COTA VIP Magazine by 541 Marketing

Circuit of the Americas - September 13-15, 2024

E X P E R I E N C

Slicer’s Corner

Thank you, our VIP Superfan, for attending our MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas event! I think you will agree it was a hot and amazing weekend at COTA. Five championship classes competed, with two championships being decided. The new pavement delivered several new track records and some of the best racing that we have witnessed in 2024! Besides astonishing performances by phenomenal racers, we experienced some crazy outcomes as well. Sean Bice’s “Duly Noted” will provide those details on pages 16-17.

One class in which a championship was decided on Sunday was the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. Cory West and his Saddlemen/Harley Davidson Pan America finished second to his rival competitor Tyler O’Hara to win the championship! It was such a rewarding championship for Cory, Saddlemen and Harley-Davidson that we decided to put our VIP fans on the podium with the top three champions and use it as our front cover feature!

This racing class that Roland Sands created nine years ago and that is now in its 3rd year of partnering with Mission Foods as a title sponsor in the MotoAmerica series has been a growing class with, at times, over 40-plus entries and 10 different manufacturers. The 1st two championships were won by Tyler O’Hara. This year, we had five different winners over the 10-event championship run. For the most part, it was a battle between Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle.

Roland Sands, a past AMA Road Race National Champion, custom bike builder, designer and the King of alternative racing , must be exceptionally proud of the increased awareness of his concept with the “Hooligans” who race at several other venues with a host of classes for just about every motorcycle enthusiast. Well-done, Roland!

Overall, I hope we were able to provide a unique perspective from our racers and industry representatives and, most importantly, enable you to enjoy your time at COTA. We hope you enjoy this magazine and share it with your friends and colleagues. We have our last round at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with five championships to be decided. You can bet there will be a different kind of “heat” in the Garden State!

Best Regards,

Ron “Slicer”Heben

Roland Sands

COVER: Newly crowned Mission Super Hooligan National Champion Cory West and his Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson team enjoy the well-earned 2024 Championship! Cory proudly displays his AMA/FIM #1 plate. Past champion and runner-up Tyler O’Hara did all he could by winning race two.

Mid-Ohio Guest Speakers

Melissa Paris, Cori Maynard, Richie Escalante, Rocco Landers, Cameron Beaubier, Jason Tabansky, Greg White, Tyler O‘Hara, Al Ludington, Josh Hayes, Kyle Wyman, James Rispoli, Chris Ripstein and Sean Bice.

Mission King Of The Baggers pre-race festivities were packed with our VIP Superfans in the Superheat!

Some special guests associated with the Indian Motorcycle brand were treated to their first-ever road race. RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Mission King Of The Baggers race, with Rocco winning his first-ever Baggers race. Well done, Rocco!

Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers and S&S/Indian Motorcycle teammates Troy Herfoss and Tyler O’Hara put on a show in the Saturday

Talk about a great day. How about meeting and hearing from the likes of Rocco Landers, Cori Maynard, Cameron Beaubier, Richie Escalante, Melissa Paris, and get this, Paralympic Gold Medalist Jason Tabansky. Priceless!

Could MotoAmerica’s VIP Superfan Experience be “The Best Value In Sports”? I think our VIP Superfans enjoying the podium with the It is just amazing the talents of these racers and the limits they push these Baggers race machines to, and it is so exciting to experience.

top-three finishers in the Mission King Of The Baggers race would agree! Rocco Landers and his mom enjoy his first Baggers win. experience.

Some very interesting speakers, which our VIP’s enjoyed. Harley-Davidson Factory racers Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli, S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara and his crew chief Al Ludington, H-D Museum Curator Chris Ripstein, the ever-popular 4X Superbike Champion Josh Hayes, and let’s not forget our MotoAmerica brand ambassadors with Miss Marlee Turner, who seems to have what it takes to be a future brand ambassador. You go, Girl!

As our VIP’s enjoyed Sunday’s opening ceremonies with our own pre-race Steel Commander Superbike teams, being able to move around the riders and get a picture with their favorite rider is something that you will not find in other motorsports. Our racers are really great people and FAST! The Superbike races were just incredible.

While many of the VIP Superfans elected to stay back in the comfort of the air-conditioned suite, several “diehard” VIPs came out to recognize HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin and race 2 winner, EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dyan Kelly. Wow, these guys were impressive!

recognize the hard-fought race 3 Steel

impressive!

Commander Superbike battle with Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW race winner Cameron Beaubier, Warhorse

Duly Noted...

Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas: All photos by Brian J. Nelson.

Forged In The Moto2 Crucible

People can say what they want about the time that Josh Herrin, Cameron Beaubier, and Sean Dylan Kelly spent racing in the FIM Moto2 World Championship but it’s notable that, in two out of the three Steel Commander Superbike races at Circuit of The Americas, those three Moto2 veterans ended up on the podium together. In fact, in a quasi-biblical sense, Herrin begat Beaubier who begat Kelly in Moto2. Each rider followed the other into the Moto2 crucible, and they all emerged the better for it. The third and weekend-concluding Superbike race at COTA was an instant classic with all three riders absolutely going all-out to the checkered flag.

Pan America West

Here’s proof that good things not only come to those who wait, but good things also happen in threes. Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson‘s Cory West has been a professional road racer since 2001, and he’s raced pretty much every kind of motorcycle imaginable. So leave it to the Arkansan to win his first AMA-sanctioned road racing championship in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship and aboard a Harley-Davidson Pan America. West already has a trophy wife in Patricia Fernandez-West. Now, he’s got a Championship trophy, and soon, very soon, he will have a trophy baby. In fact, Patricia is due right around the time that we’ll be racing at New Jersey Motorsports Park. West wrapped up the Super Hooligan title, but he also races in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship. Will he skip Jersey? Not with Patricia as team manager of Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson. Dr. Carl Price, have you ever delivered a baby? At a racetrack?

