RoadAmerica VIP Magazine by 541 Marketing

Slicer’s Corner

Road America’s 70th anniversary was truly a milestone event, coinciding with the motorcycle community’s celebration of 45 years since the inaugural AMA professional road race at this legendary circuit.

“This was a milestone weekend for all of us,” said Mike Kertscher, President and General Manager of Road America. “The energy from the fans, the world-class competition, and the sheer volume—from entries to spectators—made this the biggest Superbike event we’ve ever hosted since motorcycles first hit the track in 1980.”

Among the many special guests was Fast Freddie Spencer, winner of that historic first Superbike race at Road America and three-time FIM Grand Prix World Champion. Freddie continues to inspire, coaching the Build.Train.Race. riders on Royal Enfield machines, and he also rides at select vintage events worldwide.

But he wasn’t the only racing icon in our VIP suite. Champions like Wayne Rainey, Kyle Wyman, Joe Kopp, Bradley Smith, Bobby Fong, James Rispoli, Loris Baz, Rocco Landers, and Brianna Cutler all brought their own stories of success, making for an unforgettable VIP experience.

Speaking of VIPs, a special thank you goes out to our returning “posse” of loyal supporters and special guests, from Harley-Davidson Motor Company and its partners, as well as Yamaha bLU cRU dealers. And to our first-time attendees—we hope your Road America experience was one to remember!

Don’t forget to explore the latest features in our VIP Superfan magazine, where we’ve captured unforgettable moments from our suite, trackside action, and podium celebrations! Share them with friends and relive the excitement. Next stop: The Ridge in Shelton, Washington, June 27-29. Hope to see you there!”

Best Regards, Ron

“Slicer”Heben

GUEST SPEAKERS

Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey, Joe Kopp, Bradley Smith, Bobby Fong, James Rispoli, Loris Baz, Rocco Landers, Brianna Cutler, Larry Meyer, and Michael Martin.

The VIP experience was truly exceptional, as guests were captivated by world-class racers and gained exclusive access to the behind-the-scenes operations in the TV compound and MotoAmerica Race Control.

Highlighting Saturday’s race schedule was the opportunity to get on the grid for Mission King Of The Baggers race one, while getting pictures with the racers.

What could be better for our Harley-Davidson fans than to be up on the podium with the Motor Company’s top three factory racers! With champagne being sprayed, it was a day to remember!

FAST FREDDIE SPENCER

June 1, 1980, was a big day for Road America, American Honda, the American Motorcyclist Association, and motorcycle road racing fans in the Midwest.

In fact, all of 1980 was a big year for Honda since it was their first official year as a competing manufacturer in the AMA Superbike Championship. Also, they signed 18-year-old Frederick Burdette Spencer, the motorcycle racing phenom from Shreveport, Louisiana, who had already earned the nickname “Fast Freddie.”

Superbike racing is a uniquely American invention, and it made perfect sense that Honda’s very first Superbike was the quintessential handmade American hot rod.

Spencer’s 1980 Honda CB750F started out as a production three-quarter-liter streetbike with no illusions of being race-worthy.

After Honda’s Ray Plumb and his crew—a collection of masterminds and mad scientists—got done, Spencer’s 65-horse-

power CB750F was transformed into a snarling, cantankerous, 130-horsepower, 1023cc Superbike. A CB1023F, as it were, and it was the motorcycle version of the classic Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde story if ever there was one.

Plumb and his crew absolutely plumbed the depths of that Japanese-designed, engineered, and manufactured Honda. They machined and built everything from the intake and exhaust valves to the crankshaft in order to double the stock CB750F streetbike’s power output. The frame was heavily gusseted. The steering geometry was altered and optimized. The hand-machined triple clamps held beefy, heavily modified Gold Wing forks. And extra bracing was added to the stock swingarm until it faintly resembled the Brooklyn Bridge. After all, Spencer was going to go fast on Honda America’s first Superbike. Everything needed to be bigger and better.

