Round 6 of the Utah Sport Bike Association Law Tigers Masters of the Mountains Road Racing series was held on September 28-29 at Utah Motorsports Campus’ 2.2-mile West configuration in Grantsville, Utah. Twisting the throttle to victory in the premier class once again was Kory Cowan, with series regular Jerry Hicks arriving second while confirming himself as the premier class season champion.
After a stormy Saturday saw soggy races and slower paces, the weather was more compliant on Sunday bringing the pace back up and the grids full once again. Taking the win in the King of the Mountain Combined GTO and GTU race was the ever-present Cowan on his Moto Station built Yamaha YZF-R6.
Kory had this to say about his weekend: “Based on results it was a good race round. I took five wins in five races and had some good battles which I enjoyed. The weather was pretty tough all weekend. I don’t think it ever got above 60 degrees and it was raining on and off making it hard to decide what to do with tires. Luckily, I had the right Pirelli tires for all situations, and they worked great all weekend. They’ve worked great all season. I have to say thanks to the entire Moto Station crew. And congratulations to my teammate Jerry Hicks on his King of the Mountain championship. He’s a great racer and a great representative for the club.”
Speaking of Jerry Hicks, he realized a long-time personal goal of securing the number one plate and taking the top position in the premier class season championship. He had been chasing that distinction since his promotion to an expert racer after a thrilling and dominant campaign as a novice racer.
Hicks had this to say about the weekend of racing: “I was going into KOM race with a 20 point advantage over Duncan Biles, so in the lead-up to the race I was torn between playing it safe for the championship and pushing hard to race with Kory Cowan, who has had best outright speed all season. The extremely cold conditions had me a bit unsure about how fast any of us would be able to go, so I decided it would be best to push as hard as possible and see what happens. I got a decent start and tucked in close behind Kory for a few laps. My pit board was showing that Genaro Lopez was right behind me, so I kept pushing. On lap 3 of 14, my rear tire began destroying itself, because of the cold temps. Then on the next lap, my visor began fogging. I gave up a bit of a gap to Kory at that point, but that gap shortly stabilized as Kory was having tire and visor fogging problems of his own. I continued pushing for the next handful of laps and was able to get a bit of a gap on Genaro. I backed off a bit to bring it home safely in second place, which was good enough for me to win the overall KOM championship. Next up was Open Superbike. Since it was raining on and off all day, my spare wheels had rain tires mounted, which meant I didn’t have time to do a tire change and had to go out on the tire I destroyed in KOM. In this class, again I had a 20 point lead on Duncan. I put a bunch of air in the tire and went out focused on damage control. I got a good start and pushed as hard as possible. Kory pretty much checked out after a couple laps and Duncan passed me shortly after that. I was able to push hard enough to keep everyone else behind me and bring it home in 3rd, which was again, good enough to take the win in that championship. Finally, I had Middleweight Superbike. I was down 2 points to Kellen Birch in this class, so I had to beat him to win the championship. Again, with no time for a tire change, I had to race the tire I destroyed two races ago. At this point, the tire wear indicators were completely worn away. My start was decent, with Kory ahead and Kellen behind going into T1. My rear grip was hopelessly bad, so I tried to at least put on a show for Kellen and spun the rear from the apex to the edge of the track out of T1. We’re talking Marco Melandri, Phillip Island 2006, minus the smoke because it was 45 degrees. If I was going to struggle for speed, I was at least going to do it in style. From then on, Kory checked out immediately while Kellen began suffering from tire issues as well. By the end of the race, I was able to hold off Alex Zinaich for 2nd place to win the class championship.”
