The American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) wrapped up Round 3 of its 2026 Championship Series June 13-14 at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California, with one of the hottest race weekends of the season. Trackside temperatures climbed to an estimated 105-107 degrees, creating concerns of an area power-blackout due to local fire risks, but racers and fans turned out in force for the final event before the club’s summer break.

The weekend’s featured event was the Super Hooligan exhibition race, showcasing a diverse mix of motorcycles with upright ergonomics and spirited bar-to-bar racing. Novice rider Evan Edge impressed by taking the overall victory against a mixed field of novice and expert competitors, followed by Jeremy Taubman, while Carbon Merrill claimed the final podium position after a race-long battle.

Across the championship classes, Jason Nelson continued his dominant form on the big bikes, sweeping Formula Pacific, Formula One, and Open Superbike while extending his Formula Pacific points lead. Alex Ricci highlighted the middleweight action with multiple victories and an exciting second-place finish in Saturday’s Formula Pacific sprint after a spectacular pass entering Turn 9. In the lightweight classes, the ongoing rivalry between Dave Moss and Luke Hiestermann continued to entertain spectators, while novice Jaden Damato once again demonstrated exceptional pace by earning overall victories in several races ahead of experienced competitors.

The American Twins classes delivered close racing throughout the weekend, with Nolan Leupp capitalizing on an early incident to take the American Twins Unlimited victory, while Marc Lo, Izaiah Thigpen, Pao Vang, Nicholas Renoni, and others traded positions repeatedly in the tightly contested 350 classes.

AFM now heads into its summer break before returning August 29-30 at Buttonwillow Raceway’s newest configuration, The Circuit, where competitors will also take part in the popular, annual Track-Day Provider Endurance Relay. The unique event brings together riders, instructors, and customers from California’s track-day organizations to compete in a relay-style endurance race that has become one of the club’s signature exhibition races.