2023 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship at barber motorsports park

Colorado teenager Kreece Elliott raced to his first top-ten result of the season in the latest round of the 2023 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, his third points-scoring ride of the year. 

Buoyed from his double points finish at Road Atlanta a few weeks earlier Kreece was in confident mood from Friday’s opening Free Practice session which saw him running inside the top six at the half way point. 

Improving his lap time in Q1 and then again in Q2 the #47 Kawasaki rider was locked in a multi rider fight for the top ten in Saturday’s opening race before a technical issue forced his retirement. Unfettered he went even faster in Sunday morning’s warm up before, with just minutes left in the session, he was taken out by a fellow competitor. Great work by the team saw the bike repairs and despite being battered and bruised Kreece lined up on the grid for the second race of the weekend – and what a race it was. An incredible opening lap saw him gain several positions before he slotted into the lead group with a lap time over a second faster than he had ever achieved at the 2.38-mile circuit. Running as high as eighth he eventually finished a more than respectable tenth after a nail biting final two laps. 

The result underlines the step made by the sixteen-year-old over the winter and with round three at Road America in a little over a fortnight Kreece is keen to keep the momentum going. 

He also announced on the MotoAmerica Live+ broadcast that he has a merch range coming soon. Further information will be published in due course. 

Kreece Elliott:“Race one didn’t go to plan. From the start I had issues and as the race went on, they got worse. I tried my best to keep going but, in the end, I decided to pull off to prevent any major issue with the bike and out of safety for me and the other riders. Race two went really well. I got a great start and positioned myself on the outside for turn one. I fought the whole race and was super happy with how I was riding and how I attacked straight away when I got passed. I finished in the top ten and the result was like a mini victory, especially when you consider how the weekend went. I also achieved a personal best lap time by almost a second and showed that we have the speed to fight close to the front. I am really motivated for the next round, and I want to thank everyone around me that believes in me and is supporting me.”