North American Supermoto Shootout

The first inaugural North American Supermoto Shootout took place in Norman, Oklahoma, just south of Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex, OMC.

JBANG: Finally a big shoot out! After loosing Stateline-Anthony Heart Memorial last year we did not think we would see a shoot out. Well we have one now! A very healthy field of SM pilots showed up and put on a show. My first impressions of the track were nothing but positives. I love the tight kart track vibe. Dirt was turning out to be perfection, but weather was on the way.

Butters: There was rain the weekdays leading up but Friday we were able to practice in beautiful conditions and ride with the tackiest dirt. Saturday we barely got started when the rain came. Funny enough, the last time I was at this track was in 2012, and what is very similar is that we had a good practice day and then race day was rainy and gnarly. It is pretty crazy to have it be 11 years apart and experience the same conditions just about. It’s really unfortunate because the weekend before and the week after the weather in Norman was beautiful, so it was really bummer for the organizers and all the NASS staff to have to deal with it.

SIMP: I was looking forward to this event for awhile. After seeing all the work Jay and his crew put into the event I knew it was going to be rad. Friday ended up being the best day, the rain cooperated and we were able to run the dirt section. After a few laps of going through the dirt section the dirt got tacky and we were able to absolutely rip through it! It was such an awesome time being able to turn laps with the boys on an awesome track.

Butters: Aside from the weather, this was the event I was looking forward to the most this year, well, other than SMoN. I really think it is a cool idea to have a big event for Supermoto in America that utilized state, regional, and even Canadian Supermoto clubs around North America to qualify for the shootout. There was an eastern qualifier held in New York in conjunction with a SMEC race, a western qualifier in conjunction with Cascadia Supermoto in Oregon, two central qualifiers first one was in Colorado with Colorado Supermoto and the second was in Wisconsin during the annual Lightning On The Wolf event. As well as a Canadian qualifier through Supermoto Québec. If you were not able to make it to a qualifying race you could even submit for a golden ticket to come race the shootout.

I really look forward to this event growing in the coming years. I love that it supports the state and regional clubs because they are the lifeblood of supermoto. I hope it entices all racers to participate be that Pro’s, current or retired, amateurs, beginners, Vets, and kids all have a place at this badass Event.

1st: Nathan Baeyens 2nd: Donny Torweihe 3rd: Yan Boursier
photo: Chain Reaction Photography

NASS Amatuer

71 Nathan Baeyens 1-1
404 Donny Torweihe 3-2
22 Yan Boursier 2-3
87 David Guertin 4-4
252 Christopher Anderson 5-5
217 Jordan Jones 6-6
217x Liz Penney 7-7

JBANG: Rain Dampened my program dramatically, I hit the floor a few too many times and decided to stay off the bike. Showing up on used rains is never the move! I decided to help the NASS Broadcast team and got to see the magic behind the live stream.

Butters: Donny is one of our boys from Colorado and he made the trip to OMC had never raced in the rain and he killed it. Our guys Jbang had some crashes and lingering injuries that saw him go from racer to livestream producer. Can’t say I was surprised to see Baeyans take the win as he has really good speed on the asphalt. Major standouts missing from the results are the father son duo of Matt and Hayden Burge. Matt used his veteran savvy and choose the sidelines while Hayden proved fast in the tricky conditions but a fall in Asphalt class ended the fast youngster weekend.

1st: Andrew Millier 2nd: Anthony Franco 3rd: Nathan Baeyens
photo: Chain Reaction Photography

NASS ASSphalt

144 Andrew Millier 1-3
312 Anthony Franco 2-2
71 Nathan Baeyens 6-1
24 Michael Michaud 3-4
9 Dimitri Godard 5-5
227 Nelson Jr. Morean 4-7
22 Yan Boursier 9-6
88 Jacob Randall 8-8
403 Kevin Kotliaroff 10-9
122 Ken Armstrong 7-dns
12 Renee Franco dnf-dns
69 Hayden Burge dnf-dns

Butters: this was a wild class to watch. Millier had a huge get off in Open Pro heat 2 that we all thought ended his weekend. Typical pro got up kept racing and even took the victory in the asphalt class over the northeastern OG of Franco. Another noteable mention was Franco’s Daughter Renee, another casualty of the cold wet conditions. she was quite fast on friday we all rode the open practice.

