It was a bit of a numbers game in the second-to-last race of the 2024 Supersport Championship as Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz came into the weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a 39-point lead over Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen.
For Jacobsen, his mission was to win the race, which would yield him maximum points and possibly keep his title hopes alive till Sunday’s final race. N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis had other plans, and he was out to win the first MotoAmerica Supersport race of his young career.
With Davis starting 18th on the grid, he began a spirited march towards the front until a red flag stopped his progress. No matter, because, on the restart, the 18-year-old from Tennessee picked up right where he left off and put his Yamaha YZF-R6 in the lead.
With Jacobsen in second and not quite able to match Davis’ pace, Jacobsen’s teammate Corey Alexander took over second, relegating Jacobsen to third. Meanwhile, championship leader Scholtz was riding a controlled race and keeping himself in position to clinch the title.
At the checkered flag, it was Davis winning his first-career Supersport race with Alexander finishing as runner-up and Jacobsen completing the podium. Scholtz maintained fifth position all the way to the finish line, and that was enough for the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion to clinch his second MotoAmerica title, this time in Supersport.
“At first, when the red flag came out, I was a little disappointed,” said race winner Davis. “I just put in a lot of work. I came from 18th up to third. Once I realized I’d be starting from third and had a better shot at it, I was happy that these guys were going to be a lot closer to me and not the big gap that they had. I got one of my best starts of the season. I’ve struggled launching the R6 all year, so got up in front of Corey (Alexander). I thought I had a little bit better pace than I did after the red flag. I struggled with some rear grip, but I was able to do what I needed to do, put in some fast laps, and kind of just rode a little bit of defense on that last lap and was able to take the win.
“Tomorrow, I’m starting from 18th again. Hopefully, I’ll have even better pace than I did today and can maybe get a little bit closer to these guys, not expecting a red flag. I would like to thank N2, Yamaha, BobbleHeadMoto, KYT, Dainese, Sunstar, SBS, and everybody that helps me out. Shiloh and Chris. It’s been four years on their team, and it’s been amazing. Thank you a lot.”
For newly crowned Supersport Champion Scholtz, it was a feeling of relief.
“This race was weird for me,” Scholtz said. “I just didn’t have a good feeling from the first corner. I nearly highsided. Tipped into corner two and nearly highsided again, so I just did not have a good feeling. The first part of the race, PJ (Jacobsen) and Corey (Alexander) left me. I had nothing for them. Fifth place was probably the best I could have done today. I wasn’t riding around in fifth place because I was just chilling. I was riding as quick as I could. So, I definitely have to figure out something for tomorrow. But, overall, it’s just a big deal getting this championship. There’s been pressure the past couple of rounds and there’s been crashes and rain and red flags, and this and that. Now I’m just happy that I can go into Sunday’s race and just focus on going as quick as I can.”
Mission King Of The Baggers – Herfoss’ Turn At The Top
S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss came into Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers Championship trailing Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman by two points. After Saturday’s race, that points lead was flipped with Herfoss leading Wyman by two points. It was almost like Saturday didn’t happen.
Well, it certainly happened for RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers with the 19-year-old controlling the race from the front and holding off a determined Herfoss by a scant .182 of a second to win his second race of the year and his seventh podium in a row.
For Herfoss the race was a success because he came out on top of Wyman, but the gap is just two points, and it will still come down to a winner-take-all (or a second-place-takes-all if Landers has anything to say about it) for the championship on Sunday.
Wyman finished third after missing the set-up on his Road Glide due to the fact that Saturday’s race was actually the first time the Baggers took to a dry racetrack.
Fourth place went to Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara with O’Hara hounding Wyman to the bitter end and coming up just .060 of a second.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli was fifth after coming out on top of a scrap with SDI/Roland Sands Racing/Indian Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong.
“My crew chief worked so hard, and we’ve got such a good base setup that we really don’t have to tweak the bike a whole lot,” Landers said. “So, once I went out, I felt like the track was definitely a bit green. I will say that. I felt worse than I did yesterday in qualifying, even though it was half wet, half dry. I don’t think I really went much faster in that race. But a lot of people will say I tend to over-ride and slide maybe a little bit too much, and normally I disagree but that race was sketchy as hell. I was sliding everywhere. I felt like I was kind of on the edge. So, we might need to make a few small tweaks, just to make the thing hook up a little better and give us that confidence on corner entry. With that being said, I’ve said it a million times, these guys are such an honor to race against. It was an honor at the beginning of the year. They gave me so much advice. They’ve helped me a lot and helped me grow as a rider. To be able to battle with them is so sick for me. I really enjoy it. It’s like a dream.”
Stock 1000 – Gillim In A Thriller ‘Em
You won’t see a much better two-rider fight with a championship on the line than the Stock 1000 race on Saturday at NJMP between Hayden Gillim and Jayson Uribe. It was one where it’s really not fair to have just one winner.
Gillim, the leader of the championship by seven points going into race one of the finale, grew that lead in the title chase to 12 points going into tomorrow’s finale. The Real Steel Motorsports-backed Kentuckian looked to have things in control early in the race, but Uribe and his OrangeCat Racing BMW M1000 RR had different ideas. Uribe turned it up mid-race and started to reel Gillim in.
With just a few laps to go, Gillim and his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP had a huge moment coming out of the last corner where he went up on the curb, hit a wet spot and somehow saved what looked to be a certain highside. Uribe made him pay for the mistake and moved into the lead.
But Gillim wasn’t done. He fought back and was on Uribe’s tail section on the final lap, ultimately making a pass in a spot where not many have tried – the inside of the final corner.
He crossed the line just .026 of a second ahead of Uribe. Tomorrow the title will be decided with Gillim leading Uribe by 12 points.
FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith ended up a lonely third after knocking Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates off track. Yates ended up eighth and those two are now tied for third in the championship going into tomorrow’s finale.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis and Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin rounded out the top five.
When asked how he made that last corner pass on Uribe, Gillim admitted, “I have no idea. The bridge had a little wet spot under it, and I was a little nervous going that low. Somehow made it stick. Unfortunately made myself have to work a little harder with the little almost get-off. That hurt the hand a little bit, but it’s good. I’m happy. The team’s happy. It’s incredible to be back up on the top with Steel Commander Honda, Comstock Energy. That was a tough race. Jason (Uribe) was riding really good.”
Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Junior Cup – Dreher!
BARTCON Racing’s Matthew Chapin, who clinched the 2024 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship at the previous round at Circuit of The Americas, had plans to win Saturday’s Junior Cup race one. The only issue was his start. He left just a little before the light went out and was ultimately penalized five seconds.
Defending Junior Cup Champion Avery Dreher took the checkered flag first aboard his Bad Boys Racing Kawasaki, and Chapin was right behind Dreher. With the time penalty tacked on, Chapin still was credited with second place, and New York Safety Track Racing’s Yandel Medina finished third.
“This is as good as it gets,” Dreher said. “Going into the race, I didn’t know how good the grip was going to be because, to be honest, this was our first dry session. So, I just wanted to get out front and lead as much as I could. I tried to manage the pace. I was in the low 30s most of the time. I kept losing my brakes. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I was just trying to be careful and stay in the low 30s to try to manage the pace up front. I’ve got to give a huge shout-out to John, Dale, my brother Brady, Darwin, and everyone out here who has supported me. I want to dedicate this one to my dad. I know he’s watching me from up above. This one was for him.”
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