SupermotoUSA / NASS Qualifier / Placer County Fair
Hey SMR people this is Butters I’m bringing you a race recap from my perspective of the 2024 Supermoto USA super TT. This event was a two day event with amateur and pro racing on Saturday June 22nd and youth racing on Sunday the 23rd.
Supermoto USA is the longest running promotor of Supermoto racing in the USA. This race also serves as a qualifying event for the second annual North American Supermoto Shootout(NASS). SMUSA leader Brok McAllister has a history of putting on really cool events. My wife and I made the 1,109 mile drive from New Mexico to participate in Brok’s Super TT event at the Placer County Fair in Roseville California. This was to be a unique event that would combine a Supermoto style track with a TT style dirt section all packed inside tight banked 1/3-mile banked oval during a fair!
This was the first event I didn’t have my SMR brothers with me since we relaunched SMR. Life got in the way for Jbang and Simping Samp and they were sorely missed. Although it was really awesome to travel with just my beautiful wife Brenda, it was like old days of just the two of us against the world exploring the country together. We saw parts of Nevada we had not seen before and stopped for a meal on lake Tahoe. I would like to start out by thanking Will at Cartel Spice for helping me get out to this race and making it a possibility so this race recap it brought to you by Cartel Spice be on the lookout for a new website coming soon to purchase the best hot sauces made and he is a fellow racer.
Next I need to thank Slideways Photography and Nickless Photo for kindly contributing all these epic photos, I’ve linked their albums of the race to their names in multiple places throughout this article I encourage everyone who reads this article to go and look thru all the photos and relive this awesome event and racers please support them and buy your favorite shots.
Slideways photography
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Nickless Photos
Alright lets get into it
Cliff Woodruff is my new hero after this weekend on his sweet YZ400
Vet class practice group heads out to try the track for the first time
Morning report
The pits were completely packed with racers with a mix of Supermotos and dirt track bikes. As the track was truly a super tt. The temperature quickly rose with the forecast showing a high of 104.
The track was drying out fast but the SMUSA crew did a good job to keep getting water on the track.
They had 11 classes to run through so it’s was a busy day for them. The afternoon program would consist of amateur heat races and some mains being run before the night program.
Cassidy Haas #57, Joe Lourenco #230, and Todd Wiltse #00 round a super technical 180-degree corner down the banking. Made for a fun corner with chamber on the entry an off chamber on the exit
Jake Thompson is a new dad and is still shredding
Cameron Bellamy had multiple falls that hampered his results, also was one of the few that choose to run the rain front on this unique track
Afternoon Program heat race grids
Afternoon program
After morning practice sessions the racing started with heat races for the amateur and vet classes. The open Supermoto and open DTX classes would run their heat races in the night program. With so many classes to be run they ran 5 main events in the afternoon to save time in the evening program. Mad puppy, Novice Supermoto, +40 vet, +30 vet, and 450 DTX were completed before the night show started. The heat was climbing above 100 deg at this point and it was hard on the participants and the track workers, personally it was probably one of the hottest days I’ve ever raced. The track rode really well and was very unique. Initially I look that maybe rain tires would be the move on the tight circuit but the asphalt was surprisingly grippy and slicks worked well. I went with the standard Metzlers K1 supermoto tires with no grooving. The dirt section continued shaping up nice but lots of tip overs happened when people pushed too hard and the painted finish line for the speedway that you crossed entering turn 1 saw a lot of people tuck their front tire on it.
Sebastiao Ferreira but the jersey says otherwise… cool shot though
Brendan Anatiychuk with the sweet style
Adam Cooper seems to be adjusting well to his new KTM SMR
Vaughn Mccafferty borrowed Cassidy Haas’s bike between filming bangers that you can find on his Diggity Films page, he even slapped the asphalt in turn 1 to really round out the day. A+ efforts my guy
Brent Tiernan leads myself and the rest of the Vet 30 class
At 6pm racers line the front straight of the speedway as the National anthem was beautifully sung
Evening Program
The night show started off with Kerina Kinch singing the national anthem and Ian McAdam on the mic to call the races. Races started with premier open Supermoto class being split into 3 heat races with the top 4 transferring to the main event from each heat race, all other riders would go to a consolation race I looked at it as a b main. I like the decision to keep the grid to 12 riders as it such a tight circuit. The Open DTX was the other pro class of the night. Another unique aspect to the event was top finishers from open Supermoto and DTX races would be seated into a super final with the majority of the purse money up for grabs in a combined race to end the evening. To be honest when I first saw the track I thought to myself “oh man we are going to have our hands full with the dirt track bikes on the circuit.” my initial thoughts proved wrong as the asphalt rode much faster that I thought it would, the dirt section might have been a bit better for the dirt trackers but the supermoto’s reigned supreme, as they should... With the hot temps I wasn’t able to spectate the other races as much as I would have liked.
As the sun set over All American Speedway the temps got slightly more tolerable. Open Supermoto heat 1 saw Bronson Pearce take the victory over austin pecoraro, Heat 2 saw a battle between John Lyles and Tim Valasquez until a red flag do to the water truck dumping water on the track. the SMUSA crew made quick work of the clean up the restart saw Lyles in the early lead but a fall in the dirt would see him going to the consolation race, Heat 3 I was able to get out to the lead with Jake Thomson right behind me.
the Open AM class was fairly tight racing throughout especially in the mid pack
250 was won by Brett Voorhees on a maddog aircooled dirt track bike against 250 supermoto bikes, but you could tell by his technic Voorhees is obviously a skilled rider, the 2 Cascadia supermoto boys of Jacob Randall and Walker Nelson rounded out the podium.
