Battles, Crashes, and Comebacks: Round 3 at Road America

Round 3 of the MotoAmerica Talent Cup finally arrived, and it did not disappoint. Road America brought fast straights, cold mornings, tight battles—and a fair share of drama. Carson King showed grit, speed, and resilience all weekend, with a rough crash in Race 1 and a strong comeback to P5 in Race 2.

Here’s how it all played out.

Friday: Fast Out of the Gate

Road America is unlike any other track on the schedule—two massive straights, elevation changes, and wide-open throttle sections that challenge every part of the bike and rider. On a lower-horsepower machine like the Kramer APX-350 MA, gearing is critical.

Carson rolled into Practice 1 solo on track—no draft, just clean laps—and immediately put in competitive times. The bike setup was on point from the start, and he was feeling confident on one of his favorite tracks.

When Qualifying 1 began, the weather flipped. Rain soaked the circuit, and with a limited number of tire stickers available, we held Carson out to avoid burning a set of wets in a session that offered little value.

But with 10 minutes left, the track began to dry. We scrambled to get Carson out on slicks—and it paid off. He dropped a full second on his second flying lap, topping the timesheets… briefly. DiMario slipped ahead by just .009 seconds, and a late flyer from Sam Drane bumped Carson to P3. Still, a front-row start and a strong way to end Friday.

The only issue? Carson reported some chatter through the carousel as the pace picked up. We dove into the data overnight looking for answers.

Saturday: Ice-Cold Mornings and a Wild Race 1

Saturday kicked off with 42° air temps and Qualifying 2 at 8:35 AM. Definitely not sleeping-in weather.

We made changes based on Friday’s data, and Carson confirmed they worked—no more chatter. He dropped nearly another second and looked dialed in. Despite the gain, some of the competition stepped it up too. Carson qualified 5th—middle of Row 2 and feeling strong.

But Race 1 took a hard left turn.

Carson got a rough launch and was swallowed up off the line but fought back to P3 by Turn 6. As he entered Canada Corner—one of the heaviest braking zones in the series—a massive incident unfolded behind him. Derek Sanchez hit Hank Vossberg under braking, sending Hank’s bike ghost-riding into the air fence. In the chaos, Derek and his bike collided with Carson just as he tipped in. The result: a violent highside and a multi-rider pileup.

All riders walked away under their own power, though Hank was taken to the hospital for evaluation. Carson was bruised and sore, with a banged-up leg and foot—but thankfully okay.

The bike? Not so lucky. Cracked bodywork, bent controls, and broken electronics. But thanks to help from the Kramer crew and the team’s late-night efforts, we got it rebuilt and ready for Sunday.

Sunday: Rebuilt and Recharged

Sunday morning was even colder but with calmer wind and clear skies. Warmup went great—Carson was immediately quicker than his qualifying pace, and we knew we were back in the game.

Due to his role in the crash, Sanchez was penalized, and Carson moved up to P4 on the grid. The first start of Race 2 saw another incident—Ella Dreher locked the front in Turn 5 and took out Hank (who had a brutal weekend). Red flag.

The restart was shortened to 5 laps. Carson finally nailed a start, but was shuffled to 5th by Turn 3. He pulled off a slick draft pass on Correa to retake 4th, but soon found himself in a scrap with Kody Kopp that slowed them both down. Once free, Carson laid down a flyer—closing the gap to the lead pack and getting into a four-wide draft going into Turn 1.

On the final lap, he went from 6th to 4th with a double-pass through the chicane. But Bodie Page returned the favor under braking into Canada Corner, edging Carson back to 5th. Carson crossed the line close behind, having closed a massive gap in just a couple laps.

Takeaways: Resilience, Speed, and a Two-Second Drop

Looking at the data post-race, Carson had dropped two full seconds from his best lap of the weekend and set the fastest Sector 4 time overall. His final lap was blistering, and with just two more laps, who knows how far he could’ve climbed?

From a violent crash to a P5 finish—and some of his best laps yet—this weekend tested everything: rider, team, and machine.

Next Stop: Mid-Ohio

Now we’ve got a long break until Mid-Ohio at the end of July. We’re already working on ways to keep Carson sharp between now and then.