1st: Anthony Franco 2nd: Michael Michaud 3rd: JC Bernier
photo: Chain Reaction Photography

NASS Vet (30+)

312 Anthony Franco 1-1
24 Michael Michaud 2-2
151 JC Bernier 4-3
9 Dimitri Godard 3-4
227 Nelson Jr. Morean 5-6
22 Yan Boursier 7-5
88 Jacob Randall 8-7
775 Andy Gautschi 10-8
66 Sam Lakas 9-10
403 Kevin Kotliaroff 11-9
122 Ken Armstrong 6-dns
298 Sergio Di Molfetta dnf-dns

Butters: Franco and Michaud really ran away in the vet class

Eli Engstrom overcame a motor failure and had to ride a different motorcycle in these tricky conditions. While Israel Cavazos managed the track on dot tires. Impressive

NASS futures

28 Eli Engstrom
633 Israel "IJ" Cavazos

1st: Charlie Buffum 2nd: Jake Randall 3rd: Sergio Di Molfetta
photo: Chain Reaction Photography

NASS Pro Lites

929 Charlie Buffum 1-1
764 Jacob Randall 2-3
298 Sergio Di Molfetta 3-4
324 Ryan Samp 6-2
66 Sam Lakas 4-5
266 Brandon Kinsey 7-6
728 Steve Ingram 5-dns

Butters: Earlier this year Simpy had earned his first AMA Supermoto victory in the rain, so I think we all had high hopes for our simpster. Maybe he could give the unstoppable Buffdaddy a run.

Simpy: With rain forecasted for the Saturday and Sunday Motos I was hoping I would be able to

Butters: Unfortunately for him moto 1 with an old rain front on saw you hit the ground twice on lap one and only make it back to sixth.

Simpy: After having a horrific first lap I just settled into safe pace and tried to finish out the moto without hitting the asphalt again. I ended up getting lapped by Charlie which wasn’t the best feeling in the world.

Butters: For Sunday’s frigid second moto you got a fresh front and drop your lap time from a 1:04.4 to a 59.6. Ridiculous.

Simpy: I didn’t really have a choice after moto 1 so I ended up getting a fresh front on for moto 2 (Thanks butter) This made a giant difference! I was able to keep Charlie in sight for the whole second moto. I wasn’t able to get close enough to try and make a pass but it was a significant improvement over moto 1. unfortunately I lost out on getting an overall podium because of how poor moto 1 was. I’m definitely bummed I wasn’t able to get a podium at the first NASS event but I’m always glad to see Charlie do good, he’s a ripper and deserved the #1 this year. I left a lot of room for improvement for next year and I’m already looking forward to the opportunity to get a overall win at the North American Supermoto Shootout.

Butters: Jake Randall seemed to be in every class possible and rode SM granny’s sweet 250f to second on the podium, Sergio with third, and Buffdaddy took home the first ever NASS pro lites victory

1st: Jake LaForge 2nd: Shane Narbonne 3rd: Sean Butterman
photo: Chain Reaction Photography

NASS Pro Open

17 Jake Laforge 1-2
64 Shane Narbonne 3-1
109 Sean Butterman 2-3
838 Tim Velasquez 5-4
144 Andrew Millier 4-5
33 Dawson Schieffer 7-6
151 JC Bernier 8-7
324 Ryan Samp 10-8
88 Jacob Randall 9-10
227 Nelson Jr. Morean 11-9
103 Kevin Kotliaroff 12-9
80 Brady Tausan 6-dnf
55 Koy Baker dnf-12
424 Josh Jackson dns-dns

Butters: Man, where do I start? So, I saw there was a heavy chance of rain, yet I did nothing to prepare. I just thought, hell yeah, a rain race would be so fun. It was; I just should have brought some waterproof jackets/ponchos, some extra gloves, and maybe some warmer clothes (luckily, my buddies from South Dakota helped me out with extra gear. Thank you, Bret and Pat).

