Butterman109 . 8/6/23 Butterman109 . 8/6/23

Lightning On The Wolf/Smec rd4

Narbonne leads the pack to victory. Vossberg Superior in super performance over super carl

SMEC RD4

Butters: So we made the road trip out to Shawano Wisconsin for the 11th annual running of the Lightning on the wolf(LOTW) Supermoto race. The race has been a main stay on the SMEC schedule for years now. US Air Motorsports Raceway is probably the best Supermoto track in the USA. It was our best opportunity to get our ragtag crew of Supermoto junkies to a SMEC event this year. So myself, Johnny Bang, Simpy, a Simpy’s brother Zack loaded up for a week on the road and drove thru the night Wednesday 8/2 to get there late Thursday so we could spend all 3 days of the LOTW weekend at the track. It was epic

Simp: Bucket list track pretty much sums it up. Such a rad setting and the elevation change makes it feel like you’re riding a rollercoaster. This year we decided to tent camp at the track which turned out to be pretty sick. It was awesome being able to wake up at the track and not be pressed on time. It was a little hot and humid but I already can’t wait to go back.

Jbang: LOTW is my favorite on the circuit. Totally worth the 24 hour drive. The track is so mint, asphalt is super consistent and the dirt holds water and shapes up excellent. I have to give a huge shout out to SMEC race events, they always put on a very professional event, not to mention how good the finishline/flags/podium and all the little things that make the event look so damn sharp. RACE SMEC has a team of true professionals that come out and kill it.

Butters: I smashed the ground on Friday practice not as bad as Simpy but broke the visor on my new moto 10 lid so I was bumming because I knew my gorgeous helmet was going to look wack. I was fine though, our tire situation in the SMR pit was not. I was on some roached tires, alas that’s no surprise I’ve always been a cheap bastard when it comes to tires. Shane Narbonne like the true homie he is gave me a nice conditioned rear takeoff, but no front cause he runs a 16in front to my 16.5 wheel. Thats where JC came in Klutch like the true klutch industries teammate he is with the front takeoff. See what i did there…haha Support Klutch. I saved the takeoffs for Sunday to give myself the best rubber for the final. On Saturdays Race 1 I didn’t have anything for Shane or for Ty but I had enough speed to be third, with a fast lap of 1:49.0 . Sunday’s race 2 I dropped 3 second of my lap time to 1:46.1 and did my best to keep Shane honest for the long 15 lap moto. he would pull on the asphalt and I’d reel it back in the dirt, but he slowly got a gap of ultimately 5 second and controlled the race. I think Ty would have been in the battle had he not crashed in the 250 race HARD. he still pulled a 3rd over some very talented riders while hurting. Thanks to the Timmy V and Sketchballs for making the weekend even more enjoyable, Heal up quick Sketchballs. Thanks to the SMEC team for all the do for the community, My wife for making my dreams possible, Joe Agley RSR, Klutch, Toxic moto, Benny at bell, beringer, bret tausan, JBang, Simpy, Zack, Kevin, and all the people im probably forgetting right now. THANK YOU

Simp:I smashed the ground on Friday… Went out for practice and they were running a little behind on watering the track so it got pretty dusty. I Came around to the jump section and rolled up on a few slower riders that checked up for the double which kicked up a bunch of dust making the jump face impossible to see. I was pretty much at commit level so decided to hit the jump anyway…poor decision. Miss-timed the face and got bucked pretty hard over the bars. Ended up trying to land using my face which went about as good as you can expect. Somehow didn’t break anything so I was able to get up and race the rest of the weekend.

Jbang:

SMEC1 Open Pro

1 Shane Narbonne 1-1
109 Sean Butterman 3-2
727 Ty Fietzer 2-3
838 Tim Velasquez 4-4
80 Brady Tausan 5-5
324 Ryan Samp 7-6
144 Andrew Millier 6-7
60 Carl Soltisz 8-8
817 William Wildner 9-9
151 JC Bernier 10-10
296 Mitchell Thomson 11-DNS
479 Michael Eller DNS-11(dnf) Poor sketchy

insane Shane with the dub
photo: klings media

SMEC1 250

929 Charlie Buffum 1-1
728 Steve Ingram 4-2
66 Sam Lakas 5-3
266 Brandon Kinsey 6-4
727 Ty Fietzer 2-dnf :(
479 Michael Eller 3-dnf

Butters: Its cool to see Hayden figuring out how to go fast, and to beat the legend that is his father is cool. I felt bad for jbang between running around and filming we let the generator that johnnys tire warmers plugged into run out of fuel. He proceeded to holeshot on cold tires and end up on the ground.

