Road racing made its return to Utah last weekend in a big way! The highly anticipated 2025 season opener for the Utah Sport Bike Association took place May 3-4 at the world class Burt Brothers Motorpark (formerly known as Utah Motorsports Campus). The USBA raised the bar this season providing a race program that adds even more excitement and value for their racers by introducing Qualifying for all classes and Saturday’s premier event, the Endurance Race. Add this to the coveted Burt Brothers “King of the Mountain” race and a refined sprint race schedule and these are race weekends you won’t want to miss.
There was a buzz around the paddock Saturday morning beyond that of race engines warming up. Who was going to set the fastest laps for their respective classes and start from pole position in their races? Racers didn’t have to wait long to find out as the track went hot at 8:00 a.m. and the fast-qualifying laps started coming in! When KOM racers went out for their first qualifying session things picked up right where they left off as reigning #1 plate holder Anthony Norton and previous club champion Brian Childree topped the charts. In the second qualifying session, Norton bested his previous time and ripped off a 1:33.7 lap, solidifying p1, followed local legend Shane Turpin making his return to the grid who went 1:36.7 seating him 3rd behind Childree’s 1:36.5 in 2nd. The fastest Novice qualifier was new racer Alex Cantrell with a respectable 1:40.5 which was just the beginning of an epic weekend for him.
With the grids set, time to go racing!
The first “lights out” of the season was the Precision Fab Machinery Middleweight SBK Novice race! Racers were fighting for PFab purse money paid in both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races for the class. Fastest novice qualifier, Alex Cantrell went straight to work with the holeshot and put his head down for 7 laps to take the victory and a paycheck but the battle raged for the final podium spots where Landon Mattson lead Dakota Burford across the line for 2nd and 3rd both earning their piece of the purse money. Alex went on to win 8 novice races on the weekend and plans to join the expert ranks for Round 2 in just 3 weeks.
The action continued as Saturday sprint races rolled on with intense battles and non-stop racing action leading into the day’s Main Event, the return of Endurance racing to USBA.
Teams and solo riders took to the grid with a mix of strategies and bikes to start the race. Starting 1-2 for the race were heavy hitters Anthony “Lugnut” Norton aboard the Precision Fab Kawasaki ZX-10R and Shane “Tornado” Turpin piloting his Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6. The two rubbed elbows off the grid and leaning into Turn 1 where Norton secured the holeshot, but Turpin latched on, and they rode Dunlop to Dunlop for 4 laps. On lap 5, Turn 5, Turpin took a hard tumble from P2, bringing out a red-flag stop, and riders returned to hot pit. Unfortunately, Shane was unable to remount for the restart due to injuries sustained; we all wish him a speedy recovery and hope he returns to the grid soon. On the restart, Norton once again nailed the light and led for a 30-minute stint before handing the bike over to teammate Kohl Burmester, who rode the Racers Edge Dunlop-shod Kawaski for the remainder of the race and straight to victory lane! The top ironman solo rider, was Mark Taylor on his ultra lightweight entry; he finished just two laps down to the top overall finishers. Endurance racing is back!
On Sunday morning, sprint racing action continued. Norton showed some serious pace in the morning’s Open Superstock race, looking prepared to defend his KOM streak when the premier race was to take place just after lunch. With the threat of wet weather coming, all eyes were on the sky! Just 30 minutes before last call for the Burt Brothers King of the Mountain race, the skies opened up and down came the rain. Race Direction rightfully declared it a “wet race” and racers scrambled to mount their rain or DOT tires to then take their grid positions. Revs up, lights out, and Lou Saccoccio led the KOM racers into Turn 1 on the damp track, but Norton leaped into the lead through Turn 3. Brian Naylor aboard his ZX-6R found his way to P2 on Lap 1 with Lou in tow and a hard-charging Alex Zinaich lurking behind! On Lap 2, Zinaich exchanged places with Lou for 3rd and then on Lap 3 Alex overtook Naylor for 2nd. On the same lap Lou found his way past Naylor for 3rd and the top 3 were Norton, Zinaich, Saccoccio, with Brian Naylor 4th representing the top Middleweight rider in the running order. In tricky conditions with a drying track, Norton seemed to be managing his lead while Zinaich put in consistent laps attempting to close the gap but as the laps wound down and the checkered flag waved it was Norton taking 1st with Zinaich 2nd, and Lou Saccoccio bringing his R1 home in 3rd, all three claiming their piece of the hefty Burt Brothers Tire & Service Purse Money.
This was Alex Zinaich’s first KOM podium and when asked about his race he said “With the race declared wet, at first call I chose to run an old Q3+ and Q4 that I had. Turned out I pulled a ‘Jack Miller’ and got the tire choice right. By Lap 2 the track had dried out a bit and I watched everyone boil their rains off. I’m happy to get on the box this weekend. I would like to thank my fiancé Aubrey Credaroli and The Jojo for their relentless pit crew support. Also, thanks to Young Powersports of Centerville, Bison Track and azridingacademy.”
After a long weekend of racing, reigning club champion Norton was all smiles and when asked about his weekend he had this to say: “What a Blast. Awesome to have the entire Precision Fab Machinery team here supporting me and the USBA. The Endurance race was a blast, and their support made it even more fun. Thanks to my friend and teammate Kohl for riding his butt off to help us secure the win! Damon, with Legal Ride, came out to race and support me as well. Great to have him out and his help wrenching to get the bike ready for the weird conditions of KOM. So great having these people all in my corner. Great job by the club and Race Direction creating an exciting and safe weekend for us racers! Also, I want to wish a speedy recovery to Shane (Turpin), it’s an honor to share the racetrack with The Tornado and I hope to battle again soon.”
Round 1 is in the books and that was just a taste of the excitement this season has in store. We are just three short weeks away from Round 2 which will be held on the West course at Burt Brothers Motorpark, and we can’t wait! Join us for endurance and sign up early to save on your entry fees. The USBA would like to thank title sponsor Utah Motorcycle Law for all they do to help the show continue to grow here in Utah and of course we couldn’t do it without all our class sponsors, fans, and of course the race warriors on track! We will see you all May 25-26 for Round 2! Visit Utahsba.com for more details.