Concerning his title-winning season, Jerry wanted to share these comments: “I want to first thank my wife, Carrie, for all her support and contribution over the many years we’ve been racing. It’s mostly been lots of fun, but there have also been some difficult times. Most notably, when I was on the cusp of clinching the #1 Plate back in 2017 during the penultimate round, I instead ended up in a helicopter with my femur poking out of my leg. So, after a year away from road racing, to come back this year and get the #1 Plate is a great feeling for me. I must admit that I wasn’t the outright fastest rider this year—that title goes to Kory Cowan—but I was fast enough and consistent enough to rack up the points to take the overall championship win. I’ll take that. My gratitude to Kory Cowan and Moto Station is impossible to overstate. Next to my wife, Kory has been in my corner longer than anyone else. Over the years he’s been a mentor, bike builder, tire guy, competitor, and a great friend. Kory has also assembled a fantastic team of riders that all share a tremendous passion for this sport. Thank you to Brian, Dave, Andy, Duncan, Russell, James, and Rick for being awesome garage mates this season. Moto Station is more than just a shop and a team sponsor. It has become an epicenter of friendship for many of us. We race together, ride dirt bikes together, do “family” holidays together—to me, this band of brothers and sisters that have formed from the Moto Station race team is what I will cherish most from my many years of racing. I am honored to be a part of it all.”
Taking home the distinction as top GTO rider in the King of the Mountain class was Zac Miller, who shared these thoughts on taking his first King of the Mountain championship, saying, “Coming into this weekend I was leading the points in both Deseret Dash Expert and KOM GTO. I had mixed thoughts, do I ignore the points and stick to the normal plan to go fast, or ride cautious and focus on survival? With the wild weather conditions, the cautious route seemed most logical. On Sunday, I skipped the morning practice sessions and KOM qualifying due to mixed track conditions, so I entered Stock 1000 for warm-up laps. I got a great launch from row 5 and was able to contend for the win battling with Erik Grim, who was on-point and just edged me out. Then in KOM, I was last on the grid from skipping qualifying but was able to move forward very quickly before settling into fourth, the position I knew was good enough to secure the KOM GTO championship. Riding with such caution, those were the longest 14 laps I’ve ever raced! I was able to finish in that position, and secure the championship, although it was bittersweet to finish so far behind Jerry and Kory. My hats off to them for riding those Moto Station R6’s so incredibly fast in such cold weather and congrats to Jerry Hicks on his season and KOM Combined championship.”
Winning eight championships between them were Jason Grant and his son Liam. Jason shared these words of wisdom regarding his season: “I was very lucky to be able to race with two of my sons, Liam and Jasper this season. We each had objectives coming into the season and mine included transitioning from the R3 that I started racing last year to the R6 this season and the ZX-10 by the end of the year, in addition to competing to win the Novice GTU title. I was fortunate to achieve all of those goals in addition to three other class titles as a Novice this season. More importantly, our family became a part of the USBA family, and we made a lot of new friends over the course of the season. I’d like to thank my family for the sacrifices they made to allow me to race on top of our already busy race program. I’d also like to thank Ken Hill and the Rickdiculous program for their coaching and support. We wouldn’t be able to race as a family if dad was crashing every weekend and I owe Ken a lot for making me, and my boys, much faster, safer and more consistent riders.” Liam, Jason’s son, had this to say, “I started racing a Yamaha R3 for the first time in 2018 after I completed the USBA new racer school last April. By the end of the season I had won my first race and was planning my goals for 2019. For 2019 I wanted to transition to the Kawasaki Ninja 400 to compete for the Production 500 Championship and to use this experience to compete in my first MotoAmerica Junior Cup races. I was fortunate to end up winning three classes with the USBA and also compete in my first three rounds with MotoAmerica. I would like to thank my family, my sponsors and Geoff Cesmat for all their support and making the season possible.”
Hailing from Canada and maintaining a constant presence throughout the season was the Formula 40 GTO champion, Ryan McGowan. McGowan provided the following insight about his title: “2019 was a very successful season with the UtahSBA, I brought a new ZX-10R this year and were able to get it set up relatively early in the season, although it wasn’t until the 4th round that I had most of the shifting bugs worked out. Winning the F40 GTO championship in my first year with this bike was a fantastic surprise. There was stiff competition each and every round, with the majority of the pressure came from my good friend Bill Davis on his BMW who won four of the six rounds this year. We came into the final round tied with Bill, but unfortunately Bill wasn’t able to grid up for the final round allowing us to take the title. Chasing the checkers with Kevin Dolan and David Meyer also provided some great memories, good close racing with lots of trust in your fellow competitors is what this is all about. Revolver Racing would like to thank our sponsors this year, Mark and Brandon at Hustle Hard Racing, Vortex EK and Mantis Technical Services. I owe a big thanks to my teammates Myroslav Volkov and James Riggs, and my family for their continuing support.”