On Friday, we got to ride the dirt section toward the end of the day once it dried enough. It was cool to see the efforts the NASS/SMEC group put into this race. For instance, they got ol' Monte Frank out to build us a sweet dirt section with an alternate layout for the pro classes that included a big triple jump. Add in the Livestream with commentary from some of Oklahoma's finest SM racers, Kenny Troxell and Travin Wiley. Then, the aesthetics of the banners, flags, finish line structure, and podium structure all made it feel so cool. I really like the premise of this race to be a shootout that pulls riders from all over North America to compete.

My first stop on Saturday was to the ever-busy Toxic Moto trackside support for some fresh rain tires. I was in heat 1 for open pro after qualifying 3rd in time practice. My heat had one of my favorite supermoto homies in it, the number 17 of Jake Laforge. We spent a couple of years as teammates under the mighty RSR rig, and it had been 2 years since I had got to ride with Jake since his injury at Tucson in 2021. He holeshot the heat and set a mean pace. Midway through the heat race, the skies opened up, and it dumped down rain. At this point, we still were running the very short abbreviated dirt section. I was trying to keep pace but was falling back slightly, so I pushed. The thing about the rain was you couldn't push, so I lowsided, fell back to 4th, and almost caught back up to my guy Dawson Schieffer by the end. I was soaked and a bit mad at myself for falling.

With the weather forecast showing even lower temps and more rain Sunday, the organizers powered through the schedule to fit the first motos in on Saturday. Moto 1 started with a bang when Shane Narbonne stalled on the launch (luckily no one collided with him). Millier almost tucked the front going into turn 1 right next to me. Going into turn 2, Laforge almost tosses it (to be fair, for the racers that were in heat 1, it was the first time we entered turn two without hitting a dirt section before it), and I'm like, "What is going on?" I did my best to keep Jake honest, but he slowly got a 2-second gap over me, and Shane came from the back of the pack to 3rd, setting the fastest lap of the race. The freshly crowned SMEC champion Miller rebounded from the brutal crash in his heat race to finish 4th in front of Colorado’s winningest racer, Timmy V, in 5th.

Sunday was cold. During the riders' meeting, it seemed like the rain was turning into snow. It was kind of windy, and it was 40 degrees out and only getting colder. We got our bikes on the warmers, and I skipped practice to just go out for the final moto. Moto 2, I was able to beat Shane to turn one, but Jake was 3 for 3 on holeshots. I tried the first couple of laps to get a wheel on Jake, but the more I pushed, the slower I went. Before long, I had Shane breathing down my back. He made a nice pass on me, and he set after Jake. I failed to gather myself back into a calm pace and finished about 7 seconds back at the checkered. Shane got the moto win, but Jake really only had to beat me for the overall. It was awesome to share the podium with those two. Shane and I have been friends and on and off teammates for almost a decade now. Jake is such a humble and talented racer; I was happy to see him win, especially since it's been a couple of years off of racing.

JBANG: Jake Laforge is A BAD MUTHA! after being off the bike injured to come back with that speed is insane. Fastest man on the track has to go to Shane, with a poor launch on moto 1 set him up for a tough weekend. But it was sure fun to watch him cut through the pack. I think with a few tweaks the live stream might be the move for NASS and SMEC. But I’m Bias to the moto cast. Vid Below.

Hope to see you all at next years North American Supermoto Shootout! huge thank you to Chris at Chain Reaction photograthy for braving these conditions with his equipment and providing us with photos from the Event. below are some of our favorite photos he captured.

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