Cameron Beaubier swept the podium in the final round of the 2026 MotoAmerica Superbike series and captured his sixth championship in the 11-year history of the sanctioning body. He now has more than half the trophies this series offered, but the road to the 2025 title was filled with twists and turns that resembled the tracks on which he rides.
Beaubier’s first title came during the inaugural season of 2015. He then captured four of the next five, allowing only Tony Elias to best him in 2017.
“Looking back over the last five years, it’s been just a big whirlwind,” Beaubier told NBC Sports prior to the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey. “I rode for Yamaha for a lot of years and we ticked off a lot of championships. It wasn’t easy by any means, but we were just in the rhythm of things. Fast forward five years, and I’ve gone five years without a championship. A lot’s happened since then.”
A Lot Has Happened, Indeed
Beaubier began the 2025 season with three wins and a second-place finish in the first four races. And then, as suddenly as his momentum was established, he stumbled, failing to score a victory in the next 10 and earning minimal points in at least one race in each of four rounds.
The Mid-Ohio weekend was pivotal. Beaubier finished outside the top five in Race 1 and scored only 10 points. He won the second race and, just like that, was back in contention for the championship.
‘I started out the year really strong and then we went into kind of a low moment when we were struggling a little bit with the bike setup,” Beaubier said. “We were struggling with rear tire life and rear grip quite a bit compared to just putting the power to the ground and getting the tire to last. We have made a couple of changes and we’re in a better spot than we were in the middle of the season and also last season going into the last round.”
Beaubier’s Mid-Ohio win began a streak of six consecutive races second or better.
“It kind of seems like [a momentum base season],” Beaubier said. “I had some good momentum, some good confidence at the beginning of the season, then we started to struggle in the middle part of the season and Josh [Herrin] took off and won a bunch of races. Bob [Fong] took off and won a bunch of races. Obviously, if I had it my way, I’d just win all the races and ride off into the sunset with the championship, but it doesn’t work like that and I feel it’s really good for the series to have us three having our moments and all three of us coming together at the last round for a good showdown.”
The five years between Beaubier’s Superbike championships tested his reserve. He traveled abroad to try his luck in the MXGP series in 2021 and 2022, and while his skill was honed by the competition of that field, he struggled to find a place among the leaders. Beaubier finished 15th in 2021 and was 17th in 2022.
When he returned to MotoAmerica in 2023, Beaubier immediately won the season opener and finished second in Atlanta. In total, he won five times that season, but a crash eliminated him with three rounds remaining. Another accident last year literally kept him from putting his best foot forward.
“I would say the last two years have been a little bit of a lost opportunity,” Beaubier said. “In ’23, I had that big crash that took me out of the season, and then last year I had a big crash at Road America, broke my heel and had to miss some races, came back, and basically rode the last half of the year hurt. We did the best we could, but came up short. But that’s just part of my story.”
For now, the story is one with the happiest of endings. The 2025 championship will go down perhaps the most competitive in series’ history with three riders entering the finale with a shot at the title. Not only three riders, but three different manufacturers.
“It’s been a long time since there were three manufacturers this close in points at the end of the season,” Beaubier said. “It’s really good for the show and really good for MotoAmerica. All of our bikes have different strengths. My bike (the BMW) is really fast in a straight line. The Yamaha (of Bobby Fong) is known for how well it turns and handles and (Josh Herrin’s) Ducati is a good blend of both.”
That Cinderella effect played out perfectly and Beaubier found the weekend was ‘just right.’ Fong won the first race on Saturday, extending his points lead to 13 points. Herrin won the first of two races on Sunday to keep his championship hopes alive.
That race proved to be a watershed. Fong crashed out of second-place in Race 2. Beaubier grabbed the points’ lead and needed to finish third or better in the finale.
“You’re walking a fine line,” Beaubier said. “You have to win some races and you have to stay on the bike. It’s a simple as that.”