Wrapping up a strong and successful expert class debut was Kellen Birch out of Rigby, Idaho. As he completes his campaign and takes a reluctant step back from racing, Kellen had these parting words: “Very bittersweet race weekend. I crashed hard Saturday morning. I was sad, scared and deflated. I went from chasing all six championships to survival mode. I was beaten up, and I was really discouraged. But that’s the shitty part of racing. Then there is the beautiful part of racing. As I rode to the medical center in a lot of pain with a torn suit, demolished helmet, blown out boot and my fingers showing through gloves I wanted to quit. Bailee was checking me over, I turn around, and Donald was there checking in on me and walked me back to the garage. Ian, Ryan, Genaro, and James had already started rebuilding my bike. Half the club came by to check on me and see if I needed anything. You can’t ask for better people. At that point I started thinking, I hate having regrets. I had busted my ass and wallet to get to where I was. I had to finish the season off. I rode terrified and sore in the rain after lunch salvaging what I could for points. My wife Shelley is a great nurse and checked me out Saturday night. Sunday morning I woke up sore but determined. I did my best. I won a championship in the Combined GTU class and placed well in the rest of the classes I ran. I am damn proud of that. It also made this weekend really hard; I had to say goodbye to my track family for a while. I can’t express how much this USBA club and this family mean to me. I love you all!” Kellen and his infectious personality will be greatly missed around the paddock.
Establishing himself as a definite contender in the expert classes next year, Joseph Tapia put together a prolific effort in securing a championship on his modern vintage Yamaha YZF-R6. Tapia made these comments about his campaign: “I had an excellent round 6 to clinch the Modern Vintage GTU championship. The rain was a great equalizer for Saturday, which gave me a lot of confidence going into Sunday’s racing. It was a great race season, and I am happy to have won Modern Vintage GTU. I’ll be back again next year to see if I can do it again. Huge thanks to Utah Motorcycle Law and Adrenalin Moto for their support.”
Utah Sport Bike Association would like to sincerely thank all of their sponsors for the 2019 Masters of the Mountains season, including The Edge Powersports, Fastline Racetire, The Moto Station, Inspired Financial, Trackstar Racing, The Green Pig Pub, Adrenaline Motorsports, Wright’s Motorcycle Parts, Harrison Eurosport, South Valley Motorsports, Moto United, The Mechanic – Kevin Dolan, LaMonica’s Restaurant Equipment Service, C&R Coatings, Kymco, Rickdiculous Racing, AZ Racing Academy and our title sponsor Law Tigers for making this season possible. Without your support, this road racing series would not exist.
The UtahSBA is a Utah Non-Profit dedicated to promoting education, safe riding, and competition in the Intermountain West. You can find more information about the UtahSBA, upcoming events, and schools at www.utahsba.com or find us on Facebook at www.utahsba.com
Harrison Eurosport Combined GTO:
1. Joseph Tapia (Yam YZF-R6)
2. James Powelson (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Cole Phillips (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Peter Hofpointner (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Jeff VanDerVoot (Yam YZF-R6)
The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash 1 – Expert:
1. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. Jason Johnson (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Nick Sosniuk (BMW S1000RR)
6. Donald Rothfuss (Duc 848 EVO)
The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash 1 – Novice:
1. Ryan Podgurney (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. James Riggs (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
4. Myroslav Volkov (Kaw ZX-10R)
The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash 2 – Expert:
1. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. David Meyer (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Thomas Dark (Suz GSX-R600)
5. Donald Rothfuss (Duc 848 EVO)
6. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash 2 – Novice:
1. Ryan Podgurney (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Adam Kownatka (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. James Kling (Duc 1198)
4. James Riggs (Yam YZF-R1)
5. Braxton Young (Hon CBR600RR)
6. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
Trackstar Racing Middleweight Superstock:
1. Cole Phillips (Yam YZF-R6)