Big thanks to our sponsors, Window Depot, our supporters, partners, and fans—we couldn’t do this without you. If you thought Road America was wild, just wait for what’s next.

See you in Ohio.

Back on Track: Carson’s First Test of 2025 with the Kramer APX-350 MA

Back on Track: Carson’s First Test of 2025 with the Kramer APX-350 MA

The past two days marked a major milestone: Carson King is officially back on a roadracing bike for 2025. It’s been a wild ride getting here, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Our original plan was to race in MotoAmerica’s Twins Cup this year. But as things developed over the offseason, we made the call to jump into the newly-formed Talent Cup aboard the all-new Kramer APX-350 MA. Big change? Absolutely. Right move? We think so.

A Tight Timeline and a Big Fix

The Kramer arrived at our shop about a week before we had to leave for the MotoAmerica pre-season test at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, TX. Not much time to prep, but we were excited… until we learned we couldn’t even start the bike.

Some of the other teams who’d already gotten on track ran into engine issues, and Kramer worked fast to figure out a solution. Part of that fix? We needed to head down to Texas a day early so the Kramer team could update our bike before the test started. Not ideal—but we rolled with it.

Sunday was all about the Kramer guys wrenching and getting bikes sorted while teams trickled into the paddock. And then… well, something we didn’t expect happened.

King Kenny Roberts and his son Kenny Jr. showed up. Yeah. Just hanging out, talking shop with us like it was no big deal. Chatting about the new bikes, the series, and what Carson’s got going this season. That wasn’t exactly on our bingo card for the weekend.

First Ride, Steep Learning Curve

By Monday morning, it was time to hit the track for the first time on the new bike. And let’s be honest—we knew right away we had our work cut out for us.

The Kramer APX-350 MA handles completely differently from anything Carson’s ever ridden. It’s also the most advanced bike we’ve worked on, packed with adjustments and data logging that’ll keep us busy all season. The learning curve? Pretty vertical.

But Carson did what Carson does—he got to work. He kept chipping away, improving every session as he learned the bike and the track. Meanwhile, I was elbows-deep trying to figure out the data. That part didn’t go entirely to plan.

Our homemade mount for the AiM Solo2 DL broke halfway through the day. That left us flying blind on lap times and without any data for a few sessions. We pulled together a quick fix to get through the day, but we’ve got a new mount design coming before our next test.

Cameras Rolling and Pressure Rising

Another curveball? MotoAmerica’s Pressure to Rise YouTube series was there filming. They’re following the Talent Cup riders this season, and they dropped by our pit for an interview. Look for us in the series—we were deep in conversation about gearing changes when the cameras started rolling. Guess we better keep an eye on the episodes from here on out!

Carson being interviewed by the MotoAmerica Pressure to Rise team

Day 2: Progress and Pushing Limits

Tuesday started off windy—like really windy. But Carson went out and immediately dropped some solid times on the same setup we finished with the day before, running a shorter rear sprocket.

After a few sessions, we realized that gearing wasn’t doing us any favors, so we made the call to go the other direction. Carson found more speed with a taller gear—more drive out of corners and more stability in the fast stuff.

Travis installing new gearing to try out

With Carson getting more comfortable, we started experimenting with the suspension. Softer springs front and rear gave him instant confidence—no more unexpected wheelies or rear-wheel lift under braking. We tried going softer again on the front, but by then, the tires were shot and Carson was spent. After two long days and probably 50-75 laps each day, he was still within a tenth of his best time. That’s grit.

What’s Next: CotA with MotoGP!

This test was a huge step for the whole team. Carson’s learning the bike, understanding how setup changes feel, and giving us better feedback every session. I’m learning how to read the data (and what data matters), and Travis and Jalynn are figuring out how to keep this machine dialed in.

It’s going to be a year of learning for all of us—but we’re here for it.

Next up: Circuit of the Americas at the end of March. Carson will race in the Talent Cup as a support class for MotoGP. He’ll be riding in front of the biggest crowd of his career in one of the most legendary paddocks on the planet. We can’t wait.

Stay tuned!