Kelly Extends Superbike Points Lead With A Win And Second Place At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly Wins Race One, Finishes Second In Race Two To Build On Championship Lead; Jayson Uribe Nabs Two Top 10s And Kaleb De Keyrel Finishes Second Twice In Superbike Cup Debut
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OrangeCat Racing | August 3rd, 2026
Photo credit: Brian J. Nelson
LEXINGTON, Ohio – A red flag in the second of two Superbike races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course brought an early end to the proceedings, costing OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly a chance at a perfect weekend in Ohio. Still, a win on Saturday combined with a runner-up finish on Sunday allowed Kelly to extend his MotoAmerica Championship points lead.
Kelly came into the Mid-Ohio round with an 11-point lead over JD Beach. After his win and second-place finish, the Floridian leaves Ohio with a 24-point lead over Mathew Scholtz.
At the end of the shortened nine-lap race, Kelly was just .177 of a second behind Scholtz but was robbed of any chance of victory when the race was called complete. Kelly was, in turn, just .357 of a second ahead of Fong when the race was declared complete.
Kelly’s teammate Uribe, meanwhile, continues to pile on the championship points after finishing ninth in Saturday’s race one and sixth in Sunday’s race two. Uribe is eighth in the championship standings, just one point out of seventh and five points from sixth.
Kelly and Uribe were joined on the OrangeCat team by Kaleb De Keyrel, with the Texas resident riding one of the team’s BMWs in the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup. De Keyrel made the most of the opportunity and finished second in both Superbike Cup races.
Qualifying on Saturday morning saw the three OrangeCat Racing riders turn in strong performances, with Kelly finishing the 15-minute session in second. Uribe matched his best qualifying result of the year in sixth, with De Keyrel making his Superbike Cup qualifying debut with the 15th-best time in the session.
Saturday’s race one saw Kelly jump to the front of the pack from his middle-of-the-front-row start, and he held the spot for two laps before dropping back to third. There was no panic in the ever-patient Kelly, however, and he was content to sit in third for five laps before passing Benjamin Smith to move into second place behind Bobby Fong. Kelly sat on Fong’s rear wheel for six laps before taking the lead and ultimately pulling clear from his pursuers.
After 19 laps of the 2.4-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Kelly crossed the finish line with a 2.597-second margin of victory and a 20-point lead in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
Uribe, meanwhile, started from row two after qualifying sixth on Saturday morning, and he soon found himself in 10th place for almost the entire race. Never giving up, the Californian managed to work his way to ninth with two laps to go after making a pass on PJ Jacobsen.
De Keyrel’s 2026 debut on the team’s third BMW was a successful one as he stormed through from the sixth row of the grid to finish second in the Superbike Cup behind championship points leader Andrew Lee.
Sunday was more of the same for De Keyrel, with another second-place finish in the Superbike Cup battle. Sunday’s race two featured two red flags, the second of which marked the end of the race.
Uribe’s Sunday was better than his Saturday as he crossed the line in sixth, just a second and a half behind fifth-placed Cameron Petersen and well clear of Brandon Paasch, who ended up seventh. Uribe was ninth on lap one, but he was able to move forward to finish sixth.
Kelly led the first four laps of race two before being passed by Scholtz. From there, the OrangeCat Racing rider was content to sit behind and wait for the closing laps. Those laps didn’t come, as PJ Jacobsen’s crash brought out a second red flag and the race was consequently called complete.
With six rounds and 12 races in the books, Kelly leads the title chase over Scholtz by 24 points, 217-193. Beach slips to third, 32 points behind Kelly.
Jayson Uribe/No. 36
Overall, it was a positive weekend for my side of the garage. I think we made a lot of good steps on soft tires and made a lot of new discoveries on harder tires that are going to help carry us through to the next few rounds.
We need to work more on the hard tire setup, but we're making progress, and at the end of the day, the results were decent. I'm pretty disappointed with how race 2 went, having the red flags and then having the race cancelled. I felt like I was in a great position to fight for that top five.
The riders were starting to come back towards me, which I had planned for. So, that's a hard one to take on the chin, but that’s racing and I’m just super thankful for all of the OrangeCat racing team for all their support and hard work this weekend. It's paying off. Thank you.
Sean Dylan Kelly/No. 40
We had an extremely positive weekend. We were fast and competitive straight out the gate, and I think I had one of my best Fridays ever, not just leading, but also just having a really good pace.
Yesterday for race one, we had an incredible race, my first time winning with a gap, and that felt amazing. And today (Sunday), I also felt very strong, but unfortunately, the race got cut short and I had to settle with 2nd place, which obviously is positive, but doesn't feel as strong as I would have liked it to considering that I felt like I had a lot more in the bag. But that’s racing.
We have to look at the positives. We were really strong this weekend, and as always, I want to thank the entire team. All of OrangeCat Racing, and let's get ready for VIR.
Kaleb De Keyrel/No. 51
Amazing weekend. It felt great to get back on the BMW. Huge thank you to the Orange Cat guys for giving me a super competitive bike.
I'm excited what we were able to do this weekend being my first time back on this bike. I felt great right away thanks to the team for just making me feel comfortable so I could go out and do what I do.
It was really cool to fight for podiums again. I love the BMW and I had a blast here at Mid-Ohio. I got 2nd in both races, which was good. I just think with a little bit more time and testing, we can push and battle for that win.
Jeff Connor – Team Principal
Mid-Ohio was a strong weekend for Orange Cat Racing across the board. Sean Dylan Kelly qualified 2nd, won Race 1, and finished 2nd in Race 2 aboard the BMW M 1000 RR — he showed winning pace in every session and the bike performed flawlessly all weekend. It's disappointing that Race 2 got cut short, because we believe we could have had a shot at the win. Credit to crew chief Dave Weaver and the whole team — the work they're putting in to find performance gains before every round is really paying off on track.
Jayson Uribe qualified 6th and came home 9th in Race 1 and 6th in Race 2 — I'd call this his best weekend of the season. The gap to the leaders is shrinking session by session, and once we sharpen up our starts in those first five laps, we'll have a real shot at the podium. Ed Sullivan and the 36 crew are putting in the work, and we're looking forward to showing that improvement at VIR.
We also gave Kaleb DeKeyrel a chance to shine in Superbike Cup this weekend, running one of our 2025 stock bikes while we sat the Lightfighter out of Superhooligan. He qualified 3rd and finished 2nd in both races — a great result for Kaleb and a great return on a pretty small lift for the team.
None of this happens without the support of Alpha Racing and BMW Motorrad Motorsport — their partnership and technical support continue to be a huge part of what's making this team competitive. We also want to tip our hats to all of our competitors this weekend; racing at this level against a strong field is what pushes everyone, us included, to keep raising the bar.
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About OrangeCat Racing
OrangeCat Racing is a professional motorcycle racing team based in Chicago, competing at the national level in MotoAmerica. OrangeCat Racing thrives on competition, on challenging itself, and on learning and growing together. The team is dedicated to expanding the reach of motorcycle racing, sharing the experience of it, and creating an environment where riders can fully focus on their craft.
For 2026, OrangeCat Racing is competing for MotoAmerica’s Superbike class as a BMW Motorrad Motorsport official team. They’re also competing in the MotoAmerica Super Hooligan class aboard the electric Lightfighter motorcycle. For more information about OrangeCat Racing, visit www.orangecatracing.com.
OrangeCat Racing’s promotional and technical partners for the 2026 MotoAmerica season include BMW Motorrad Motorsport, Lightfighter, Motoworks Chicago, Ohlins USA, Farasis, and alpha Racing.