First Superbike Podium For Uribe And A Big Points Grab For Kelly With Two Podiums In VIR Triple-Header
OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe Scores His First MotoAmerica Superbike Podium With Sean Dylan Kelly Nabbing Two Podiums To Lead Title Chase By 17 Points With Five Races To Go
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OrangeCat Racing | August 16th, 2026
Photo credit: Brian J. Nelson
ALTON, Virginia – First-turn chaos in the third of three Superbike races at VIRginia International Raceway took down five riders, including OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly, leaving a huge opportunity for this teammate Jayson Uribe, who took full advantage of the hand that was dealt to him by finishing third for the first Superbike podium finish of his career.
Kelly, meanwhile, was able to remount from the turn-one melee and finish 15th, earning a single championship point that may prove valuable at season’s end. The outcome in race three marked the end of a difficult yet successful weekend for the Floridian as he’d finished third in the first two races at VIR to limit the damage.
With his 11th and 12th podiums in the 15 races thus far in the 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Kelly and the OrangeCat Racing team left Virginia with a 17-point lead in the title chase over Mathew Scholtz, 31 points over JD Beach, and 38 points ahead of Bobby Fong, the winner of race one and two at VIR.
With two ninth-place finishes and his first-career Superbike podium coming in race three, Uribe jumped to sixth in the championship and now has a legitimate shot at a top-five finish in the 2026 championship.
The team started strongly at VIR with Kelly third and Uribe sixth in the first practice session on Friday. The second session saw Kelly remain in third with Uribe dropping to ninth. In final qualifying, Kelly put his BMW M 1000 RR on the front row with the second-quickest time of the 15-minute session. Uribe, meanwhile, had a difficult session and dropped to 11th.
Saturday’s race one, held in steaming-hot conditions, was red flagged with Kelly in fourth and Uribe in ninth. On the restart, Kelly moved up to finish third, with Uribe finishing ninth, just a second behind Cameron Petersen and a few seconds ahead of Benjamin Smith.
Sunday’s weather was mixed, but both Superbike races were fortunately dry, though the racetrack was slick with all the riders complaining of a lack of grip.
Race two started just after noon on Sunday, leaving riders just a few hours to regain some stamina for race three. Kelly was again third, holding off Richie Escalante and JD Beach for the final spot on the podium. Uribe was a rather lonely ninth, an equal distance behind Petersen and ahead of Brandon Paasch.
Then came race three, which was somewhat disastrous for Kelly, yet blissful for Uribe. The first attempt at the third race was red flagged after just three laps, with Kelly third and Uribe 10th.
Everything unraveled for Kelly in the first corner on the opening lap of the restart, with four other riders joining the championship points leader in the muddy grass on the outside of turn one: Fong, Scholtz, Petersen, and Smith were down and out, with only Kelly able to get his bike restarted. Dead last when he joined the pack, Kelly did a good job of moving forward on the mud-caked BMW to ultimately score a championship point for his efforts.
Uribe, however, was right in the middle of a fight for victory with PJ Jacobsen and Loris Baz. The battle went to the end of the 11-lap finale, with Baz besting Jacobsen by just .155 of a second, with Uribe a shadow third, .801 of a second from victory.
A bittersweet day for the OrangeCat Racing team but, overall, a successful weekend for the men in orange. With five races left to run (two at Circuit of The Americas and another tripleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park), Kelly leads Scholtz by 17 points, 250-233.
Jayson Uribe/No. 36
“I’m very proud to finish off a somewhat challenging weekend at VIR with a podium in race three. I was struggling with sector two all weekend long, which was reflected in my qualifying position for the races down in 11th. It definitely gave myself some work to do in the hot and humid weather, but I think we made the most of the situation at hand as a team. The last race was hectic with the red flag and crazy first lap on the restart, I just tried my best to put my head down and charge as hard as I could. Closed a two-second gap to the leader and had a good fight for the win. I decided to play it safe on the last lap and ended P3. Super thankful for all of the OrangeCat Racing crew for their hard work and support, as well as BMW for an incredible machine. I’m so happy to check this milestone off the list for 2026, I’m hungry for more and will put in the work to make it happen again.”
Sean Dylan Kelly/No. 40
“This weekend at VIR was a wild one. We knew it would be a challenging track for us, but we worked hard to maximize every time out and I’m proud of the work we did. We are bringing home another couple of podiums, and we continue leading the championship. The last race of the day was unfortunate, being taken out in the first corner, but I’m glad I was able to pick up the bike and bring it home in P15, getting one championship point. We head to COTA next, a track where I feel we can be strong. Thank you very much to my whole team, my crew, and BMW for all the hard work.”
Jeff Connors – Team Principal
"Three races in a weekend instead of our usual two, at a track we knew wouldn't come easy — then you add the heat and humidity we had all weekend, which was brutal on the riders and the equipment. I'm happy with what we came away with. Sean qualified second and backed it up with two podiums — Race 2 in particular was a real fight, holding off Richie Escalante for third when the bike wasn't giving him much to work with. The crew deserves a lot of credit for chipping away at it, because by Race 3 he had a bike he could win with. He led laps, and after the red flag and restart, he was taken out in a racing incident. To get back on and bring it home for a point says everything about him. In a championship this tight, that point matters.
On the other side of the garage, it was a difficult weekend for the 36 crew until it wasn't. Jayson ran ninth and ninth and then put together his best pace of the weekend in Race 3, right there with the leaders, for his first Superbike podium. I'm proud of him and that whole group — they've been working hard, and they needed that result. Now we carry that momentum to COTA, which should suit us better.
With five races to go and the team sitting first and sixth in points, we're testing this week to find a little more pace and put ourselves in position to win."
For full results of the seventh round of the 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, click Saturday (race one), Sunday (race two) and (race three).
The eighth round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship will be held at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, September 11-13.
—
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.