Simp: Poor J Bang. Gnarly looking crash but took it like a champ and kept on trucking.

Jbang: I was so excited to qualify just off pole. Game plan was to go win or swing for second, I was sure I had it. I returned to staging after filming 250’s to find the generator out of gas and cold tires. I led the group to the back straight where I didn’t have the stopping power I needed(they all went by) I tried to push back entering the dirt I went wide hoping the crowd would bottle up, Still with cold tires I blew off the track ended up in some tire track barriers smashing my hand and breaking my thumb, finished both motos but couldn’t ride at pace. #squidlife

SMEC2 Amatuer

69 Hayden Burge 2-1
740 Jeisen Soto Chacon 1-4
120 Matt Burge 3-3
91 Ty Haas 6-2
220 Justus Donatelli 5-6
97 Cody Keller 4-11
87 David Guertin 8-8
292 Johnny Bang 10-7
16 Tim Anway 7-10
28 Andrew Haas 9-9
101 Seth Dahmer DNS-5

Son beats father, Matt burge is a legend hayden looks to be following in his foot steps
photo: klings media

Simpy: I talked my cousin Kevin into coming out and trying Supermoto for the first time. It was awesome watching him start to figure it out and pick up speed. Stoked he was able to have hist first Sumo race at the best track ever too.

SMEC3 Novice/beginner

305 Andres Betancourt 1-1
115 Jeremy Bjorkman 2-2
151 Matthew Otto 3-3
470 Nathan Peter 4-5
41 Kevin Reynolds 9-4
51 Jake Randolph 6-6
83 John Barnes 5-7
52 Parke Wagner 7-8
167 Zach Otto 8-DNS

I gotta say it #305 should not be in SMEC3 class he is to fast
photo: klings media

SMEC5 / VET

120 Matt Burge 1-1
454 Jeremy Sargent 2-2
496 Joshua Keifer 3-3

I cant wait to race the best class aka the vet class
photo: klings media

MOTARD CUP / expert ASSphalt

31 Hank Vossberg 1-1
71 Nathan Baeyens 3-2
60 Carl Soltisz 2-3
15 Hayden Diedrich 4-4
101 Seth Dahmer 5-5
144 Andrew Millier 6-8
12 Tom Benedict 10-6
97 Cody Keller 11-7
801 Anthony Barco 9-10
86 Shawn Sheely 14-9
92 Vinne Studt 7-dnf
479 Michael Eller 8-
305 Andres Betancourt 0-11
68 Nick Uselmann 12-0
16 Tim Anway 13-
63 Mark Toso 15-
470 Nathan Peter 16-0

expert asphalt super carl, Baeyens and Vossberg
photo: klings media

pHOTos

Save some style for the rest of us Shane… So hot
photo: klings media

what came first the chicken or the egg?
photo: Jessica Sargent

Brady Tausan and Timmy V were in seperable on the track both pro motos
photo: Jessica Sargent

Hank Vossberg is young like 13-15 i think and he rides a 450 with the same amount of (dis)respect as Shane Narbonne…. epic

Sketchballs with the sweet style in the dirt, he doesnt even look sketchy in this shot wtf
photo: Jessica Sargent

Super carl had to wheelie across the finish line even though the battle with Nathan Baeyens was on. Proper
photo: Jessica Sargent

Ty Fietzer gets better everytime I see him, a bad crash in 250 moto 2 hampered his results on the weekend
photo: Jessica Sargent

Andrew Millier Leads the Smec1 open points standings, i had not heard of him til this year but its cool to see new blood in the series
photo: Jessica Sargent

Charlie Buffum manualing the rollers on his way to victory
photo: Jessica Sargent

Timmy V airing out the wall jump probably to flat cause he is scared of landings
photo: Jessica Sargent

Hayden Diedrich with a pretty bike and good style
photo: Jessica Sargent

buddy race explanations/confusions
photo: Jessica Sargent

this is supermoto
photo: Jessica Sargent

Kevin Reynolds made the trek to Shawano to try supermoto for the first time ever. he was on SMR “cross platform program” where we got a set of warp 9 wheels for someone to use so if you now anyone with a yamaha that wants to try supermoto with some hot boi gold wheels get at us
photo: Jessica Sargent

Hank Vossberg is something. Im not normally impressed by people in the asphalt only class but this young kid absolutely handed it to everyone in the asphalt only classes that had current pro road racers in them. beyond impressed with him
photo: Jessica Sargent

“you’re doing a job” -Fred
photo: Jessica Sargent

I hope you all enjoyed taking a look SMEC round 4/LOTW 2023. Click on the links within the photos to discover more. A big thank you goes out to Klings Media and Jessica Sargent for sharing their incredible work with us.

-til next time SMR dorks out

AMA Supermoto round 2-IMI motorsports complex

“Simpin Samp makes waves in the wet with a career first victory”

Butters: The second and third round of the 2023 AMA Supermoto championship was initially scheduled to have round 2 at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday June 3 followed by Round 3 on Sunday June 4 at IMI motorsports complex, just a couple miles away. This double header weekend was the weekend on the AMA Sm schedule I was most excited for. I have raced both tracks over the years with Colorado Supermoto but the weather had different plans. CNS cancelled the event on Thursday due to heavy rain but luckily for us IMI was able to accommodate us Supermoto people both days. I wasn’t to bummed about losing cns since IMI has 5 possible track layouts for Supermoto with 2 different dirt section, so it gave the opportunity to have two rounds with the option for different track layouts.

On Friday it looked as though the dirt dried out enough to use the dirt, but Saturday the rain just lightly kept raining most of the day and the clay turned unridable quickly, I gooned out trying out the dirtsection and re injured my knee that I had hurt about a month before. I wanted to cry, mainly cause we where gonna have to run asphalt only.

Simp: Overall it was an awesome weekend. Had some ups and downs but I snagged my first win so I can’t complain. Slightly bummed we didn’t do CNS just because I’ve never raced there but I was also stoked to do IMI only because I have a lot of seat time there and wouldn’t have to learn lines.

JBang:I was disappointed when CNS was canceled, primarily because I was hoping for a diverse experience. The weather forecast predicted rain throughout the entire weekend, which made me nervous since I had limited experience dealing with rainy conditions. However, I maintained my excitement about attending IMI, as it offered various alternatives layouts (though we ultimately didn't pursue any of them).

Austin Pecoraro giving the scoop to his pops. I wonder how many Supermoto races Paul P has been to over the years? At least 175 or so I’d say.
photo: Katys Photography

Assphalt open

100 Jorge Duhart 1-1
51 Giorgio Cravotto 2-2
18 Jimmy Westover 3-3
77 Julien Cassels 5-4
429 Will Sequino 4-5

Amateur Assphalt

471 Russ Plane 1-1
487 Graham Watson 2-2
777 Seth Berger 3-3
37 Corey Gushwa 6-4
177 Zachery Griswold 5-5
177 Todd Griswold 4-6
929 Allan Ballard 7-7
292 Jonathan Sanchez 8-8

SMR’s editor and chief executive sender Johnny Bang
photo: Katys Photography

Moto 1 grid of Asphalt open
photo: Katys Photography

The 471 of Russ Plane was ripping fast in the amateur classes.
photo: Katys Photography

Jorge Duhart And Giorgio Cravotto battle for the win in Asphalt
photo: Katys Photography

Asphalt open start
photo: Katys Photography

National Amateur

471 Russ Plane 1-2
69 Zach Klassen 4-1
44 Tony Wenck 3-2
441 Mikael Sedlacek 2-5
487 Graham Watson 6-4
251 Clayton Moyer 5-7
37 Corey Gushwa 7-8
191 Jeff Rydalch 10-6
292 Jonathan Sanchez 9-9
177 Zachery Griswold 8-10
77 Julien Cassels 11-11
124 Shaundell Ross 12-12
97 Nicholas Hansen 13-13

jbang: The AM class continues to exceed expectations, evolving with each passing round. The level of competition is remarkable, as ANY of the top contenders have the potential to emerge victorious, each showcasing unique attributes that set them apart from one another. I went down and rode scared all weekend, I seem to have nothing for these guys this year.

butters: The top six was a battle in this class, you could almost throw a blanket over these dudes. These Immature’s also got to experience the most drastic difference in the weather for track condition than the other classes moto 1 was wet and moto 2 was dry ish. I think most guys had a rear slick on with a rain front, Mike on bikes look to have slicks front and rear. Plane and Klassen stuck out to me as far as progression in speed. Points leader Graham Watson had a huge get off on Friday so I’m a fan of the heart and perseverance he showed.

