Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545630
ROUND 4 / JUNE 26-28, 2026 RIDGE MOTORSPORTS PARK / SHELTON, WASHINGTON ROAO RACE I MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP P82 another thriller as Kelly fought back from sixth place to steal victory on the final lap. Scholtz's weekend nearly unraveled again after another heavy crash in morning warmup forced his crew into a second complete rebuild, but the South African responded by leading the opening 15 laps. Behind him, Kelly methodically picked his way forward, first passing Saturday's winner, Beach, before overtaking Fong to move into second. On the final lap, Kelly launched a decisive move into turn 13 at the top of The Waterfall, forcing Scholtz wide and powering away to win by just 0.499 of a second. Scholtz narrowly held off Fong for second, rebuild his Yamaha YZF-R1 before qualifying, where he still managed third on the grid. His runner-up finish, combined with Sean Dylan Kelly's difficult ride to seventh after crashing on the sighting lap, handed Scholtz a 10-point champion - ship advantage. Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki's Richie Escalante completed the podium with his first top-three finish of the season, ahead of Benjamin Smith (Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law), Brandon Paasch (Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki) and Bobby Fong (Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha). Sunday's rematch produced 78 BENJAMIN SMITH 4TH/7TH SUPERBIKE "The team gave me a phenomenal bike, which allowed me to chip away at it, and I was really happy to get the fourth place yesterday in the wet," Smith said. "In the dry today, I was happy with the seventh place. I know we can be better, but to be honest, it was only our third dry race of the year—we've missed the last couple due to some unfortunate circumstances—but all things considered, we're not too far off, and two solid finishes is a great confidence boost." 53 DARRYN BINDER 2ND/2ND SUPERSPORT "This weekend was the first one where I've experienced some really mixed conditions, with rain on Friday, a wet/ dry Saturday and dry on Sunday," Binder said. "That limited the number of dry laps, which didn't help me today. I struggled a bit to piece it together in the race. I had the speed and the lap time was decent, but I couldn't put it together for the full race distance. Also, a crash in qualifying and starting in seventh didn't help. Overall, I'm super happy to walk away with two second places." MYOWNRACE Race one was a seriously wet affair and caused a few big-name riders to fall.