Del Valle Velocities

Circuit of The Americas is a technical track with some almost inconceivably sharp corners that turn back on themselves. But, it’s also got straightaways that produce some of the highest speeds attainable in MotoAmerica competition. Five race classes competed at COTA, and below are the riders who achieved the highest trap speeds in their respective classes. Tytlers Cycle Racing‘s JD Beach topped them all aboard his BMW M 1000 RR Superbike:

Steel Commander Superbike:

11 of 12)

Supersport: Tyler Scott: 165.8 miles per hour (Race 1, Lap 11 of 11)

Mission King Of The Baggers: Kyle Wyman: 164.6 miles per hour (Race 1, Lap 6 of 6)

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship: Alessandro Di Mario: 158.8 miles per hour (Race 1, Lap 6 of 6)

BellissiMoto Twins Cup: Dominic Doyle: 144.5 miles per hour (Race 2, Lap 1 of 8)

The Snake Strikes Again In Supersport

Kentuckian Jake Lewis‘s prowess on Supersport motorcycles has now transcended three different iterations of middleweight machinery. In 2012, he won three races and podiumed 11 times on his way to clinching the AMA Pro SuperSport East title. Then, in 2014, he was runner-up in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship on the strength of his four podium finishes that included two race victories.

On Saturday at COTA, Lewis won Supersport race one aboard his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750, which was his fourth podium result of the season. Not only is Lewis ranked third in the Supersport standings, but he also finished third in the 2024 Mission Super Hooligan Championship.

JD Beach: 191.2 miles per hour (Race 2, Lap

Cory West fulfilled a near-lifelong dream to win an AMA number one plate.

Making Quick Work Of COTA

Portions of the 3.41-mile, 20-turn Circuit of The Americas were repaved in an effort to remove some of the bumps that are a result of the unstable soil that is a common characteristic in that part of the Lone Star State. Well, the work that was done was a resounding success, and the proof was in all the lap records that fell over the weekend. Some of the records were broken and re-broken more than once as more and more rubber was laid down on the surface with each successive lap and session throughout the three-day MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas event.

Here’s the rundown of which race classes and which riders in those race classes broke track records:

Superbike:

Lap Record: 2:06.559 – Cameron Beaubier, Qualifying 2

Race Lap Record: 2:07.891 – Cameron Beaubier, Race 2

Mission King Of The Baggers:

Lap Record: 2:13.709 – Troy Herfoss, Qualifying 2

Race Lap Record: 2:14.231 – Kyle Wyman, Race 2

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship: Lap Record & Race Lap Record: 2:15.535 – Tyler O’Hara, Race 2

BellissiMoto Twins Cup:

Lap Record: 2:17.147 – Alessandro Di Mario, Qualifying 2

Race Lap Record: 2:17.997 – Alessandro Di Mario, Race 1

Herrin & 46

If you’re into numerology like me, then you might get a kick out of this little bit of irony. Following the three Steel Commander Superbike races at COTA, Josh Herrin has a 46-point lead going into the final round of the 2024 Championship. Well, we all know which world-famous rider is known for the number 46, but did you also know that one of Herrin’s first competition numbers was also 46, in honor of that other Mr. 46?

Super Di Mario

I can’t stop talking about 15-year-old Alessandro Di Mario. The Kentucky-based rider, by way of Italy where he was born, came into the final round of the 2024 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship 19 points down, but with a puncher’s chance to win the title. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but the tousle-haired lad, whose quiet demeanor belies his fierce competitiveness, emerged from the weekend at COTA with two absolutely dominant race wins that helped propel him to his first MotoAmerica title and AMA number-one plate.

The moment was clearly not too big for Di Mario. He seized it with gusto and sent notice that he is one of MotoAmerica’s best and brightest young riders. Oh, and just for kicks, Di Mario also raced a non-homologated Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Streetfighter V2 in the final two races of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship where he crossed the finish line eighth in race one and then second in race two. His results were nullified by rule, but that doesn’t change his accomplishment. Keep an eye on this young rider. He is going places.

From Di Mario To DiBrino

Speaking of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, it was good to see Andy DiBrino back on track again after he was injured in a crash during Super Hooligan race one at Daytona International Speedway way last March. DiBrino was back aboard his Competition Werkes/Gray Area/KTM 890 DUKE R in the weekend’s two races at COTA.

Rocco Is Still Rolling

While things didn’t go the way he hoped they would at COTA for Rocco Landers, who had the 2024 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship slip right through his fingers, the 19-year-old three-time MotoAmerica Champion did win race one of the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, which was his first win in this, his tookie season in MotoAmerica’s Big Twin rivalry. And, with that win, Landers became the first rider in MotoAmerica history to win races in four different race classes. Also, with 53 all-time AMA race victories, Landers is ranked third among active riders with only Cameron Beaubier (85) and Jake Gagne (56) ahead of him.

It had been a decade since Jake Lewis won a Supersport race, but he got it done on Saturday at COTA Photo.

Josh Herrin, a long time ago in a land far, far away.

BellissiMoto Twins Cup Champion Alessandro Di Mario and his team owner Kevin Rodio of Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering had their hands full on the podium at COTA on Sunday.

Enjoy these videos from our Texas Circuit Of The Americas weekend... Just click on the image.

Where else but COTA or at any other VIP events do you get to have your picture taken with world-renowned team owner Eraldo Ferracci and legendary racer Jeremy McWilliams, do a fan walk and meet your favorite racer, be on the starting grid at selected races, and let us not forget we got to watch the 15-year-old sensation Alessandro Di Mario win the BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship!