MotoAmerica: More From The 2024 Season Finale At NJMP (Updated)

MotoAmerica: More From The 2024 Season Finale At NJMP (Updated)

© 2024, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. From a press release issued By Yamaha Motor Corp. USA

Scholtz Crowned MotoAmerica Supersport Champion

 Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz claims the title in Race 1 and concludes a stellar debut Supersport season with a runner-up finish at NJMP

The Strack Racing team and supporters pose with 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Mathew Scholtz.
The Strack Racing team and supporters pose with 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Mathew Scholtz. Brian J. Nelson photo.

MARIETTA, Ga. –  September 30, 2024 – Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz claimed the 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship a race early at the season finale at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. The South African executed a smart ride in Race 1 to seal the deal on the title with 11 points and then finished the season with a runner-up finish in Race 2, further adding to his impressive tally during his debut season aboard the Strack Racing R6.  

The newly rebranded team, Strack Racing, made its debut with Scholtz at the season opener at Road Atlanta. Although it was a rollercoaster start, they had a strong showing in their early beginnings with a podium finish. The team built on that first round and came out swinging at Round 2, with Scholtz earning a double victory at Barber Motorsports Park. From there, the championship campaign continued to build strength, ultimately securing eight wins and a total of 15 podiums. The 2024 Supersport Championship is Scholtz’s second MotoAmerica title and second in the series with the Yamaha brand, the first of which was won aboard the Westby Racing R1 in the Superstock 1000 class in 2017.

Peter Strack – Strack Racing Team Principal 
“I thought I understood what team meant, but this year really taught me what that meant. I’ve done a lot in business and other things where a team means everything to your success. Everybody here pulled their weight, so it was a big deal. We fought hard. When we came in, we were the underdogs. We started off with some adversity, and we overcame that. Every single round, we pushed the limit in everything that we were doing and never took our foot off the gas. We were strategic and very calculated in what we did, and it paid off.”

Mathew Scholtz – Strack Racing #11
“Going into the Supersport class, it was a little bit of an unknown for me, but it was a beautiful season. There were a lot of highs and some lows as well. The season began a little slower than we liked, but from Round 2 at Barber, we took the double there and knew we should be fighting for the championship. The Strack Racing crew gave me a perfect bike all season long, and we did what we needed to do. I’m just really happy to bring the championship home.”

About Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS), is a recognized leader in the outdoor recreation industry. The company’s ever-expanding product offerings include Motorcycles and Scooters, ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles, Snowmobiles, Personal Watercraft, Boats, Outboard Motors, Outdoor Power Equipment, Power Assist Bicycles, Golf Cars [sold, serviced, and distributed by Yamaha Golf-Car Company], Power Assist Wheelchair Systems, Surface Mount Technology and Robotic Machines, Unmanned Helicopters, Accessories, Apparel, Yamalube products, and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of distributors and dealers in the United States.

YMUS has a corporate office in California, three corporate offices in Georgia, as well as facilities in Wisconsin, Alabama, and Florida. YMUS subsidiaries Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America (YMMC), based in Georgia, and Yamaha Jet Boat Manufacturing U.S.A. (YJBM) based in Tennessee, each assemble and manufacture selected Yamaha brand products. YMUS owns Skeeter Boats [Texas] with its division G3 Boats [Missouri]. Additional U.S.-based subsidiaries include Yamaha Marine Systems Company, Inc. (YMSC) with subsidiary Siren Marine [Rhode Island] and divisions Bennett Marine [Florida], Yamaha Marine Rotational Molders [Wisconsin] and Yamaha Precision Propeller Inc. [Indiana].

Yamaha Motor Finance Corporation, USA, dba Yamaha Financial Services, is an affiliate of Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA offering financing solutions to support Yamaha Dealers and loyal Yamaha Customers nationwide.

Hayden Gillim Earns Honda the 2024 MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Championship

From a press release issued by American Honda

Hayden Gillim winning at NJMP.
Hayden Gillim winning at NJMP. Brian J. Nelson photo.

