Weekend Takeaways // Road Atlanta

We've only seen a taste of Superbike

We've only just begun. While Road Atlanta gave us a good sense of what we're looking at in 2026, we for sure haven't seen the full deck of cards that are on the table this season. From riders settling in to new teams and getting a round under their belt, crashes taking potential contenders out of the mix completely or at least to the back of the grid, a lot of questions remain.

A few things are for certain though: Mathew Scholtz and Strack Racing are primed and ready to fight at the front, Bobby Fong and JD Beach are in the hunt, SDK has sneaky good pace and is just getting to grips with the new team and bike, and Cam Beaubier, apart from a crash, doesn't seem to be missing a beat on his new Ducati.

While there are kinks to work out for everyone except Scholtz and Fong, you'd be hard pressed to find a sure bet for a winner come Barber.

The fuse is lit for Supersport fireworks

We all knew when it was announced, Josh Herrin's return would mean fireworks could be on the horizon for Supersport. That announcement paired with the news that former MotoGP rider Darryn Binder would also be on a Ducati Panagale V2? The fireworks were all but loaded on the truck with the air fence and headed to the first round. While Daytona was fairly quiet, Road Atlanta had some semi-spicy moments on track.

Herrin showed pace, we saw him looking over at Binder down the straightaway in race 2, and you could just sense that he was feeling at home on the 'little bike'. Binder showed an uncanny ability to find the smallest opening on corner entry and capitalize on it – see turn 12 all weekend long. Ty Scott and his GSXR 750 were directly in the fight all weekend, Kayla Yaakov is armed with a Ducati as well and the speed and fitness to run at the sharp end. Once the kinks are worked out of the Strack Racing R9, we're sure to see Blake Davis enter the chat as well.

We saw glimpses of it this weekend - like the absolute dog fight in the opening stages of Race 2 - but how long until the fuse hits the powder and the fireworks hit the sky?

My bet's on Barber.

Twins Cup - the class you can't bet on

A tale as old as time in motorsports - a class full of young, hungry and talented kids equals inconsistency in the results sheet and an opportunity for anyone every time the line up on the grid.

From Sam Drane's tough go on the twin all weekend, to Matthew Chapin and Bodie Paige swapping power delivery issues and subsequent sub-par results, it was about as unpredictable as it gets. That said, Hank Vossberg caught a stroke of luck in Race 2 - remounting from a crash just ahead of a red flag, he found himself on the front row of the restart. A composed ride in the second go left him with 1-2 finishes on the weekend and a healthy gap in the championship standings.

That opportunity for everyone I mentioned earlier? Logan Cunnison grabbed a podium in race 1 and 11 riders in race 2 finished within 6 seconds of the winner… You're only a good qualifying session or a good start away from podium potential when the lights go out in Twins Cup, it doesn't get better than that for us fans.

The Bagger Pendulum Swings Again

When the teams pulled through the tunnel at Daytona to return home, anyone in the bagger class not riding Vance and Hines Factory Indian had to be thinking (read: hoping) 'that was just because of the power they found over the winter' and when the series returned to a 'normal' circuit the battle would be on between motorcycling's oldest manufacturers.

Hayden Gillim showed us all that Daytona was no fluke, Vance and Hines has found something in their short tenure with the Indian Challenger and they're the current machine to beat. This is nothing new for this class, though, and the reason is that it's pure racing development unfolding in front of our eyes.

If you dropped the bike that won the first King of the Baggers race on the grid today, it would likely get lapped. No, really, it might actually get lapped. In 6 years, that's how far we've come. With that, we've seen Indian and Harley go blow for blow in an arms race, each year swapping the crown.

Last year HD and Kyle Wyman grabbed the crown and restored that iconic number 1 to the front of their Road Glide. While it's hard to say what would have happened in 2026 if S&S remained at the helm of the factory Indian effort, two things are for sure - Vance and Hines have upped the level and looked poised to claw back the crown and Harley has their heads down big time working on a solution to close the gap.

Will Indian march into Wisconsin and plant a flag on HD soil at Road America, a place where Harley has dominated? Tough to say, but I'd bet my bottom dollar HD is working night and day to figure it out and won't be going down without a fight.