“Those big, inline-four-cylinder bikes revved to 10,500 rpm,” Spencer said. “They were a real handful to ride.”

VIDEO

Freddie Spencer aboard his 1023cc Honda CB750F Superbike.

It took Fast Freddie and his team a couple of rounds to get things sorted on the bike, even though, rather miraculously, he finished as runner-up at Daytona in the bike’s first race. Then came a 12th-place finish at Alabama International Motor Speedway and a 17th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Next up was Road America, and it would be the first time AMA motorcycle road racing took place at “America’s National Park of Speed.”

What a way to kick things off. Suzuki’s Wes Cooley was in the lead during the 16-lap Sunday feature event, and he was headed for the finish line with Honda’s Spencer and Kawasaki’s Eddie Lawson in hot pursuit. On the final lap and just a mile from the finish line, Cooley’s bike suddenly ran out of fuel (Road America is a four-mile circuit, after all). Spencer took the lead and the checkered flag over Lawson and third-place finisher David Aldana, who was also aboard a Kawasaki. Meanwhile Cooley managed to salvage an eighth-place result

Spencer won again at Loudon (Bryar Motorsports Park) in the next round, and then, he notched win number three on the season at Laguna Seca.

Don’t feel too bad for Cooley, though, because he ended up also winning three races that year, and so did Lawson. The combined points from the 10-round, 10-race season resulted in Cooley winning the championship, Lawson finishing as runner-up, and Spencer completing the title podium in third. Incidentally, New Zealander Graeme Crosby was the only rider other than Cooley, Lawson, and Spencer to win a race in 1980, and Crosby’s lone victory occurred at Daytona in the first race of the season. Forty-five years later, we applaud Freddie Spencer’s first Superbike win, American Honda’s first victory in AMA Superbike, and Road America’s very first AMA-sanctioned motorcycle road racing weekend.

Forty-five years later, Fast Freddie Spencer was back at Road America again

For the past couple of years, he has been the man in charge of Royal Enfield’s Build.Train.Race. program where he works diligently with the 12 lady racers selected each year to compete. He oversees their bike builds, helps train them using his tried-and-true riding techniques and racecraft, and mentors each of them individually during each of their race weekends.

Spencer is a busy man in the MotoAmerica paddock, but he was still able to spend some time with the VIP Superfans, and for that, we are all grateful.

Sunday was another perfect day, with another great group of VIP’s enjoying Superbike race two. It is always special to be able to wish a racer good luck and to have your picture taken with them.

Josh Herrin set the pace for both Superbike races, with solid rides by Bobby Fong and Richie Escalante. Podiums are always special! How about being able to “feel” the speed on the front straightaway? That was epic!

Suite activities included being able to check out all the behind-the-scenes intricacies that help bring MotoAmerica race

weekends to life, as well as enjoying the company of world-class racers.

Duly Noted

Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Road America event:

MotoAmericans By The Multitude

I’m reasonably certain that, by now, you’ve heard that, this past weekend, we entertained the largest group of spectators ever in the 45year history of motorcycle racing at Road America. There have been several comments on our social media channels from people asking, “What’s the number?”

The truth is, we don’t know. Like many other racetracks throughout the world, Road America doesn’t release specific attendance numbers. They definitely know how many people enjoyed our racing in person this past weekend, and try as hard as we did, we couldn’t get them to divulge the info. Even completely off-the-record; in casual conversations between us, them, and a couple of brats; and over a late-Sunday-night shot of whiskey to celebrate Brian J. Nelson’s birthday, mum’s the word.

Anecdotally, we can tell you that a lot of people in the paddock, including riders and team personnel, were marveling at the number of people enjoying their weekend at the 640-acre “America’s National Park of Speed.” Defending Superbike Champion Josh Herrin said, “I’ve been racing here since 2006, and this is the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at Road America.”