  • First professional AMA road racing title for CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP
  • Honda riders took eight of 10 wins on the season

During this weekend’s rainy last round of 2024 MotoAmerica season at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Real Steel Motorsports rider Hayden Gillim wrapped up his second consecutive 2024 Stock 1000 National Championship, with wins on Saturday and Sunday. Racing a CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP with significant backing from Tennessee dealership Southern Powersports, Gillim dominated the series, winning seven of 10 races.

A 29-year-old native of Owensboro, Kentucky, Gillim is a racing veteran, having won his first Amateur Dirt Track Grand Championship at age 6. He’s a cousin of the famous racing Hayden brothers (who he is named after), and typically runs number 69 as an homage to the late Nicky Hayden, who rode Hondas to the 1999 AMA 600 Supersport Championship, the 2002 AMA Superbike Championship and the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.

This season, however, Gillim ran number 1 in Stock 1000, having earned last year’s crown with a different brand. He topped both races at the Alabama opener, but the next two rounds in Minnesota and Washington saw him win the opening races but crash out of the lead in the second races, making for a tight points battle. He was victorious in race 1 at Laguna Seca and finished on the podium in race 2 (with fellow Red Rider Ashton Yates getting the win), then closed out the season the way he started it—with a sweep at this weekend’s finale.

“We raced against Geoff May last year and saw what he was able to do on the Honda,” said Gillim, who has now won four professional AMA road racing titles. “Then when Honda’s contingency numbers came out, that was a big factor in us switching, as well as the support we got from Southern Powersports. I raced Hondas when I was younger, first getting on a 600, and [team co-owner] Jerry Nickell has a big Honda collection and was excited about it. The guys gave us a really good bike, and the team did a good job setting it up. It was a great year. We were making 25 horsepower more than last year’s bike, and every track we went to, I was going a second or two faster than my previous best lap times. After I put it on the ground a couple of times in the middle part of the season, I started managing things better and not overriding the bike, and we were able to finish the season out strong.”

This was the first AMA road racing crown for the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP platform, and Honda’s first since Jake Zemke took the 2008 Formula Xtreme crown aboard a CBR600RR.

“On behalf of everyone at American Honda, a huge congratulations and thank-you to Hayden, Real Steel Motorsports and Southern Powersports,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing and Advertising at American Honda. “We knew that the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP is a competitive machine, and we hoped that upping our contingency program for 2024 would give some top riders the nudge to show its potential. That said, we couldn’t have expected the dominance it has shown in Stock 1000, with Honda riders taking 80 percent of the wins. It’s great to see Honda back on top in an AMA professional racing series, and hopefully it’s a sign of more to come.”

About American Honda
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles, scooters, ATVs and Side-by-Sides in the United States. American Honda’s Power Sports & Products Division conducts the sales, marketing and operational activities for these products through independent authorized Honda retail dealers. For more information on Honda products, go to powersports.honda.com.

More from a press release issued by Suzuki:

ESCALANTE AND SCOTT EARN THE TOP 5 FOR VISION WHEEL M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI
Suzuki riders end the 2024 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship strong

Brea, CA, (September 30, 2024) — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and Team Hammer closed out the 2024 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship season at New Jersey Motorsports Park in rock solid fashion as Superbike pilot Richie Escalante and Supersport ace Tyler Scott led the way with four combined top-five finishes.

Race Highlights

  • Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
    • Superbike
      • Richie Escalante battled his way forward from outside the top 10 to score two fighting fifths.
      • Brandon Paasch was blisteringly quick on his home track, earning his best career Superbike qualifying position.
    • Supersport
      • Tyler Scott locked down a top-5 championship ranking with two fourths at NJMP.
      • Teagg Hobbs secured a top-10 championship position by twice finishing inside the top ten in the season finale.
      • Joel Ohman took his final lessons in a season dedicated to maximum improvement. 

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Superbike star Richie Escalante once again showed himself up to the task of going bar-to-bar with the nation’s elite roadracers, scoring a pair of impressive finishes despite qualifying on Row 4 on a weekend that featured mixed conditions but largely dry races. On Saturday, the Mexican carved his way up through the field aboard his Suzuki GSX-R1000R to ultimately win out a multi-rider dice for fifth. He was even stronger on Sunday despite again finishing fifth, closing in dramatically on the fight for victory late before taking the checkered flag just 0.886 seconds behind the winner.

