TOBC Racing Announces AMA Line-up for 2014; Taylor Knapp and Hayden Gillim join Nick McFadden and Curtis Murray at Daytona

TOBC Racing is proud to announce our 2014 line up for the AMA Pro Series. Returning for their first full AMA Pro Supersport Season are Nick McFadden and Curtis Murray. Hayden Gillim joins this year as well, and all three join Superbike competitor Taylor Knapp, flying the TOBC colors at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on 14 March 2014. The upcoming season has the riders geared up to go.

Of his new team, Hayden says, “Rick Matheny and Robin Hawley are really amazing, so it’s awesome to work with them again.”

According to Taylor, “We’re very ready to get up front again this year with TOBC.”

Nick McFadden

Nick McFadden began his racing career at 4 years old on a dirt track in Owensboro, Kentucky. Five years later he entered his first Road Race, and by age 11, Nick had earned his first Expert Racing License with CCS and later with WERA.

In 2013, at just 16 years old, Nick has been on top of the podium over 100 times. His victories include multiple National Championships in 600 SuperStock, MD250H, Formula 2, and even a National Endurance Championship in 2012. Nick is also a three time Flat Track Grand National Champion and a past recipient of the AMA Pro Youth Rider of the Year Award. In 2013, Road Racing World featured Nick in their “Young Gun” line up as “one of the best young Road Racers in North America.”

Hayden Gillim

Hayden cut his teeth in racing from the age of 6 to 16. In those ten years, Hayden has championships in both the flat track and roadracing venues and has earned wins on bikes in over a dozen competition categories.

By 2008, Hayden was selected for the Red Bull Rookies Cup, taking a podium in nearly every race and finishing a runner up for the Championship. Over the next two years, Hayden added three TT Championships, two Short Track Championships, and took three more class Championships with WERA and was given the AMA Road Race Horizon Award in 2010.

In his last two years competing in the AMA Pro Supersport Class, Hayden has taken five National wins and finished 2nd each year. He has his eye on the AMA Pro Championship and won’t settle for anything less. “I’ve been training a lot harder during the off-season because I’m really looking to get a championship with TOBC… Nick [McFadden] got podium with them last year, so I know we have the chance to get there again.”

Curtis Murray

Curtis entered his first race in 2010, and in only half a season, earned a 2nd and 3rd place in the WERA Novice National Championship. The next year would mark his first full season of racing. In 2011 Curtis was called “a novice phenomenon,”; “one of roadracing future stars,” and “the top winning novice of all time.” In 2011, Curtis won four Novice National Championships came in 2nd in three other classes. Curtis enters his first “Expert Year” with the same passion and impressive results. TOBC is proud to support Curtis in his 2014 AMA Pro Season.

Taylor Knapp

Taylor started his career racing Motorcross and Flat Track and had an AMA Flat Track National Championship under his belt by 1996. In 2001, Taylor moved into Roadracing and, in just three years, put another Championship behind him in the 250GP Category.

Taylor entered AMA Pro in 2004, was named Roadracing World’s “Young Gun” in 2005, and over the next eight years recorded over two dozen Top 10 finishes in Daytona Sportbike and then later in Superbike – including a Top 10 position in the legendary Daytona 200.

Taylor enters the 2014 Season with TOBC Racing at the Daytona International Speedway, a track he knows very well. TOBC is proud to work with a professional as significant as Taylor. “Teaming with TOBC has just recently come together, so I’m really starting a new chapter and getting to be part of a whole new team. I have worked with Rick Matheny before and I know a lot a lot of the other guys on my new team from the past, so it’s exciting to get going,” says Taylor of the upcoming season.

The Riders’ Sponsors include: RS Taichi, Dunlop, Shoei, Motonation, Powersport Supply, Superbike Supply, Sidi Boots, Alpinestars, Pilot Leathers, Arai Helmets, Ohlins Suspension, Racer Gloves, and Next Moto Champion.

TOBC Racing is a privately funded team focused on the support of Amateur Road Racing and the development of younger racers through the National Endurance, Team Challenge, and Sprint Series hosted by CCS, WERA, CMRA, ASRA, and now AMA Pro. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/tobc.racing or on the web at www.tobcracing.com