The Polyglot Prodigy

Alessandro Di Mario, the 16-year-old rider from Kentucky, who won last year’s Twins Cup Championship and is currently leading this year’s Parts Unlimited Talent Cup by Motul Championship, is not only fast on a racetrack, he is also a fast learner.

Born in Italy, Di Mario is fluent in his father Luigi’s native Italian language. He also speaks Albanian, which is his mother Manjola’s native language, and a little bit of Spanish, along with, of course, perfect English. The quadrilingual Kentuckian had to skip his high school graduation this past week in order to race at Road America, but his mom brought his cap and gown to Elkhart Lake, so Di Mario donned the ensemble—tassel included—right after winning Sunday’s race two. By the way, Di Mario won’t turn 17 till way next December 9. So, for those old enough to get the reference, he is the “Doogie Howser” of MotoAmerica.

Road America At The Speed Of Life

The fastest overall rider throughout the weekend at Road America was Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’s Cameron Beaubier, who officially reached a maximum trap speed of 190.3 miles per hour on lap 10 of Saturday afternoon’s 12-lap Superbike race two.

Unofficially, Beaubier actually did a top speed of 201 miles per hour. And, as a matter of fact, Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin also did a top speed of 201 miles per hour. Those top speeds were recorded on the new prototype RaceLink system that is being tested this season and is slated to be fully incorporated into MotoAmerica’s Timing & Scoring in 2026.

Here are the fastest riders in each of the other five race classes:

• Stock 1000: OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe went 186.8 miles per hour aboard his BMW on lap four of Saturday’s eight-lap race one.

• Mission King Of The Baggers: Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman went 168.0 miles per hour on the second and final lap of Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge.

• Motovation Supersport: Rahal Ducati Moto’s Kayla Yaakov went 166.3 miles per hour on lap three of the 10 she did during Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session.

• Parts Unlimited Talent Cup by Motul: Bettencourt Racing’s Nathan Bettencourt reached a highest trap speed of 126.3 miles per hour on lap two of the five he did during Sunday morning’s Warm Up session.

• Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race.: Kira Knebel went 114.0 miles per hour on her first lap of the four she did during Sunday morning Warm Up.

The Constant Quest For Quickness

Coming into the race weekend, Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman held the lap record at Road America in Mission King Of The Baggers. When he took to the track for Practice 1 on Friday morning, Wyman wasted no time in breaking his own record. Then, in Friday afternoon’s Qualifying 1, he went quicker again, and broke the record he set that morning. On Saturday in Qualifying 2, Wyman did a lap of 2:17.452, which broke his own record from Friday. And finally, in his fourth on-track session of the weekend, which was the two-lap, dash-for-cash Challenge race, Wyman set a new race lap record of 2:17.526.

A throng, a horde, a multitude, or whatever you want to call it, a heckuva lot of people turned out to watch the MotoAmerica stars race at Road America this past weekend. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

“Doogie” Di Mario has talent and a high school diploma to his credit at only 16 years of age. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

In Sunday’s Stock 1000 race two, OrangeCat Racing’s Andrew Lee set a new lap record and race lap record of 2:12.730, which eclipsed his own freshly minted lap record and race lap record from Saturday’s race one.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, who qualified on pole for the weekend’s two Motovation Supersport races, set a new lap record and race lap record of 2:16.408 in Sunday afternoon’s race two. It was the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup by Motul riders’ first time racing at Road America aboard their Krämer APX-350 MA motorcycles, so they set a benchmark for lap times in Practice 1, and when their weekend concluded with race two, Jones Honda’s Julian Correa set a new lap record and race lap record of 2:36.727.