Simp: Amateur class was ripping this round! It was cool to finally be able to watch the motos and see the battles. The rain definitely split up the class a little but the top couple guys were shredding. I had just passed Graham when he crashed and heard his bike sliding behind me. Pretty gnarly that he went the whole weekend with broken ribs. Respect.

national Amateur was a fun race to spectate the top 6 was a battle the entire race
photo: Katys Photography

I like to know the context behind Tony Wenck with the bag of mcD’s right after the race. I think tony did more races/laps than anyone
photo: Katys Photography

Clayton Moyer has been battle adversity on and off the track but continues to impress
photo: Katys Photography

Russ Plane reigned supreme over the AM classes with pro class speed
photo: Katys Photography

Pro lites

324 Ryan Samp 1-1
929 Charles Buffum 2-2
479 Mike Eller 3-3
121 Daniel Raygor 4-4
357 Kameron Barboa 5-5

Simp: Moto 1

I guess I like rain races. Started off the day by qualifying P1 (a first for me) and getting a good grid spot. I decided to not take advantage of that and instead get a bad start, putting me third into turn 1. I was able to get around Mike Eller (affectionately known as “Sketchballs”) in the first lap but it took me three or four more to get close enough to make a move on Charlie. I Definitely think the reason I won here was because I have more experience at that track and know the lines better. I was able to use that to my advantage going around the horseshoe corner because Charlie was taking a wider line into that corner and I was able to tuck underneath and take the rest of his line away for the second apex. Once I got around charlie I was able to put my head down and get a little bit of a lead and walk away with the W. It was pretty awesome crossing the checkered flag first and having to pass a few people to do it.

Moto2

This moto win was the product of a quick tire change decision and Charlie tucking the front. Moto 1 was pretty much full rain conditions but by the time moto 2 started the sun had come out for a little bit and dried the track out. It was a last minute call to switch the rear tire from a rain to a slick. Luckily the moto was postponed by 15 minutes so I had a little time to get a tire warmer on it before the race started. We definitely made the right call, the track had dried out even more and I had awesome traction the whole time. Unfortunately for Charlie, going into the turn at the top of the hill he tucked the front which caused Mike to slide and highside. Somehow Sketchballs was able to run it out…He might be Spiderman. I was able to avoid the downed bikes by cutting down and going inside. Once I got around them I had open track the rest of the moto and got the overall Win. It was cool to be able to ride on rain tires and slicks in the same day and feel how the traction changed throughout the day. By the end of the motos the left side of my rear rain tire had almost no tread left. It was pretty gnarly how much traction a new set of rain tires give you and how much you can ask of them in a corner.

butters: 250f’s are so fun to ride sm on

Dan Raygor is like myself, a long time SM og. He brought out is old carbuated honda and was one of the few Local colorado racers to brave the weather
I ride ever week with Simpy out in the New Mexico desert, so im not really surprised. His progress on the bike is annoying to say the least. It not going to be long before I have to worry about him beating me.
Charlie threw it away and we lost out on a battle for the overall.
Sketchballs! AMA supermoto’s winingest Amateur got his first pro lites podium

jbang: Ryan Samp Fucks. His progress hasn’t seemed to find a plateu. Charlie went down on the opening lap but it seemed Ryan had a little speed on him on Saturday. Shout out to Kam for taking a break from SX and trying SM.

