The 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship comes down to its final round at New Jersey Motorsports Park September 25-27.
Photos by Brian J. Nelson
This is a press release from MotoAmerica…
Irvine, CA (Sept. 22, 2026) – The 2026 MotoAmerica Quad Lock Superbike Championship comes down to its final round at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in Millville, New Jersey, September 25-27, where a three-race, triple-header weekend will decide the series champion. Four riders remain mathematically alive for the title, with 75 points on offer across the weekend and no rider more than 49 points off the lead.
OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly carries a 26-point cushion over Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong into the finale, with Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Fong’s teammate JD Beach also alive mathematically. Kelly, Fong, Scholtz and Beach have combined to win all but three of this season’s Superbike races — the other three victories all going to Ducati riders: Cameron Petersen (Wrench Motorcycles) took Race 1 at Road America, while Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law claimed two wins, with Loris Baz taking Race 3 at VIR and Cameron Beaubier winning Race 1 at COTA. The four riders that remain have never won a Superbike title which guarantees a new Quad Lock Superbike champion to be crowned in the Garden State.
NJMP’s Thunderbolt Circuit is a clockwise 2.25-mile, 13-turn road course known for its fast, flowing and technical run through the final sector that leads onto the half-mile front straight. With a first turn that sets up prime passing opportunities and the possibility of late-September weather, NJMP has a well-earned reputation for scrambling the order — a wet weekend would equalize the field and add another variable to an already tight championship equation.
Kelly’s title path is about managing the gap more than chasing wins. Sitting on 279 points, the Floridian needs only to keep pace with his rivals through the weekend’s three races—and he’s shown he can absorb a bad day, having salvaged a single point with a 15th-place finish on a damaged BMW at VIR. Kelly has finished on the podium in 13 of 15 races this year, including three wins, making a top-five weekend an attainable target. The 24-year-old Floridian is the only rider to score at least one point in every Quad Lock Superbike race thus far.
Fong arrives as the hottest rider in the series, with three wins and six podiums in his last seven starts, including a Race 2 victory at COTA that pulled him back within striking distance of Kelly. To take the title outright, Fong needs to outscore Kelly by at least 27 points across the weekend. Fong has history at NJMP, having won Race 1 there last year before his own title bid slipped away.
Scholtz’s deficit is a steep hill to climb from 46 points back in P3. The South African can certainly go out and win all three races himself, but a sweep alone may not be enough. With a gap this size, he’ll also need the rest of the weekend to break his way.
Beach faces the longest road of the four, needing to outscore Kelly by at least 50 points across the weekend. A clean sweep would give Beach the full 75 points, but he’d also need Kelly limited to 25 points or fewer.
Petersen rounds out the top five in points but remains a threat to disrupt the finishes at the front. Kelly’s Teammate Jayson Uribe is sixth and represents a strong ally for the points leader.
While out of the points, several riders mark NJMP as a home round in the Northeast. Rahal Ducati Moto with Xpel’s PJ Jacobsen represents his Upstate New York roots in seventh, with two podiums this season.
M4 Ecstar Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch is eighth and will race in front of his home-crowd from nearby Freehold, New Jersey. Paasch’s teammate Richie Escalante, who is recovering from injury (ninth in points), will miss the final round but 20-year-old Pennsylvanian Tyler Scott suits up for the finale at what is his home race on the calendar.
Rounding out the top 10 in points is Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim.
Finishing off the list of Northeast riders calling this race home are Beaubier’s teammate, 26-year-old Pennsylvanian Benjamin Smith and New Hampshire native, Thrashed Bike/Scheibe Aftercare Racing’s Max Flinders from New Hampshire.
Superbike Cup
The 2026 Superbike Cup championship is already decided, with Real Steel Honda’s Andrew Lee wrapping up his fourth career MotoAmerica title at COTA. The race for second in the standings, however, is still live: BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell (244 points) holds just a five-point edge over Carl Soltisz (239 points) as the two riders battle for runner-up in Superbike Cup.
