From Sean Bice/ MotoAmerica:
We’ve often said that the lifeblood of MotoAmerica is the riders. We advocate for their safety. They are our greatest assets. Plain and simple, without our riders, we literally would not have a race series.
There is a saying within the management at MotoAmerica. It’s a phrase that is attributed to MotoAmerica president Wayne Rainey.
“How bad do you want it?”
No one wanted to race and wanted it more than Wayne. It drove him to win two AMA Superbike Championships and three consecutive 500cc Grand Prix World Championships.
It also drove him to save motorcycle road racing in America by creating, with the support of his three partners Chuck Aksland, Richard Varner, and Terry Karges, the AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship, otherwise known as MotoAmerica.
We see frequent manifestations of “how bad do you want it?” in our paddock. Riders whose day jobs primarily fund their race programs, riders who sleep in their cars because virtually all of their money is spent on racing motorcycles and they cannot afford better places to live. Riders who train incessantly in an effort to achieve and maintain maximum fitness.
It is in this spirit that the MotoAmerica VIP Superfan Privateer Support Program was created.
A charitable subset of the VIP Superfan Experience, the Privateer Support Program began as an idea leading into the opening round of the 2026 season at Daytona International Speedway.
Ron Heben, “the man in the red jacket” who runs the VIP Superfan Experience, is also the man who created the Privateer Support Program. He purchased a collection of custom-embroidered hats resplendent in MotoAmerica and VIP Superfan logos, as well as Privateer Support Program lettering.
He sold the hats to the VIP Superfans who attended Daytona, and he randomly chose one rider out of the hundreds who make up our paddock.
The rider chosen was Eli Block.
MotoAmerica’s VIP Superfans are truly super fans, and they bought every single hat that was available. As a result, the VIP Superfans presented Twins Cup rider Block with a check (and cash) in the amount of $2,525.00! It was an incredibly generous gesture of support for him, and he really appreciated it.
“I was so caught off guard,” Block said. “It was an amazing experience. I didn’t even have a clue what was going on, and being picked was obviously a highlight of Daytona for me and my race program.”
Thank you to all our Daytona VIP Superfans for embracing the new program. And, to Eli Block, best of luck with your racing endeavors. We’re excited to see how the other rounds shape up as the word gets out and additional program supporters come on board. And, by the way, Ron is making sure we have enough VIP Superfan Privateer Support Program hats at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
