This past weekend’s road races at VIRginia International Raceway were just another CCS/USGPRU event in a long season of events for 14-year-old Jackson Blackmon and 17-year-old Xavier Zayat, or at least that’s how the young road racers were trying to approach the weekend. But in reality there was much more on the line as the event was also the AMA Road Race Grand Championship, which recognizes the rider at the event with the most promise for a professional career with the Horizon Award and names the Youth Road Racer of the Year.
Zayat, riding his Metric Devil Moto (MDM) Yamaha YZF-R6, won the AMA Supersport 600 Expert race and the AMA Moto2 Expert race, before he crashed while leading the AMA Superbike 600 Expert race and suffered a mild concussion that ended his riding for the day.
“For me, when I go there I’m shooting for lap times and racing against myself,” said Zayat, who hails from New York City. “VIR is a good track for me, so in every race I was gapping everybody. Then I ended up crashing not because I was being pressured by anybody but because I was pushing myself. I ended up reaching my goal lap time-wise, but it takes a lot of focus to go out there by myself and shoot for those times.”
Zayat said he got checked out by medical personnel at the track, but he put off going to the hospital to get completely checked out until after the award ceremony.
“They kind of hinted to us that we were in the running for the [Horizon] award,” said Zayat. “I wasn’t going to get worked up if I didn’t win it, but I thought it would be very nice if I did. It is a big deal and something really cool to have. The point of the award is to identify someone who has a promising future, not someone who is just the fastest on that weekend, and that’s important to me. I like to think that I have what it takes to make it someday. And on top of that, there’s many famous names of racers who have won it before, and it’s really nice to have my name on that list now.”
Blackmon, meanwhile, had his hands full trying to lock up a top position in the USGPRU Championships with a strong result in the season finale, trying to secure a spot in the overall top 10 in the CCS Southeast Regional Expert Championship and trying to snag one of the AMA National Championships and awards. This resulted in him racing his KTM RC390 Cup bike and his Moriwaki MD250H in a list of AMA, CCS and USGPRU classes.
The youngster from Rock Hill, South Carolina, moved up to eighth in the CCS Southeast point standings with a runner-up finish to Anthony Mazziotto III in the 500cc Supersport race, he locked in top-three positions in the USGPRU National Championships by winning the Moto3 and 250cc GP races at VIR, and for winning the AMA Moto3 Expert race on his Moriwaki and finishing second in AMA Supersport 500cc Expert race on his KTM he earned the AMA Youth Road Racer of the Year award.
“I was really excited and honored to get the Youth Road Racer of the Year award,” said Blackmon. “I’ve got to thank Dr. Laura Ellis and Med Age for all their help this year getting me to the track and keeping me hydrated. I’d also like to thank Bell helmets, EBC brakes, Fast Frank, Fast Bike Industries, Moto-D, Dainese leathers and Moto Liberty.”
Other AMA Grand Championship race and AMA National Championship winners at VIR included (in alphabetical order): Adam Ayers, Moto2 Amateur and Superbike 600 Amateur; Ned Brown, Formula 40 Expert; Christian Crosslin, Superbike 1000 Expert; Paul Dougherty, Supersport Lightweight Twins Amateur; Sean Dougherty, Superbike Lightweight Twins Amateur; Mark Evry, Supersport 500 Expert; Brian Kcraget, Supersport Lightweight Twins Expert; Thomas Kindley, Formula 40 Amateur; Richard O’Hare, Superbike 600 Expert; Dennis Pryor, Supersport 600 Amateur; Sharad Shanbhag, Moto3 Amateur; James Shepard, Supersport 1000 Expert; Frank Shockley, Superbike Lightweight Twins Expert; and Vasiliy Zhulin, Supersport 1000 Amateur and Superbike 1000 Amateur.