Supersport Caps Off 2026, A Duel For Top Two In Baggers, Gouker Set To Collect Talent Cup Title And Make Twins Cup Debut At Season Finale
Photos by Brian J. Nelson
Irvine, CA (September 23, 2026) – As the 2026 MotoAmerica season reaches its conclusion at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in Millville, New Jersey, September 25-27, Supersport, Mission King Of The Baggers, Talent Cup and Twins Cup will all make their final competitive appearances of the year.
Three of the four championships were settled at previous rounds, and the fourth will be decided this week without a wheel turned. With the number-one plates mostly spoken for, the racing at New Jersey turns to the positions still up for grabs and a final chance for riders to put a stamp on their seasons.
Supersport
Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati’s Darryn Binder clinched the 2026 Supersport Championship at COTA with a round to spare, sweeping the Texas weekend for his 10th win and 13th podium of the season. While New Jersey won’t change the top of the standings, it will settle who finishes behind Binder: Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila’s Josh Herrin holds second by 76 points over his teammate Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight’s Kayla Yaakov. However the 19-year-old female flyer only has a three point advantage over BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes for the third points spot as the series moves into the final two races.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki has enlisted Rossi Moor to pilot their Supersport machine at New Jersey, as Tyler Scott continues filling in for the team’s injured Superbike rider, Richie Escalante. Moor, who has competed in MotoAmerica’s Junior Cup and Twins Cup ranks and has more recently been racing in Europe’s FIM JuniorGP Moto2 Championship, will make his MotoAmerica Supersport debut at the season finale.
Mission King Of The Baggers
J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian’s Hayden Gillim was another rider to seal up a championship at COTA. For New Jersey, the focus shifts to closing out the season strong and helping his teammate, Troy Herfoss, secure the runner-up spot in the final standings — the Australian trails Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith by just three points for the runner-up spot, keeping the Indian squad in the spotlight through the finale.
SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara is well clear in fourth but has gained momentum in the closing rounds with a podium finish in Race 2 at COTA.
Smith’s teammate, Kyle Wyman, rounds out the top five and gets an extra incentive to finish the season on a high note — New Jersey is his home round.
Talent Cup
Quarterley Racing’s Nathan Gouker arrives at New Jersey with an 18-point lead over Team Roberts’ Kensei Matsudaira, a gap built at COTA where Gouker finished runner-up to Sam Drane (Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing) in a last-lap battle. Matsudaira however has since withdrawn from the season finale to compete in a Moto4 round in Europe, leaving Gouker as the only rider mathematically alive for the title — he’ll be crowned 2026 Talent Cup Champion regardless of where he finishes at NJMP. Despite Matsudaira’s absence he has clinched second place in the standings, 61 points clear of Drane in third.
The Australian Drane will be fighting to keep fellow Aussie Jake Paige behind him as they battle for the final podium position in the season standings. Drane leads his compatriot Paige by just five heading into the weekend and both will be shooting for high results that could secure a top-three points finish.
Pennsylvania native Real Steel Honda rider Derek Sanchez (fifth in points) calls this round his home race, and looks to use that inspiration to challenge the leaders for his first podium of the year.
Twins Cup
With Hank Vossberg’s title long since wrapped up, New Jersey becomes less about the championship and more about the resumes riders take into 2027. Vossberg leaves the rest of the field with an unassailable points lead, but expect him to keep racing like a rider still building a case — seven wins already this season, and a strong final weekend only adds to a résumé that puts Robem Engineering and Aprilia back in the spotlight.
Behind Vossberg, the fight for the runner-up spot is tighter than the standings alone suggest: M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bodie Paige holds second by just four points over Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane, with Paige’s own teammate, Matthew Chapin, only five back of Drane in fourth.
Chapin, a Damascus, Maryland native, gets a regional home-crowd boost heading into New Jersey, while Karns/TST Industries Racing’s Isaac Woodworth rounds out the top five. For all of them, New Jersey is a chance to make a final impression on their own teams, or others across the paddock, before 2027 rides get sorted out.
Graduating from the Talent Cup ranks, soon-to-be-crowned champion Nathan Gouker (Quarterley Racing) will try his hand at Twins Cup competition. Aboard an Aprilia RS 660, the move marks the 15-year-old’s debut in the welterweight class.
For more information, please visit www.MotoAmerica.com
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