2016 New Hampshire Motor Speedway AMA Supermoto Results
The AMA Supermoto National Championship Series has been led by Gage McAllister for the past few seasons. And that was to be expected; he’s a veteran of the sport. But race one at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon) saw a new face leading the crowd – McAllister’s RSR KTM teammate, Eric Stump. But after a sobering race one loss, McAllister struck back in race two, securing a victory.
“It’s a relief,” Stump said simply. “I’m glad to finally have a win under my belt. Couldn’t thank my team enough, they put me on a really nice ride. It’s good to know I can run out front of the pack. I look forward to giving Gage [McAllister] some competition this year, but as we all knows he’s an alien on a Supermoto bike. That’s who I’ll be chasing again.”
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Stump entered the New Hampshire track brimming with confidence. According to Stump, he felt that the layout was favorable to his riding style and that gut feeling wasn’t too far off. Stump led a strong race, only to be hampered by the dirt sections while still securing a race victory.
It wasn’t an uneventful Sunday right, though. He diced it up with Laforge Racing/Block Built KTM’s Jake Laforge in the dirt and the two swapped the lead on more than one occasion. Ultimately, a mistake on Laforge’s saw McAllister take the checkered flag.
Fellow RSR KTM rider Dustin Hoffman finished just off the podium in fourth, followed by Intents Racing Honda’s Tyler O’Hara.
McAllister’s calculated approach to racing eventually cost him a victory and in the second race, his strategy changed. He struck early, securing the lead and maintaining it. “I think I was just being a little too patient in that first race and that kind of cost me a little bit,” McAllister said. “In the second race I made it a little bit easier on myself. I was able to use all the aggression that I didn’t use in the first race as quick as possible to get out front and do what I normally try to do, which is put some really fast laps in the beginning and break away.”
Hoffman made the most out of Stump’s error to take second, making it a RSR KTM podium sweep in race two. Rounding out the top five was Boyd Brower on a Yamaha and Laforge.
The Pro Lites race was rowdy, to say the least. But the battle we all thought would go down, certainly did when points leader Josh Jackson, on the Lean Six Sigma Racing Husqvarna and Nicky Reimer on the Tri-County Powersports Husqvarna duked it out. But Damn Dummy Racing’s Cameron Walsh patiently sat, watching it all unfold and went their hunger caused mistakes, he seized on the opportunity, leading to his first race win of the season.
“In between everybody crashing, me included, Josh (Jackson) went down, Nicky (Reimer) stalled it, and then Josh and Nicky got into it on the last lap and gave me an opportunity,” Welsh said. “I really struggled to catch back up to them. I got into the position where if they made a mistake I could take advantage and it worked out. I’m super stoked, can’t believe that I actually did it. I’ve been trying to do this for years and it finally all came together. I was in the right place at the right time and made it work.”
Reimer was able to get up quickly and salvaged a second-place finish. PDRacing Suzuki’s Dawson Schieffer trailed in third, pushing Jackson off the podium, further disrupting the point standings. Rounding out the top five was privateer Brady Tauson on a Kawasaki.
Lee Schmidt, a fifty-three-year-old rider in the National Amateur class, took top honors in his first ever Supermoto race. Alongside Schmidt on the podium was Sergio Di Molfetta and Tom Taylor, making it a New Englander sweep.
