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Press Release:
UtahSBK, presented by Utah Motorcycle Law, returned from summer break where high temperatures and tricky conditions awaited riders for Round 3 of the 2026 Superbike race season. The series hosted its 3rd round of the 5 round season August 8th and 9th at Utah Motorsports Campus on the West Course. Racers from all around the southwest and beyond made their way to the world class facility for 3 full days of testing and racing action starting with Friday’s test and tune hosted by Apex Trackdays.
The race weekend kicked off Saturday morning when racers took to the track for qualifying in what would be the best conditions of the weekend. During the qualifying sessions, Brian Childree would top the charts with a 1:31.2 earning pole position for Sundays King of the Mountain race. Anthony Norton and Justin Delong would round out the front row, all 3 separated by less than .3 of a second. Once qualifying concluded, another huge group of Street GP participants got their first taste of road racing in a unique format that UtahSBK is proud to offer every race weekend. Young Powersports Street GP is an easy entry point for riders who may be curious about racing but are not quite ready to dive in headfirst. This format has offered the opportunity for many riders to get their feet wet and has proven success in growing the sport and getting more riders on the race grids.
Now at the midway point of the season, championship battles are starting to shape up, intensifying action on track. Saturday’s Precision Fab Machinery Open Superbike race was a perfect example when Chris Mousley and Jeff Taylor put on a show for all 7 laps. Justin Delong would lead the field for the first lap before having a last corner mishap on lap 2. This left Mousley and Taylor fighting for the win. Taylor put constant pressure on Mousley for almost 6 laps before finally making the pass in turn 9. Mousley went right to work attempting to return fire, but a lap later Taylor would lead across the line for a narrow victory and maximum points. Chris Mousley would have another chance at victory later in the day when he led the majority of the Mountain Motor Club Deseret Dash only to be sniped by newly promoted expert racer Landon Richey. Richey would make the pass in the hard braking zone entering turn 5 and take his first victory as an expert.
Endurance racing has come to be a favorite amongst racers and fans in Utah since its inception last season seeing larger grids every round. Racers didn’t shy away from the 101-degree afternoon as they prepared for another 90-minute contest on Saturday afternoon. True Endurance teams, Relay teams, and Ironman entrants, took to the grid in the heat of the day putting their fitness and their machines to the test. Ryan Richardson aboard the Precision Fab ZX10r took the early overall lead handing off the bike to his teammate Anthony Norton around the midway point of the race with nearly 50 seconds advantage. In the popular Apex Assassins Ironman class, it was Geiser Hernandez, Trevor Nosack, and Eliu Heredia battling at the front of the class for the entire race until Hernandez had an incident bringing out a red flag with 16 minutes remaining. The clock wound down while getting the incident cleaned up leaving the Precision Fab Team as the overall and Vortex True Endurance winners and Trevor Nosack taking top ironman honors. It was a tight battle in the Relay class, but it was Parker Mayer, Josh Fisher, and Josh Lerner teaming up for the win. After a hot and grueling endurance race, it was a mad dash to the IV Haven care clinic where racers took advantage of Iv hydration and recovery services powering up for Sunday racing.
Sunday’s action featured first the Combined expert and novice Eazzy’s Paint “Summit Cup” followed by the premier SameDay Heating and Air “King of the Mountain” race. In the Summit cup, split by open and middleweight classes, it was Landon Richey taking the top Open spot and Alex Zinaich with the middleweight win.
The SameDay Heating and Air “King of the Mountain” race was highly anticipated as always. All eyes were on the front row as Brian Childree and Anthony Norton set off when the lights went out. Norton secured the holeshot with Childree leaving nothing between them. Childree made the pass for the lead in turn 8, Norton passed back to start the second lap. The pace increased with the racing intensity. Near the end of lap 2, Childree low sided out of 2nd place with his bike tumbling in dramatic fashion, unfortunately taking him out of contention. Norton would now lead uncontested besides the hot and tricky track conditions for the remainder of the race. The rest of the Top 5 would prove to be a battle. Kinzer Naylor was relegated to 2nd on his ZX6R after the early exit of Childree, Leaving a hard charging Ryan Richardson in 3rd. Just behind in 4th and 5th positions were Kohl Burmester and Parker Mayer in a battle of their own. Richardson would catch Naylor after a few laps but passing was another challenge. The two raced close at the midway point of the race until Richardson was finally able to make the pass on Naylor stick. Burmester and Mayer would trade spots multiple times throughout the course of the race. In the end Mayer crossed the line in 4th and Burmester finished strong in 5th. Norton would win and take the top spot on the podium with Richardson in 2nd and Naylor in 3rd, all three collecting their share of the SameDay Heating and Air purse money.
About his race, Anthony Norton had this to say: “So bummed for Brian (Childree). He didn’t deserve that. The track was unforgiving today. It was slick, hot, windy, and as tough as it’s ever been. My Racers Edge Dunlop Tires did their part and I’m happy to take another KOM victory. Proud of my teammates that all seem to be getting faster and had their own personal victories today . Always thankful to my supporters for their efforts to keep me out front. Wouldn’t have even had a chance today without Fuzimoto helping me through some issues I was having.”
This entire weekend of racing was made special by Oxymoron Photogrpahy and AirMax Imaging. With the support of track day organization Volant Vivere, and the hard work of their team, Oxymoron and AirMax broadcasted the first ever livestream of a UtahSBK race weekend. This team plans on coming together again for UtahSBK rd5 September 18th-19th to offer an even more grand production of the club’s season finale. If you missed this broadcast, subscribe to “Oxmophoto” on youtube to rewatch all the action and turn on notifications for the next livestream from Utah Motorsports Campus. In addition, if you are interested in marketing/advertising opportunities during the live stream reach out to outreach@utahsbk.com for more information.
