has been sitting around and waiting for VIR, Yates and Beach have been racing their Hondas in the MotoAmerica Superbike rounds. Beach has been on his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP and beating up on the others in the Superbike Cup, while Yates has been on a Superbike-spec CBR1000RR-R SP.
Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul – Two In A Row
While the Stock 1000 racers have been sitting mostly idle, the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul class arrives in Virginia just five days after a weekend of racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as part of the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days event.
Warhorse Ducati/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario’s weekend in Ohio ended with him scoring a win and a third-place finish. That keeps the 16-year-old atop the point standings with a 38-point cushion over Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane, who carded fourth- and fifth-place finishes at Mid-Ohio.
Australian Bodie Paige was third and second in the two races on his Bodie Paige Racing/Mission Foods/D&D Certified Kramer APX-350 MA, and he’s just eight points behind fellow Aussie Drane.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg had himself a weekend with a second-place finish in race one and a victory in race two. Vossberg jumped to fourth in the series standings but is 60 points behind Di Mario.
Despite opting to race in England and skipping Mid-Ohio, Jones Honda’s Julian Correa is still in the top five in the championship chase.
SC-Project Twins Cup – Di Mario On The Verge
With 100 points on the table in the four races remaining in the SC-Project Twins Cup Championship, Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario has a 67-point lead. With just VIR and the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September on the schedule, Di Mario can wrap things up early.
With Di Mario on a five-race win streak coming into the VIR round, it would be daft to think that the title won’t be going to the teenager from Kentucky. When he hasn’t won, he has finished second. But that was way back in March and April.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin is second in the championship, with the Marylander winning two of the first three races. He’s had two non-finishes since then, and those have hurt his points tally. Still, he’s 31 points clear of Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher, the only rider other than Di Mario and Chapin to score a win thus far in 2025.
Karns/TST Industries’ Levi Badie and Robem Engineering’s Hank Vossberg round out the top five. Vossberg has been on a run, however, with three podiums and a fourth-place finish in the two rounds he’s taken part in as Di Mario’s teammate.
Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. – Battle To The End
Kira Knebel and her five victories lead the way into the final round of the Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. Championship with a 25-point cushion over Shea MacGregor, who has finished on the podium in five of the six races.
Miranda Cain is third in the championship in the leadup to the curtains coming down on Sunday at VIR, and she’s the only racer other than Knebel to taste victory in 2025.
Camille Conrad and Cassie Creer round out the top five, with Conrad just two points behind Cain in the battle for third in the championship.
Pre-VIR Notes…
Josh Hayes and Josh Herrin split wins in the Supersport races at VIR in 2022. Hayes beat Tyler Scott and Rocco Landers in race one, with Herrin topping Hayes and Scott in race two.
In Stock 1000 action, Hayden Gillim was perfect, taking two wins at VIR. Geoff May was second twice, with Travis Wyman and Maxi Gerardo splitting third-place finishes.
Jody Barry emerged from the two Twins Cup races with victories. James Rispoli and Anthony Mazziotto were second and third, respectively, in race one with Hayden Schultz and Rispoli second and third in race two.
Max Van and Cody Wyman were the two winners in Junior Cup action in 2022. Van beat Joseph Limandri Jr. and Aden Thao in race one, with Wyman topping Thao and Gus Rodio in race two. The Junior Cup class has since been replaced by the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul class, which will be racing this weekend at VIR.
Kayleigh Buyck won the lone Royal Enfield. Build.Train.Race. battle in 2022, with Buyck beating Crystal Looy to the finish line. Chloe Peterson was third.
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