MotoAmerica Season Kick Off at Daytona International Speedway

It's been a whirlwind few weeks for the team as we rapidly approached the start of the 2025 MotoAmerica season at the legendary Daytona International Speedway. As a relatively new team competing in the premier racing series in the United States, we were excited and a bit nervous to take on the challenge of the high-banking at the Daytona circuit.

This was the first race weekend for the M13 team in the MotoAmerica series, and for many of us on the team, this was our first time at the iconic Daytona circuit. We were eager to see how our Yamaha YZF-R7 would stack up against the competition. Our rider, John McKenzie, has plenty of experience racing at the club level, but this was his first time competing in the MotoAmerica Twins Cup championship.

As we headed into the race weekend, it became clear that we would not have the bike and engine ready in the state that we wanted. Therefore, we made the tough decision to the give it a shot with a stock motor in the R7. This meant we would be down on power compared to the other bikes, but we felt it was the best option to at least get John on the grid and give him a chance to learn the track.

The weekend started off with a bang as we hit the track for the first practice session. John immediately felt comfortable on the bike and came to grips with the Dunlop tires, which were new to John. The sheer size and speed of the track was a bit overwhelming at first, but we knew we had to adapt quickly if we wanted to have a shot at a good result.

During the second qualifying session, John continued to push the bike to its limits, but the power deficit with the stock engine at Daytona showed that we just didn't have what we needed to qualify at the circuit, coming up about 5 seconds short.

It was a tough pill to swallow, but we knew we had to regroup and focus on the next round. Despite the setback, we were proud of the progress the team made throughout the weekend. Each time he went out on the track, John was able to improve his lap times and get more comfortable with the bike and the circuit. We spent the rest of the weekend simply enjoying the races and we had front row seats for the spectacle of the Daytona 200.

As we packed up the trailer and headed out of Daytona, we were already looking ahead to the next round at Barber Motorsports Park. We know that the Barber circuit will suit the the R7 a bit better, and we have the time to get the engine ready. We are confident that we will put together a stronger performance and qualify for the races.

We want to thank everyone who has supported us on this journey and an extra special thanks for our great friend Tom, who drove up to support the team. The team is an amazing group of individuals that works together like a well-oiled machine. Keith Hertell, Shawn Treadaway and Jason Abbott, John could not have done this without you. AMP Racing for the tireless work on the bike. VonHertell Suspension for assembling a suspension package that is second to none. Thanks to Red Hat, Southern Adrenaline, 3:16 Superbike Camp, Magura, Motul, OGIO, GoPro, Fuel Clothing, Woodcraft and Galfer USA.