The Julian Calendar

Speaking of Julian Correa, the Floridian is competing this season in both the British Talent Cup and the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup by Motul. As a result, Correa has raced for the past three weekends in a row: Donington Park, Silverstone Circuit, and this past weekend at Road America. In the British Talent Cup, he races a Honda NSF250R, while he’s aboard a Krämer APX-350 MA in the MotoAmerica Talent Cup. Correa says the bikes are completely different, and yet, he’s had a lot of success on both. After finishing 8th in race one at Donington Park in England three weekends ago, Correa was fourth in race one at Silverstone. Then, this past weekend at Road America, “JuJu” finished fifth in Saturday’s race one and second in Sunday’s weekend-concluding race two.

Dreher To The Doctor, Then Back To Business

I’m on a roll here when it comes to interesting tidbits about the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup by Motul riders, so I’m going to keep it going. MP13 Racing’s Ella Dreher, the 15-year-old female phenom who wowed everyone last year in the final season of the Junior Cup Championship is wowing people again this season in the brand-new Talent Cup.

She’s an absolute talent, no doubt, but she’s also tough as nails. Last month, while training on a Supermoto bike at Bushnell Motorsports Park in Florida, Dreher crashed and fractured her right clavicle. After having surgery to reset the displaced bone and put in a plate to stabilize it, she resumed her training and surprised her doctor with how quickly she recovered and regained almost full range of motion in her right shoulder and arm. At Road America this past weekend, she said she wasn’t feeling any pain or discomfort, and her fourth-place finish in Saturday’s race one proved it. Adding even further proof, she was unfortunately involved in an incident during Sunday’s race two, which put her, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg, and D&D Certified Racing’s Landen Smith on the ground and brought out the red flag. Relatively unscathed and with her corrected clavicle none the worse for wear, Dreher was able to make the restart, and she successfully finished the race.

Double, Double, No Trouble

How many Superbike riders in AMA/MotoAmerica history can you say “did the double” twice in less than a week? Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, helped his wife Rachel and the doctors bring his two twin daughters into the world (yes, he cut the cord twice), and then, Herrin delivered two twin race wins this past weekend at Road America. What else would you expect from the motorcycle road racer who made the number two famous in America, even though he’s got a number one on his bike this year. But, hey, two plus one equals three, and that’s how many children Josh and Rachel Herrin now have.

Congratulations to Herrin, Party of Five.

Kyle Wyman set a new track record during four consecutive on-track sessions at Road America.

Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Julian Correa is racing in two different Talent Cup championships and on two different sides of the Atlantic this season. Photos by Brian J. Nelson (left) and Michael Hallam (right).

No doubt, Josh Herrin traded his water bottle for twin baby bottles when he returned home from Road America.

Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Road America has a walkway to the start/finish line, and it is truly exciting to get an overhead view of race machines whizzing below you at 180 miles per hour plus! The VIP Superfan Experience is two days jam-packed with awesome activities.

Enjoy this drone footage of Josh Herrin taking a lap around Road Atlanta

And this aerial view of the Road America track

Harley-Davidson’s Museum Bike Night

The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, opened in 2008, and it showcases over 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles, along with thousands of artifacts celebrating the brand’s rich history.

The Harley-Davidson Museum Bike Night Concert Series has been a Milwaukee tradition since 2009, running every Thursday from May 1 to September 25. It brings riders and fans together for free live music, featuring some of Milwaukee’s favorite bands.

For the past few years, before MotoAmerica’s Road America race weekend held in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, at the end of May, motorcycle enthusiasts welcome the H-D Factory and support Team racers at a meet & greet, autograph signing and showcasing their race H-D machines at the Museum. This year’s event had ideal weather, a massive turnout, and fans got front-row seats to meet all of the H-D racers. It was an incredible night for motorcycle enthusiasts!

If you're ever in Milwaukee on a Thursday night, it's an exciting way to experience the Harley-Davidson culture and soak in the lively atmosphere. Next year's event can't come fast enough! You can check out more details on the Harley-Davidson Museum website.

Next year just can’t come quick enough. Good stuff for sure!

Photos courtesy of Brian J. Nelson Photography