For open DTX two of the heavy favorites Pearce and Thomson sat it out to save energy for the SM race, or maybe they were dodging the fast moto dude Clayton Tucker. Tucker hurt some feeling on his way to dominate wins in the heat and main event
Maddog had some heavy talent and the bikes looked like a blast to ride. Mike Sneddon, Brett Voorhees, and Drew Gresham podium
Open Supermoto was a short 6 lap action packed race with the top 12 qualifiers from the heat races. It had been a minute since I raced in front of a crowd with a good hype man behind the mic definitely a unforgettable experience. As we launched Bronson Pearce appeared to get the jump but Timmy V mad a quick dive to the inside and gave Bronson a love tap pushing him wide, Keegan Fitzgerald followed suit behind from the second row and after turn two Keegan lead Timmy V, Bronson, myself, Pecoraro, Thomson, Dickson and the rest. Bronson got into second and it took him a couple laps to get by Keegan with a sweet pass exiting a right handed flat 180 dirt corner than was very hard to get traction down in so I found it quite impressive. I fought until the penultimate lap to get around fellow Colorado Supermoto racer Keegan who was riding the best I’ve seen him ride, Pecoraro was also right with behind me throughout, on the final lap I tucked the front in the flat right 180 in the dirt I was able to remount very quickly but Keegan got the position back and I did my best to block Pecoraro from sneaking thru as well. The Crowd was into the races, and it was fun getting interviewed after such an action packed race.
Super Final the race the whole day built up to, a 10-lap race with a majority of the event purse going to the top 4. Bronson Executed a great start and was in the lead by turn 2, I made quick passes on Pecoraro lap 1, then Keegan into turn 1 lap 2 and Timmy V on the end of lap 2. I heard some atrocious grinding noises of a bike hitting the asphalt behind me. I thought “man I hope that wasn’t Timmy” … it was Timmy… the painted finish line of the Nascar oval took another victim this time my brother from another mother. I trying to chase Bronson down but he had a decent 6 second or so gap and we stayed about the same the rest of the moto. Pecoraro had plowed through the field right behind me and he rounded out the podium.
Thanks to Brok and all the people who made this race a reality, thanks to the people at the fair that decide to allow a cool race like this to happen.
Evening Program Heat race grids
Vaughn Mccafferty battles Dean Rabideau followed by Koy Baker. Funny story Koy decided to swap wheels between sm and dtx so that would have meant swapping wheels at least 4 times during the night program. In the heat this didnt happen but it lead to some laughs in our NM/CO pit and Koy yelling at his travel partner Donnie.
Bronson Pearce was dominant on the weekend winning the Open SM and Super final races , the #50 of Keegan Fitzgerald also turned heads with 2nd place in the Open SM main
Motocross ripper Clayton Tucker won the open DTX class
Mad Dog Class had a mix on aircooled and electric bikes
Mad Puppy class action
John Lyles leads Colorado’s Tim Velasquez but a crash while leading the second heat race of the open supermoto class cost Lyles a spot in the main. He earned in spot in the super final after winning the consolation race
Magnum Motorsports Austin Pecoraro fell just a bike length short of the podium in the Open Supermoto Class but ended the night with a 3rd place in the Super Final. Funny Story time again Austin didn’t realize that there was the big purse super final race after the supermoto main, in his defense it was hard to hear in the pits with it being so crowded and it’s not the normal schedule of a supermoto only event. Regardless He had to cut a shower short rushed back into his gear and barely make the grid. Epic way to end the night.
Saturday Results Sheets
Sunday was for the Kids
groms shredding
anyone that has raced supermoto in the past two decades has probably raced Drew Dickson, or his wife. Now their sons are now racing, Lyon pictured #goals
I wish I had a Stacyc as a child
Gridding up to go racing
See you at NASS?
Again this was a Qualifying Race for the North American Supermoto Shootout, what is NASS? It’s a badass race and gathering of the supermoto family from all over North America in Oklahoma September 21-22. I think, as well as hope, this turns into the biggest race supermoto race in North America. There are Classes for everyone and qualifiers in Washington, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, New York, Virginia, and Quebec Canada. If you showed up to any of these qualifiers you more than likely qualified to go Shootout. I like this platform for one big race a year that uses local, regional, or national level series as qualifiers, as it doesn’t steal from the attendance of these series around the country but using them. I hope it can entice current racers, retired racers, and racers from other disciplines. The way I see it most of us racers can find the means to go travel to one or two races a year, you use the closest, or any qualifier you want to, to get you and your buddys a warmup and those supermoto vibes flowing maybe get a motocross/flattrack/roadrace buddy addicted to supermoto and a invite into one of the best run most Fun races of the year. That is what NASS is. I hope to see you there, and feel free to ask us if you have questions about NASS but also subscribe to their email alerts and follow them on them social medias
website: North American Supermoto Shootout (getnass.com)
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Until Next time keep on sliding
-Butters