2. James Powelson (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Jason Johnson (Duc 848)
4. Kellen Birch (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Thomas Dark (Suz GSX-R600)
Fastline Racetire Moto 2:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
3. James Powelson (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Alex Zinaich (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Peter Hofpointner (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
The Edge Powersports Moto 3:
1. David Purcell (Kaw Ninja 400)
2. Brad Moore (Yam YZF-R3)
3. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
Inspired Financial Novice GTU:
1. Joseph Tapia (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Peter Hofpointner (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Ryan Podgurney (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jason Grant (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Adam Kownatka (Kaw Ninja 300)
6. Braxton Young (Hon CBR600RR)
South Valley Motorsports Open Superstock:
1. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Jeff VanDerVoot (Yam YZF-R6)
4. David Meyer (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
6. Jason Johnson (Kaw ZX-6R)
The Green Pig Pub Open Twins:
1. Donald Rothfuss (Duc 848 EVO)
2. James Kling (Duc 1198)
3. Daniel Egbert (Duc 1199S)
4. Jason Johnson (Duc 848)
Adrenaline Motorsports Production 500:
1. David Purcell (Kaw Ninja 400)
2. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
Harrison Eurosports Formula 40 – GTO:
1. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. David Meyer (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Nick Sosniuk (BMW S1000RR)
5. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
Harrison Eurosports Formula 40 – GTU:
1. Alex Zinaich (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Adam Kownatka (Kaw ZX-6R)
LaMonica’s Restaurant Equipment Service Heavyweight Superbike:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. James Powelson (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Kellen Birch (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Cole Phillips (Yam YZF-R6)
The Moto Station KOM GTO:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)
3. Zac Miller (BMW S1000RR)
4. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Duncan Biles (Yam YZF-R1)
6. David Meyer (Suz GSX-R1000)
Rickdiculous Racing KOM GTU:
1. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Thomas Dark (Suz GSX-R600)
AZ Racing Academy Lightweight SuperBike:
1. Brad Moore (Yam YZF-R3)
2. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
3. Adam Kownatka (Kaw Ninja 300)
4. Jeff Masters (Yam FZ-07)
The Moto Station Middleweight Superbike:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Alex Zinaich (Yam YZF-R6)
4. James Powelson (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Kellen Birch (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Jeff VanDerVoort (Yam YZF-R6)
The Mechanic Modern Vintage – GTO:
1. Kevin Dolan (Suz GSX-R1000)
2. Myroslav Volkov (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Spencer Kruger (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
The Mechanic Modern Vintage – GTU:
1. Joseph Tapia (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Cole Phillips (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Thomas Dark (Suz GSX-R600)
4. Braxton Young (Hon CBR600RR)
5. Jason Johnson (Duc 848)
Harrison Eurosport Novice GTO:
1. Myroslav Volkov (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. James Kling (Duc 1198)
3. Ryan Podgurney (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. James Riggs (Yam YZF-R1)
5. Braxton Young (Hon CBR600RR)
6. Mark Taylor (Kaw EX500)
The Moto Station Open Superbike:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Duncan Biles (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
4. David Meyer (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Nick Sosniuk (BMW S1000RR)
6. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
Wright’s M/C Parts & Accessories Production 300:
1. Adam Kownatka (Kaw Ninja 300)
Adrenaline Motorsports Production 500:
1. Brad Moore (Yam YZF-R3)
2. David Purcell (Kaw Ninja 400)
3. Mark Taylor (Kaw 500)
4. Adam Kownatka (Kaw Ninja 300)
C&R Coatings Stock 1000:
1. Erik Grim (BMW S1000RR)
2. Zac Miller (BMW S1000RR)
3. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)
4. Ryan McGowan (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. James Kling (Duc 1198)
6. Nick Sosniuk (BMW S1000RR)
The Moto Station & Rickdiculous Racing KOM Combined:
1. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)
4. Zac Miller (BMW S1000RR)
5. Kevin Dolan (Kaw ZX-10R)
6. Duncan Biles (Yam YZF-R1)