With the Supercross series over we talked Kameron Barboa into giving Supermoto a try, here he leads Colorado Supermoto president Shaundell Ross
photo: Katys Photography

Buff and Simpy where on another level in the 250 Pro Lites class
photo: Katys Photography

Dan Raygor experiencing his local track in that rare wet condition

Pro lites Podium 1st: 324 Ryan Samp 2nd: 929 Charlie Buffum 3rd: 479 Mike Eller
photo: Katys Photography

Open Pro

41 Nicky Reimer 1-1
109 Sean Butterman 2-2
33 Dawson Schieffer 3-3
80 Brady Tausan 4-4
175 Austin Pecoraro 5-5
929 Charles Buffum 6-6
479 Mike Eller 8-7
324 Ryan Samp 7-8
429 Will Sequino 9-9

butters: I got the holeshot moto 1, my wife couldn’t believe it. Starts have always been my achilles heel. Nick flew by and was gone. Dawson kept me honest until the end. Dawson speed looks to have come back from a rough knee injury a year or two ago, he joined Reimer as the only other rider to get under a minute laptime. Damn kids.

Second moto Reimer got me into turn 1 but to our surprise Bad Brady Tausan comes around the outside of us spinning up the rear dragging his peg. Nick and Brady collided into turn two resulting in Nick on the ground. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I manage to avoid the wreckage. Tausan managed to stay up somehow, the incident only heavily affect Dawson and Nick. I got mesmerized for a couple laps by Brady’s sweet slides, but found my way around when he blew a corner. I’m just cruising my rear tire completely shot, then i hear a bike and im like shit who caught me? no way is it Nicky. It was Nicky. Dawson was catching me too! I picked up my pace and fended him off, it felt great since all Dawson does is beat me on MxBikes.

It was a cool podium to share with Nick and Dawson, I’ve watched them grow up and get annoyingly fast. Huge thanks to Ron Reed for coming out to wrench for me and Jimmy Westover for taping and wrapping my knee, I Appreciate you guys. Also Klutch Industries got me some really cool custom MVD racewear that I was amped on. Hit them up for a custom sm suit or moto gear. I finally got Samples of cartel spice hot sauces that I kept to myself cause they were literally to good, looking forward to getting my hands on the Cobra Chicken hot sauce Sequino’s has been hiding

Simp: Open pro was tough this weekend. I didn’t have a set of rains for the 450 so I had to run the 250 for all the open pro motos. I didn’t do too bad but definitely noticed the lack of power in a couple spots. Had a crash in moto one going onto the back straight. Tires were a little worn and I was trying to give everything the 250 had and spun up coming out of the corner. Luckily it was a low side and I slid good so I was able to get right back up and finish the moto. Second moto was average. Still had issues with lack of power but I was able to keep rubber side down so It wasn’t too bad. Really wish I was able to run the RSR 450 in Open pro to see if I could’ve finished a few places better. Looking forward to getting more seat time on that bike and finding the same flow I have on the 250.

jbang: Nicky’s Euro Training is showing. Seems like Sean has nothing for him. Injured or not Sean just doesn’t seem to want to beat Nicky. Maybe its age. Maybe he’s washed up.

Brady looked hungry and started good both motos.

I Miss RSR.

Dawson shows natural skill as always. I think he’s got even more in him.

Samps times shows he could’ve been hanging with AP but I don’t think he knows how to ride his 450 yet. I’ve asked him to come practice some SM but he only trains on Groms and one wheels.

Our hero Tossin Dawson Schieffer
photo: Katys Photography

Brady was trying to find the fast line into turn one, but that not it man.
Simpy: “Thought I saw a penny” -brady probably
photo: Katys Photography

Open Bro starting grid
photo: Katys Photography

Reimer and Tausan collide into turn 2 resulting in Reimer on the ground. I had a first row seat it was wild, what was wilder was Reimer came back to pass us all….
photo: Katys Photography

Brady Tausan throwing sparks at as he lead the first couple laps of Open Pro moto 2. Bad Brad is fun to watch ride
photo: Katys Photography

Open Pro Podium 1st: 41 Nicky Reimer 2nd: 109 Sean Butterman 3rd: Dawson Schieffer
photo: Katys Photography

Overall it was a very long day but Alex Mock and crew did the best they could with the circumstances. Jeff Rydalch of toxic moto, and his slave Ryno, had a crazy day of tire changes for wet and then back to dry by the last two races. They sold every last set of rain tires Jeff had. So there we were ready to do again the next day for round 3.

thanks to Katy for the photos!

thanks for reading and being apart of the supermoto community

-SMR dorks