It’s Now Or Never For Championship Hopefuls As Pitt Race Awaits

Corey Alexander leads the Yuasa Stock 1000 Championship as the MotoAmerica Series ventures to Pittsburgh International Race Complex, August 19-21.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Mathematically, Josh Herrin could become the first of the 2022 MotoAmerica Champions to be crowned this weekend in the Superbikes At Pittsburgh, Presented by LaRoche Aviation Services, round, but it’s a longshot.

Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Herrin, who leads Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers by 76 points heading into the Pittsburgh International Race Complex, would need to extend that points lead to 100 by the conclusion of the weekend to earn his first MotoAmerica Supersport crown. That means if Herrin wins both races at Pitt Race and Landers finishes fourth or worse in both, Herrin would be champion.

Since Landers comes into Wampum riding the high of his first two Supersport class victories at Brainerd International Raceway and with six other podiums on the year, getting fourth or worse in two straight races isn’t probable. But it is possible.

Herrin’s season has been near perfect with finishes in all 12 races with a worst result of fourth. The 2013 AMA Superbike Champion has adapted well to the Panigale V2 and has seven wins and 11 podiums to show for it. Oh, and that 76-point lead.

Landers is started to see a breakthrough in his second year of Supersport racing and that was evident a few weeks ago at BIR when he not only won both races, but he also dominated them.

Early on, it looked as though Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was going to be Herrin’s toughest foe, but Scott didn’t have a good weekend at BIR, and he drops to 104 points behind Herrin and 28 behind Landers.

N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo is still fourth in the points chase, despite missing both races at BIR through illness. North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith rounds out the top five – 15 points behind Olmedo and a single point ahead of Aussie Luke Power.

SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Wyman!

Alpha Omega’s Cody Wyman put together a consistent 3-3 tally in the two SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup races at BIR and that puts him 22 points ahead with six races left to run, including the two at Pitt Race this coming weekend.

Wyman has finished every race but one, has won four races and has seven total podiums and the result is the point cushion on SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Joseph LiMandri Jr. LiMandri was second and sixth at BIR and that allowed Wyman to pull away while also putting himself just nine points ahead of Altus Motorsports’ Kayla Yaakov.

Yaakov won her second race of the year in race one at BIR and followed that up with a second-place finish in race two, putting her nine points behind LiMandri and eight ahead of Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio. LiMandri’s teammate Max Van got back to his winning ways in race two at BIR and he sits a solid fifth in the championship.

Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander Going For Six Straight

Although there is no such thing as comfortable in the Yuasa Stock 1000 class, Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander is getting to that point in the championship as he now holds a 33-point lead going into the two races at Pittsburgh. That happens when you win six of eight races, including the last five in a row.

The only blemish on Alexander’s scorecard are the two races that he missed at VIRginia International Raceway when he crashed during qualifying and was forced to sit out both races. And with just four races left (two at Pitt Race, one at New Jersey Motorsports Park and one in the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park), Alexander has the opportunity to lock up the title sooner rather than later.

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim is the closest that Alexander has to a rival in the class with Gillim winning the two races that Alexander missed. Gillim has two additional podiums and a points total that has him 33 behind Alexander and 14 ahead of Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Travis Wyman.

DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino and Altus Motorsports’ Brandon Paasch, who earned his first podium in the class at BIR, sit fourth and fifth in the title chase.

REV’IT! Twins Cup – Mazziotto On The Hunt

If you broke the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship into two halves of the 10 races that have been held thus far in 2022, one would go to Jody Barry and the other to Anthony Mazziotto. Unfortunately for Barry, the second half might be the one you want to excel in.

Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Mazziotto leads the title chase by just one point over Barry. In the first six races of the year, Barry and his Veloce Racing Aprilia RS 660 simply dominated with four wins and two other podium finishes. The past four races, however, have been hellish for the racer from Illinois as he’s seen an incredible season quickly turn into a mediocre one as he’s scored only 24 points in that time.

