Andrew Lee’s Cup Is Empty

First Person/Opinion By Sean Bice

Quick question: Which U.S.-based national motorcycle road racing championship uses the word “Cup” in its name but doesn’t award an actual “cup” at the conclusion of each season? If you guessed the MotoAmerica Talent Cup, Twins Cup, or Mini Cup, you’re right. None of those championships awards a physical “cup” akin to the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup or NASCAR’s Bill France Cup. But none of those is the U.S.-based national motorcycle road racing championship to which we’re referring.

Here’s a hint: It’s the same U.S.-based national motorcycle road racing championship that doesn’t compile race wins or even issue separate results.

The MotoAmerica Superbike Cup is an enigma. An outlier. A national championship that awards trophies after each race and a $25,000 grand prize to the top finisher at season’s end. The competitors race some of MotoAmerica’s fastest and most demanding motorcycles, and they compete in 20 races each season, just like riders do in MotoAmerica’s premier-class Superbike Championship.

But the wins don’t count as wins.

Past Superbike Cup Champions include Nolan Lamkin, Ashton Yates, and JD Beach. This season, the Superbike Cup Champion may be Andrew Lee, unless something truly catastrophic occurs to prevent Lee from adding a fourth MotoAmerica Championship to his resume.

For 2026, MotoAmerica did away with the Stock 1000 Championship, which was the class in which Lee won three season titles. He also racked up 15 AMA race victories during his tenure as a Stock 1000 Championship rider.

The likeable Californian has taken the checkered flag nine times out of 12 races so far this this season, but none of those nine first-place finishes count as official race wins.

Every rider who competes in any of the following MotoAmerica race classes—-Superbike, Supersport, King Of The Baggers, Twins Cup, Talent Cup, and the Super Hooligan National Championship—-earns victories when they finish first. Outside of Royal Enfield’s Build.Train.Race. program, the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup is the only race class where a win isn’t a win.

Even MotoAmerica has struggled with this conundrum. While, technically, the Superbike Cup “winner” within each Superbike race is called the “first-place finisher,” press releases and social media posts from MotoAmerica have often missed that nuance. On several occasions, they’ve said that the first-place finisher in Superbike Cup was the “winner” or “won” the race.

It’s understandable because that’s actually the way it should be.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), part of the official sanctioning body for the MotoAmerica series, along with the FIM North America (FIMNA), sets the rules for what is considered to be a race “win.” The aforementioned Super Hooligan National Championship (SHNC), in the beginning, was also an outlier. It started out as an exhibition series, but over time, the AMA/FIMNA began to count race wins in SHNC as official victories. It was a conscious and calculated decision to do so. And, ironically, Super Hooligan is not even a MotoAmerica race class. It’s actually owned by Roland Sands.

So, what about Superbike Cup?

From Lamkin, to Yates, to Beach, and this year, to Lee, every one of those riders inquired about their first-place finishes in Superbike Cup and why they are not counted as race wins.

For those four riders, as well as all the other MotoAmerica competitors who have raced in Superbike Cup, having their first-place race results counted as actual race victories would mean everything to them.

Right now, JD Beach is ranked seventh among active riders in all-time AMA race wins, and he is also in the top 10 among all riders, past and present. If his 19 first-place finishes in Superbike Cup last year counted as race wins, his grand total would be 67 all-time victories, which would tie him for third among active riders and sixth in all-time AMA race victories. That’s a big deal.

This year, Andrew Lee’s nine first-place finishes so far in Superbike Cup would bring his career AMA wins total to 24, which would put him just outside the top 10 among active riders.

Recognizing Superbike Cup first-place finishes as race wins would also be a boon to Ashton Yates, Nolan Lamkin, and even this year’s Cup contenders. There is no doubt that Deion Campbell would be happy to have three AMA race wins to his credit in only his second full season of AMA professional road racing competition

It’s time to give Superbike Cup its due. No need to roll out an actual “cup” for the season champions to sip from. Just give the riders their wins.

Let their cups runneth over.