2025 has been a record year for the Utah Sport Bike Association’s “Masters of the Mountain” series presented by Utah Motorcycle Law! After 5 exciting rounds it was down to the final event, round 6, that took place September 6th and 7th at Burt Brothers Motorpark in Grantsville, UT. Racers from the Mountain West Region and beyond flocked into Tooele Valley for the Season Finale on the Fun, Fast, and Challenging Perimeter course. While local riders were looking to finish their seasons strong and wrap up their championship battles, many fast and highly competitive out of town racers were trying to get a taste of the hype that has been surrounding the UtahSBA this year. It’s safe to say it didn’t take long for everyone to understand why this series has quickly become the premier race organization and venue for summer motorcycle road racing in the West.

Saturday morning started off as it has all season with all racers qualifying for their grid spots in their respective classes. It was busy on track with nearly 100 riders showing up to race this round. Topping the charts in the first round of qualifying was previous #1 plate holder Brian Childree at a 1:56.5. During the second sessions, 2025 Club Champion Anthony Norton put in a lap of 1:54.6 to leap to the top of the charts and secure pole position with returning racer Genaro Lopez securing the 3rd fastest time at 1:58.0. Saturday sprint racing kicked off immediately following qualifying and the grids were dense which meant you couldn’t take your eyes off the action on track because there were battles from start to finish in every race.

The Novice middleweights were the first to take the green flag for the weekend in the Vortex Racing Moto2 Novice class. This class has been a battle all season with Dakota Burford, Parker Meyer and Brayden Rocco all chasing Hunter Underhill in a tight championship battle. These Riders gave it their all in the final round with Dakota and Parker putting on a show going back and forth throughout the race doing their part to maximize their points yield. At the stripe, Parker fell .5 short of the win to Dakota followed by Brayden just off the leaders in 3rd and Hunter finishing 4th which was good enough to secure the class championship on the season.

Next on track were the Expert and Novice heavyweight bikes of the stock1000 classes. In the Crossbeam Builders stock1000 expert class fast qualifier Anthony Norton had already wrapped up the class championship but wasn’t letting off the gas just yet. Starting from p3 Lou Soccaccio jumped the start and led Norton and Genaro Lopez into turn 1. Norton would catch the Soccaccio into turn 5 to take the official lead on track and pick up right where he left off in qualifying lapping faster than the field on his way to victory. Lopez made the pass for 2nd shortly after and Justen Behmer out of Colorado would secure the final podium spot after the jump start penalty was given to Soccacio. The real drama happened in the second wave with the Trackstar Racing stock1000 Novices where Damon Schuetze and James Walker were separated by just 1 point in the championship battle. The two locking horns in the race left the door open for Riley Hebert to take his shot at the front. Hebert nailed the start and jumped out to an early lead with Derek Festavan giving chase in second followed by the 2 championship leaders. While Hebert would be uncontested at the front, the 3 behind him never let him get away as the top 4 would be separated by less than 2 seconds at the finish. The finishing order went Hebert, Festavan, and Walker with Schuetze just off the podium in 4th. The Championship title went to James Walker by just 3 points to Damon Schuetze in 2nd both celebrated a remarkably successful season.

Saturday’s main event, The “Duel in the Desert” endurance race. It’s been a growing and welcomed race platform reintroduced this year by the UtahSBA. Each round it has gotten bigger and more competitive, this final round was no exception. 20 teams registered accounting for 42 riders in this special 3-hour endurance finale with double points and some season purse money on the line. Championship rivals Precision Fab Racing and Paradigm Racing, competing in Open Team Endurance, a true endurance format, would be head-to-head in a winner take all race for the championship. The two teams would lead the charge in the early laps with Anthony Norton on the Precision Fab ZX10 and Shane Turpin on the Paradigm Racing R6. Norton extended a near 40 second lead at the end of his stent before handing the bike off to teammate Kreece Elliot. Turpin adopted the lead during the Precision Fab pitstop before coming to pitlane himself and handing the reigns to teammate Lee Callans. Elliot stretched the lead to nearly 2 laps by the end of his stent then giving Kohl Burmester the reigns of the Precision Fab steed. Then it was Alex Zinaich’s turn on the paradigm machine who began to chip away at the leaders. Burmester finished his stent 1lap+ ahead as the team made their only Dunlop tire change of the race and Elliot got back on track for his second stent. At this point both teams would need to make at least 1 more fuel stop. After all the strategies played out and in the final minutes, it was Shane Turpin keeping pace with Anthony Norton on track, but 2 laps down and running out of time. Precision Fab Racing would take the win, and with it, the Racers Edge Dunlop Team Endurance Championship!

In the Hardline Excavation/Defcon Motorsports Ironman Endurance class, the main protagonists on the season have been Richard Findlay and Robert Jojola and they were at it again. With a championship still left undecided these warriors gave it their all for 3 straight hours. “Jojo” only stopping once for fuel would take the win in the final round. Findlay was fighting mechanical issues with his machine being stuck in 6th gear for the majority of the race but would not give up as he came into this round leading the class championship. The spirit of these Ironman endurance racers is next level. Findlay would reach the end of 3 hours in 2nd place, good enough to secure the season Ironman Championship.

The 3rd and final endurance class was the most contested class of round 6 with many out-of-town riders joining in the Apex Assassins Relay Endurance class. Racers, each racing their own bikes passing a transponder like a baton relay style. The Championship leading team “Formula 55” has been steadily running upfront all season and just 3 hours away from securing a championship of their own. Formula 55 Team members David Meyer, Jim Jackson, and Randy Alfano would run consistent for the entire race sticking to their plan and fight off the barrage of competitors to come out on top for their season efforts.

The club ended the day with podium celebrations for Saturday’s sprint and endurance races while providing some amazing BBQ for the paddock. The on-track battles while ferocious in spirit don’t outweigh the off-track comradery shared when the track goes cold. But there was still a full day of racing scheduled for Sunday and racers were every bit ready to duke it out the next morning.

Sunday morning the weather was a bit breezy but otherwise perfect to get the day started. The premier race of the weekend as always is the “King of the Mountain” race where all the fastest riders grid up for the glory and a shot of the Burt Brothers sponsored purse money. A whopping 30 riders took to the grid just after lunch, all stacked behind pole sitter and reigning KOM champion Anthony Norton. When the lights went out it was a mad dash into turn 1 with bikes bouncing off each other mid pack and somehow all making through turn 1. Into turn 1 it was Brian Childree and Kreece Elliott fighting for position with Childree getting the upper hand and the holeshot. Following the top two were Justen Behmer, Lou Saccoccio and then Anthony Norton in 5th looking to recover from terrible start. Norton quickly slotted into 4th and the top 4 started to break away, mostly 2 and 3 wide with one another of the first lap. Lap 1 ended with Childree leading Elliott, then Norton having taken 3rd away from 4th place Justen Behmer. Lap 2, turn 2, Norton shoved his way through his endurance teammate Elliot for 2nd and set his sights on the leader. Just a few corners later Norton pulled the trigger on the lead passing Childree into turn 5 and never looked back. Childree lapped closely behind for a few laps before Norton began to inch away on his way to Victory. The battle for the final podium spot never stopped with Behmer fighting for the pass on Elliott but at the checkered flag it was Kreece Elliott taking home the final podium spot and a nice paycheck for his efforts.

Race winner and Champion Anthony Norton had this to say post-race… “That was a blast! Rad to have some fast visitors this weekend. Battling through the top 3 in the opening laps was controlled chaos and a lot of fun. Pleasure to race with them (Childree, Elliott, Behmer). It’s been one heck of a season and I’m super proud of my whole team for their racing efforts and the support they give me. Special thanks to Dale with Racers Edge Dunlop helping me to win our 3rd straight #1 plate. Couldn’t do any of this without my friends and sponsors at Precision Fab Machinery, Legal Ride NV, Apex Assassins, and Crossbeam Builders. Also thankful for Burt Brothers Tire and Service who supports this class and the club making racing more achievable and more rewarding as well with some generous purse money.”

The Young Powersports Lightweight Superbike class is a collective of bikes and combined class consisting of expert and novice racers. The class races both days and the Saturday race was quite a show. Josh Lerner would take the win with a significant lead in race 1 aboard his Kramer but the next 4 riders would battle throughout the race. Championship Contender Martina Velcheva would lead this group in 2nd early on with Scott Christensen and Dustin Lance not letting her off easy, all 3 riding the new ZX4RR. Sean Groenstein was also in the fight for the podium. The 4 would exchange spots countless times but Christensen would begin to sneak away in 2nd, followed by the sweet sound and smell of the 2-stroke NSR machine piloted by Groenstein in 3rd. Lance would finish 4th and Velcheva brought her machine across the line in 5th. Race 2 on Sunday was all about the top 2 title contenders, Kyle Kacprzynski and Martina Velcheva. Martina had to win and hope that some riders could put themselves between her and Kyle for her shot at the Title. Martina did her job running away with a commanding lead and winning this battle, but Kyle would be the next bike across the line winning the war and the Championship. Great season for both Riders.

The final Race of the weekend and the sadly the season was the “run what you brung” Deseret Dash. Experts and Novices both race in this class but are scored separately. Winning the final Mountain Motor Club Open Deseret Dash Expert race was Justen Behmer on his Zx10R and the Redline Realty Novice class winner would be Landon Richey with his Ducati V4 machine. A fun race to put a stamp on the 2025 UtahSBA season.

Club President Brian Childree gave his final thoughts on a very successful season stating: “What an incredible way to close out the season! Round 6 delivered our biggest turnout yet. Racers hitting 180mph down the full straight, more than 20 teams competing in our 3-hour endurance, and close battles across every class. We were proud to welcome riders from Arizona, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah of course, even Mexico and Canada. All came here to compete head-to-head with Utah’s best. I couldn’t be prouder of what our club has built this year. Our Board members, volunteers, track staff, and of course the racers, poured their energy and passion into making this season a success and thanks to them we have set a new standard. We’re already looking ahead to 2026 and the ways we can make this series even better.”

This was the final round of superbike racing for the UtahSBA, not just for this season, but the club is rebranding and reaffirming the mission to make this series the premier destination for Roadracing in the western United States. More details to come on what’s next for the club but we’re sure you’ll want to be a part of what’s in store for 2026. Their last event for 2025 is the annual awards banquet which will be held October 18th at the Ken Garff University Club in Salt Lake City, UT. All those having business with this season or next including Racers, Family, Sponsors and more are encouraged to attend. Buy your tickets through Motorsportreg.com or visit Utahsba.com for more details including full season results and championship standings.