Richie Escalante (54) closed out his short season happy to take some time to get back into peak form. Brian J. Nelson photo.

Despite missing the bulk of the season after suffering an injury in the opener, Escalante ended his abbreviated campaign with a podium finish among his three top 5 results. He said, “We had a pretty good weekend, one that was tough with the weather conditions. My pace and rhythm were good on the bike, and we finished with a gap quite close to the front on Sunday. I need to work on my starts and first laps more, so I don’t have to make up positions later in the race. I am glad this year is over given my injuries and missing time, but I want to thank Suzuki, the team, the crew, and all the sponsors.”

Escalante’s premier-class teammate, Brandon Paasch, was motivated to impress in front of his home-state fans. And impress he did, claiming his first career MotoAmerica front row grid position by clocking the third best time aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R. Unfortunately, Paasch crashed out while embroiled in the chase for fifth late in Saturday’s race. However, he bounced back on Sunday, claiming seventh in the year’s final contest.

Brandon Paasch (96) showed determination with a great qualifying time and impressive performance on Sunday despite a crash on Saturday. Brian J. Nelson photo.

Paasch, who ended the season ranked ninth in the points on the strength of two top 5 finishes, said, “It was a lot of positives for us and some disappointment as well. This was my first-ever front row qualifying, and I was fifth in the morning warm-up on Sunday. And in Sunday’s race, the total time was the closest I have finished to the winner yet. But the races didn’t go that well for us. I had a 118-mile per hour crash on Saturday and lost a lot of ground early in the race on Sunday.”

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport standout Tyler Scott wrapped up a strong campaign aboard the team’s next-generation GSX-R750 with a pair of fourth-place rides. Scott was consistently in the mix up front as he had been all season long, locking down a fifth-place championship standing that included a victory among four podium finishes.

Tyler Scott (70) was a consistent performer all season long with ending with a strong hold on fifth-place in championship points. Brian J. Nelson photo.

Scott said, “It was mixed conditions all weekend but dry races, so that made it interesting. Overall, it wasn’t a bad weekend, but we were looking for more because we always want to win. On Saturday, we got fourth with a small bike problem keeping us from the podium. It looked like we might get it on Sunday, but a rider t-boned me towards the end of the race. I lost some ground and wasn’t able to make it up the rest of the way.”

Scott’s Supersport teammate, Teagg Hobbs, continued to fight his way out of a second half slump. Hobbs raced his way up from 15th on the grid to finish inside the top 10 twice – 10th on Saturday and ninth on Sunday, to end the season ranked ninth in the final MotoAmerica Supersport standings.

Hobbs said, “It’s no secret we have struggled this season, and we made changes with the bike and got back on track this weekend. It took a while to get the setup dialed in, but by Sunday, things were really improved. I started 15th and moved up to seventh, and my lap times were third or fourth fastest in the race. The bike responded to my rider inputs the way I was expecting. It was a disappointing year for me, but it was good to get a positive race in.”

The squad’s third Supersport pilot, Joel Ohman, spent his 2024 season dedicated to gaining as much experience and speed as possible, a mission he concluded in New Jersey.

Ohman said, “It feels good to end the year on a high note. We started out really rough with the rain. I didn’t feel confident pushing it the way I wanted and was having a hard time. The first race, we had some of the same issues as before but after working with the team and my riding coach, we found a solution with the bike and I went 2.5 seconds faster than we had gone all weekend. The second race, I was able to battle and move up so I was happy about that.”

ABOUT TEAM HAMMER

The 2024 season marks Team Hammer’s 44th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 134 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 373 times and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.

ABOUT VISION WHEEL

Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.

ABOUT SUZUKI

Suzuki Motor USA, LLC. (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automotive Parts, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.

For Suzuki road racing news, results, and team updates, visit suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing.

For more information and updates on Team Hammer, visit teamhammer.com.

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