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Bobby Fong overcame a late-season deficit and a weather-shortened finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park to capture his first MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, delivering a landmark weekend for Yamaha. Heavy rain and schedule changes shaped the finale, but Fong’s two wins and a measured final race secured both the title and a factory milestone.
Fong’s comeback and Yamaha’s record weekend
Fong entered the weekend 26 points behind the leader with three races remaining — and a possible 75 points on offer — but the nor’easter that hit Millville compressed the schedule and raised the stakes. Organizers moved Superbike Race 2 to Saturday and bumped Race 3 to open Sunday, shortening the races to 15 laps each.
Qualifying placed Fong on the front rows, and he dominated a chaotic opening contest that restarted multiple times in wet conditions. He followed with another win in Race 2, then rode conservatively in the finale when his title rival crashed on Lap 4. Fong finished fourth in Race 3 and clinched the championship by 11 points, closing the season with six wins and 12 podiums.
Fong called the achievement “a dream come true,” and credited the team and a relentless push to improve after last season’s disappointment.
Teammates and rivals
Mathew Scholtz, riding for Strack Racing Yamaha, took victory in Race 3 and secured third overall in the championship. Scholtz’s win — his fifth of the year — brought his career MotoAmerica Superbike wins to 10 and helped Yamaha extend its dominance.
JD Beach added two podiums at NJMP and finished fourth in the title standings with three wins in his first full season with the team, taking his career Superbike win total to five.
What the weekend meant for Yamaha
Yamaha’s haul at NJMP had broader significance. Fong’s title marked the manufacturer’s 15th AMA Superbike crown, the most in the series’ history, while Scholtz’s victory pushed Yamaha to 218 all-time race wins, putting the brand alone atop the record book. Yamaha also secured MotoAmerica’s Manufacturer of the Year honors for the season.
Jeff Sidlovsky, Yamaha Racing Assistant Department Manager for YMUS, praised the collective effort across Yamaha teams and riders for the Manufacturer award and highlighted the season-long drive to improve.
Supersport and support-class highlights
Josh Hayes added to a storied record with a wet-weather victory in Supersport, marking his 91st career AMA road racing win and his second Supersport triumph of the season. Despite two crashes in Sunday’s wet race, Hayes recovered to finish the year fourth in the Supersport standings with two wins and six podiums.
Liberty St. Yamaha Racing’s Karel Hanika earned a podium in his MotoAmerica debut, finishing third in Supersport Race 2. Sam Drane closed his season with a runner-up result in the Talent Cup and a sixth-place finish in Twins Cup, cementing strong rookie-year showings across junior classes.
Ducati’s Supersport sweep and Beaubier, Smith in Superbike
Ducati’s Darryn Binder sealed the Supersport championship in dramatic fashion, winning the final race to finish the year with 406 points — 78 clear of Josh Herrin. The result completed Ducati’s first-ever clean sweep of the MotoAmerica Supersport podium, with Kayla Yaakov making history as the first female rider to finish inside the top three in the championship.
On the Superbike side, Warhorse HSBK Ducati riders Cameron Beaubier and Benjamin Smith each reached the podium in Race 1. Mechanical problems and difficult conditions forced DNFs in Race 2 for both riders, and the team elected to withdraw from the final race once standings were largely settled. Beaubier ended the season 11th and Smith 12th in the Superbike points.
Team and season stories
Team Hammer and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki closed the season with a weather-impacted weekend but still posted strong totals for 2026. Bodie Paige secured Twins Cup runner-up honors after finishing second at NJMP; he completed the year with two wins and eight podiums. Team Hammer’s program tallied 29 podiums across classes this season.
Karns / TST Industries Racing celebrated its first win of the year when Isaac Woodworth was awarded victory in Twins Cup Race 1 after a post-race review. The result arrived after a dramatic weekend that saw teammates crash, one rider sidelined by injury, and intensive bike repairs through the night.
Real Steel Honda described a frustrating finale: Hayden Gillim managed a top-10 in Race 1 but suffered two DNFs in the wet, leaving him ninth in the Superbike standings for the season. The team noted stronger results from Andrew Lee in the Superbike Cup and mixed outcomes in the Talent Cup.
King of the Baggers: Harley and Indian bring the headlines
The Mission King of the Baggers doubleheader at NJMP also featured wet racing. Kyle Wyman and the Harley-Davidson® x DynoJet Factory Race Team won the Sunday main, with Bradley Smith finishing second in that race and claiming second in the season standings behind champion Hayden Gillim.
Meanwhile Indian Motorcycle Racing closed a record-setting KOTB season. The factory team, powered by Vance & Hines Motorsports, collected 10 wins and a series-high 24 podiums, with Gillim setting a single-season record of eight victories. Indian confirmed Gillim and Troy Herfoss will return to lead the program into 2027.
