The American Superbike Show

With only two rounds remaining in the 2026 MotoAmerica season, the championship picture is coming into focus — but there is still plenty left to decide.
This week on The American Superbike Show, we break down the championship battles heading into Circuit of the Americas. Superbike remains wide open with SDK, Mathew Scholtz, JD Beach and Bobby Fong all still in contention, while Darryn Binder has built a commanding advantage in Supersport and Kensei Matsudaira and Nathan Gouker are separated by just five points in Talent Cup.
We also look ahead to the Super Hooligans season finale at COTA, where Andy DiBrino, Bryce Kornbau and Gus Rodio will enter the weekend as the final three riders with a shot at the championship.
Plus, we check in on King of the Baggers, Superbike Cup and Twins Cup, along with this week's MotoAmerica news, including Ella Dreher returning, Michael Gilbert joining Arch Racing for COTA and Hayden Gillim heading to France to compete in the Bol d'Or.
The championships are getting close. The math is getting interesting. Let's see what everyone needs to do.

Is MotoAmerica Superbike entering a new golden age?
This week on The American Superbike Show, I take a closer look at the growing depth of the Superbike field, from six different race winners in 2026 to the increased level of factory support from BMW, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki and Honda. With more competitive riders and machinery than we’ve seen in years, the premier class may be in its strongest position of the MotoAmerica era.
But there’s still one major piece missing: American success on the international stage. I look at the current development pipeline, Talent Cup, the old Junior Cup, and MotoAmerica’s growing Mini Cup program to ask whether the next generation has the path it needs to reach the world level.
Plus, I announce an upcoming offseason conversation with MotoAmerica COO Chuck Aksland and how listeners can submit their questions for the show.
And with the season winding down, we look ahead to “Championship Month” as the remaining 2026 MotoAmerica titles get ready to be decided.

Virginia International Raceway wash hot, it was fun, it was physically punishing, and it was historic.
 
Josh Hayes gets to open the show. You earn the right when you get AMA victory number 90! 
 
The Mailbag Returns as I try to learn more of what I don't know, you know? We also have news of the week and it is the sad kind. Corey Alexander is going to miss the final round for Super Hooligans at Circuit of the Americas after having back surgery that couldn't be put off any longer. I sincerely hope he has a quick and full recovery.
 
After that we get into the races, including a lot of crashes and close finishes.
 
Visit AmericanSuperbikeShow.com, things will keep popping up there at least twice a week? What kind of things? Like the podcast there will be no set format. I will just say that there are so many good stories out there in the MotoAmerica paddock that it's time I started publishing them.
 
Until next week, take care of each other!

The American Superbike Show hits Episode 50 with a full preview of MotoAmerica Superbikes at VIRginia!
We break down the championship picture heading into VIR, where Superbike gets a crucial three-race weekend and Sean Dylan Kelly brings a 24-point lead over Mathew Scholtz into Round 7. We also look at Bobby Fong’s chances of getting back into the title fight at a track where he swept both races last season, plus Andrew Lee’s commanding lead in the Superbike Cup.
In Supersport, Darryn Binder and Josh Herrin continue their season-long battle as Binder arrives with a 19-point advantage and seven wins to Herrin’s six.
Twins Cup reaches its penultimate round with Hank Vossberg in position to potentially wrap up the championship, while Kensei Matsudaira and Nathan Gouker resume their fight for the Talent Cup title after a month away from the track.
Plus, Bradley Smith and Max Toth represent MotoAmerica at the Baggers World Cup at Silverstone, a look at VIR’s 2.25-mile North Course, the weekend weather forecast, and everything you need to know before the bikes hit the track in Virginia!

The future of American motorcycle road racing was on display at Road America for the 2026 MotoAmerica Mini Cup National Finals, and Episode 49 of The American Superbike Show breaks down all the action.
We go class by class through GP 190, GP 160, GP 110, Stock 110 and Stock 50, including dominant performances from Jase Dill and Zaal Farhand, Cruise Texter and Chase Jazikoff battling across multiple classes, and some seriously impressive rides from the young racers throughout the field.
The Stock 110 championship saved the best drama for last, with crashes, a heartbreaking mechanical DNF and a wild final lap deciding the national title by just two points.
Plus, we talk about what these results can mean for the riders moving forward, including invitations to the Ohvale World Finals in Valencia, Spain, opportunities with Dunlop's Team Elite program and a potential path toward the MotoAmerica Talent Cup.
The American Superbike Show is brought to you by RidingTimes.com.
For more from the show, including the latest MotoAmerica news and every episode of the podcast, visit AmericanSuperbikeShow.com.

Thank you, MotoAmerica.
 
I want to say that first because the series commitment to provide an opportunity for the youth of our sport to shine is unmatched by other sporting organizations here in the US.
 
Why not have two episodes this week so we can preview all of the fun action to be had this weekend from the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex near turn 5 at Road America. The weather looks like it's going to be amazing!
 
We also go over the five classes competing this weekend as well as a quick breakdown of who made it on the podium last year and where they will be moving up to this year.
 
Bottom line, if you have some time this weekend this is an event worth checking out. Maybe if I'm lucky yours truly can be a part of the broadcast team one day.......

If you ever wanted to know what that first sound is before the music each episode I finally explain what it is! Also, I am loving the new official theme music of The American Superbike Show: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" by the band Fay Wray. Not everyone can say they have a theme song, especially one that rocks.
 
A couple of items before we recap all of the races that happened last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course:
 
Maxwell Toth will fill in for Cory West on the Saddlemen Race Development Harley Davidson Road Glide at Silverstone in the Baggers World Cup. Toth also filled in for West during MotoAmerica's King of the Baggers races at Road America when the two series had a schedule conflict earlier in the season.
 
Also racing in the Baggers World Cup this weekend will be Harley Davidson  Factory Racing Team rider Bradley Smith. The Englishman will get to run a wild card entry during his home grand prix weekend.
 
We start with Superbike and Supersport and go class by class through the field.
Royal Enfield's Build. Train. Race. was next as they crowned their 2026 National Champion in Jasmine Noelle
 
That was followed by King of the Baggers, Super Hooligans, and we wrapped up with Twins Cup making a solid return after a long summer break.
 
A second episode will be out this week to preview the MotoAmerica Mini Cup National Finals being held at Road America's Briggs and Stratton Motorplex near turn 5 and our regular episode next Wednesday will be looking forward to MotoAmerica making a visit to VIR.
 
Take care of each other

So many storylines going into such a historic track, it's hard to get it all into 30-ish  minutes but I did! It starts with the news of the week:
 
MP13 announced their lineup for next year as well as this weekend. Avery and Ella Dreher will be back for 2027 and that should provide the continuity that both riders and the team need to keep making progress towards the front of the grid. For this weekend; Bazooka Joe Limandri continues to fill in for the second round in a row while this weekend his teammate will be Australian Superbike rider Cameron Dunker.
 
Reparto Veloce announced a two-bike program for Twins Cup, one for Gio Alvarez and another for Mallory Dobbs making her return from Europe. The two rider team will make their debut this weekend at Mid-Ohio and will also tackle VIR before concentrating the rest of their efforts towards a full 2027 campaign.
 
Levi Baddie is going to be filling in for his wife, Elisa Gendron Belen, this weekend in Twins Cup. Both of the riders participated in the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days also held at Mid-Ohio the previous weekend and during the even Elisa sustained injuries that will prevent her from competing this weekend.
 
Kaleb de Keyrel will be competing in the Superbike Cup category for Orange Cat Racing aboard a BMW M1000RR. Kaleb was the runner up in the 2023 Stock 1000 championship for this same team on a BMW and he suddenly had an open weekend so why not? I love this from the Orange Cat Racing Team.
 
After the news we preview class by class, including Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. deciding their championship this weekend as well as Twins Cup going back to school after a 63 day summer break.
 
Of course, I also break down the super-tight championship battle in Superbike, check on our three tiers of Supersport, and both of the Mission Foods-sponsored classes in King of the Baggers and Super Hooligans that took interesting turns in the last race weekend.
 
I also want to mention here that The American Superbike Show now has an official theme song thanks to No Idea Records. I'm super proud to be using local music from here in my hometown!

As sort of a bonus episode I was able to spend a few moments with MotoAmerica race winner Eli Block as he prepares to make his return to the series this weekend at MotoAmerica Superbikes at Mid-Ohio. While Eli has spent most of his time this summer either coaching or on the golf course he still managed to put together a program with his Dad to take on the Loudon Classic and man did they really impress! Eli piloted an Aprilla RS660 to a third place finish on the podium, the first time in the 103 year history of the Classic for a lightweight twin!
 
With that behind them, the Block's are now going to compete the rest of the Twins Cup schedule in preparation for making their full-time return in 2027. 
 
A huge thank you to Eli Block for making some time for the show, thank you to RidingTimes.com for helping make  this possible, and thank you for listening!

This week we get our third and final volume of answers from riders in our 5 Questions series. But before we get there, we have news to go over!
 
Bradley Smith gets a wildcard entry in the Harley Davidson Baggers World Cup for the ParkinGO Team at Silverstone August 7-9. It lines up perfectly for the Englishman to do his home race in the off week between Mid-Ohio and VIR.
 
Torin Collins has retired from motorcycle racing. The 2025 Canadian SuperSport Champion also finished in the top 10 in MotoAmerica Supersport points last year, earned a podium finish in the class and was also the first Canadian to score points in the JuniorGP World Championship. 
 
Orange Cat Racing will not be bringing the Lightfighter V3-RH to Mid-Ohio to participate in the Super Hooligans National Championship. From a statement on their website- “Following the fire that occurred at Laguna Seca, we remain focused on conducting an extensive evaluation of the platform. While meaningful progress has been made, we believe additional development in the workshop and on track is necessary before returning to competition.”
 
MotoAmerica has partnered with Texas Mini Cup and Flo4Law to add two more qualifiers for the Mini Cup National Final. A doubleheader event will take place this weekend (July 25th and 26th) at Amarillo Motorsports Park in Amarillo, TX. I would say go if you are close by, but nothing is close to Amarillo.
 
MotoAmerica still needs volunteers for Mid-Ohio! You have until midnight central time Monday morning to sign up if you are interested. No experience necessary, training will be provided (and I think they even feed you, too!). You can be a Course Marshall, Grid Marshal, Tire Control Marshal, or a Hospitality Volunteer! Just follow this link to get signed up: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/motoamerica-mid-ohio-sports-car-course-2026-marshals-volunteers-682428 
 
Next week we will  preview the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Mid-Ohio weekend, until then take care of each other!