Mazziotto, on the other hand, didn’t set the world on fire early in the season but he’s hot at the right time and has scored 76 points in the last four races. That’s 76-24 in favor of the New Jerseyan.

If this were prize fight, Barry would certainly be bloody and beaten. But he’s still standing and just a point behind. With two races at Pitt Race this weekend, one at NJMP and one at Barber Motorsports Park, this championship could go to the last lap of the last race in September.

Five different riders have won Twins Cup races this year: Barry (four), Mazziotto (two), Cory Ventura (two), Blake Davis (one) and Hayden Schultz (one).

Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – Buyck In Tight Championship Battle

The six-race Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. program will hold its fourth round at Pitt Race this weekend with Kayleigh Buyck yet to be beaten – at least on the racetrack. Buyck has been victorious in all three races, though she was stripped of her championship points at Road America in June when she failed to adhere to a red flag.

Buyck’s latest win came just a few weeks ago at BIR, and it as a close one with Chloe Petersen pushing Buyck for the duration. Petersen is third in the championship chase – just eight points behind Buyck and a single point behind Jennifer Chancellor, who has podium finishes in the last two races.

Mini Cup By Motul – Three Championships Up For Grabs

Nathan Gouker is in the midst of championship battles in two classes of the MotoAmerica Mini Cup by Motul series with two different foes as the series resumes with its round on the karting track at Pitt Race this weekend.

In the 110 class, Gouker leads Anthony Lupo by 10 points after four races with Gouker winning the first three and Lupo taking victory in race two at Ridge Motorsports Park. Mac MacClugage, meanwhile, is third and 31 points behind despite being on the podium in every race.

It’s MacClugage who is giving Gouker a headache in the 160 class as the youngster from Florida trails the North Carolinian by 14 points. Gouker has won two races to MacClugage’s lone win at Road America. Kensei Matsudaira, meanwhile, is third in the championship with his only victory in class coming in the opening race of the year at Road America.

It’s Matsudaira, however, who leads the way in the 190 class, though by just 10 points over Jesse James Shedden. Shedden won the first two races of the year, was off the podium in race three and finished second in the fourth race of the year. Matsudaira was second in the first two races to Shedden at Road America but won both races at Ridge. Joshua Raymond is third in the 190 Championship with three third-place finishes and a fifth.

Pitt Race Support Class Notes…

Last year’s lone Yuasa Stock 1000 race at Pitt Race was won by Jake Lewis with the Kentuckian scoring his fourth win of the season en route to capturing the 2021 Stock 1000 Championship. Lewis beat Travis Wyman and the just-off-the-couch Hayden Gillim in winning the race. Lewis left Wampum leading the title chase by 20 points over Corey Alexander, the rider who leads this year’s Yuasa Stock 1000 Championship.

Supersport racing at Pitt Race last year was hot and heavy with rivals Richie Escalante and Sean Dylan Kelly splitting wins after scintillating battles in both races. Escalante has moved up to the Medallia Superbike class for 2022 and Kelly is now competing in the Moto2 World Championship for American Racing.

Anthony Mazziotto is hoping he can repeat last year’s result at Pitt Race as the current REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship leader won the 2021 Twins Cup race. Mazziotto beat Hayden Schultz and Jody Barry to take the win last year and this year he is in a one-point title fight with Barry.

Tyler Scott and Ben Gloddy left Pittsburgh last year separated by just nine points in the battle for the 2021 SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship as the pair each won a race at Pitt Race. Gloddy won race one with Scott finishing fourth, and Scott bounced back to beat Gloddy in a great battle in race two.

CJ Lukas dominated last year’s Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race event, besting Becky Goebel by almost 30 seconds. Trisha Dahl was third. Two hundred and sixteen riders have entered to compete in the seven classes at Pitt Race. REV’IT! Twins Cup leads the way with 46 entries, three more than the Yuasa Stock 1000 class boasts. Medallia Superbike will feature 37 entries with the 28 riders set to try their hand in Supersport. The SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup class will grid up with 18 entries, three more than the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race class. The three Mini Cup by Motul races will be contested by a combined 29 entries

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