MotoAmerica Twins : Barber Twins Cup finale full-field rundown.

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With the championship already locked up by Robem Engineering’s Kaleb DeKeyrel, let’s take a look at the full field rundown for the final race of the 2021 Twins Cup season.

In dry conditions, any of the following 10 fast guys could win the finale at Barber this weekend.  If it rains, things could get very interesting.  I hope the race is dry and they put on a show as good, or better, than the Jersey races were.  This is my top-10 pick (all lists below are in numerical race-number order only, since predicting actual finishing order is basically impossible, and foolish, with the talent in this field):

18 Jackson Blackmon – needs to ride to his ability and exploit that R7 power, his bike is very fast.
28 Cory Ventura – an impressive debut at Jersey, but certainly not unexpected. He will be fast at Barber.
49 Hayden Schultz – still working out some kinks out his new R7, but always gives it 100%.
51 Kaleb De Keyrel – wrapped up the championship, now he can have some fun and race hard.
58 Maxwell Toth – one of the best up-and-comers, in my opinion. Keep an eye on Max Toth.
70 Tommaso Marcon – the Italian was impressive at Jersey. Barber may be a little bit tougher but he’ll be fast.
79 Teagg Hobbs – mysterious engine problems at Jersey should be resolved. Teagg will be out for redemption.
128 Chris Parrish – has tons and tons of laps around Barber. Expect the “old man” to give the kids hell.
516 Anthony Mazziotto – one of the best riders in the country. Mazz’s 2nd place at NJMP will fuel the fire at Barber.
717 Jody Barry – a natural talent who just needs a problem-free weekend to showcase his true potential.

The next 10 riders on my list all have the potential to finish in the top-10, but the field is stacked with talent and even a top-20 finish will require a slew of personal-best lap times for much of the race.  I expect that the racing will be fierce back in the mid-pack and the MotoAmerica camera’s won’t catch any of it.  

16 Trevor Standish – he goes well at Barber, especially in the rain. In a rain race, I put Trevor in the top-5.
37 Liam MacDonald – consistency is not Liam’s friend. Fast, with potential, but has hit the ground a lot.
52 John Knowles – consistency is Knowles middle name. 10th-15th would be my prediction.
136 Corey Hart – Corey took a MotoAmerica break, but is back, close to home, and will put in some good laps.
154 Jared Trees – I may be underestimating Trees (and some others). Potential top-10 finisher, perhaps.
219 Ethan Cook – he’s put in some good rides this year and I expect no less at Barber.
229 Darren James – normally I’d put Darren James near the top-10, but 2021 has not been easy for James.
270 Ryne Snooks – Snooks is having a pretty good year riding for Bartcon. Might could use some more hp?
621 Chris Bays – Bays podiumed in his debut Twins Cup race. Trying to duplicate that result has been tough!!!
626 Brian Mullins – This is “Tuna”, for those that don’t know. Hard to predict a Tuna result, but he has the skills.

I may hurt some feelings with the following picks, but just like any of my 11th-20th picks could finish top-10, these next 8 racers could certainly move up into the top-20.  

200 Joe Melendez – from nearby south GA. Melendez could and should go well at Barber.  We’ll see.
204 Adam Faussett – Faussett has been racing with Calishine team this year.  He’s getting better and better.
224 Zach Thomas – I met Zack at PittRace and was impressed by his improvement over the weekend.
310 Rodney Vest – made the mid-season switch from SV650 to FZ07.  Lap times have definitely improved.
532 Carl Price – ran personal-best lap times at PittRace. I expect the same at Barber. Loves the rain…what a nut!!!
545 Chandler Slagle – We haven’t seen Slagle on the grid in a long time.  We’ll see how it goes.
787 Michael Henao – Henao got some endurance racing in recently. The extra laps should prove beneficial.
934 Ryan Smith – of CarbonSmith-fame. I think this is Ryan’s Twins Cup debut and I’m clueless on this prediction.

Now to the toughest group to predict the outcome.  These guys are riding as hard as they can just trying to make the qualifying cutoff and get in the show.  The guys above in the top-10 list keep breaking Twins Cup track records at every track this year, making the qualifying cutoff even harder for the tail-enders.  That’s Pro racing though.  On top of that, I think the track-saturation grid-size limit will be 36 bikes at Barber.  There are 39 entries, so 3 riders will automatically not make the show, regardless of their lap time.  Let’s look at guys who need to push themselves beyond their comfort zone to make the grid:

23 Gino Angella – needs to quit over-thinking and just ride harder, not as easy as it sounds though.
75 Cliff Ramsdell – won’t be at this round, unfortunately, so we’re really down to 38 entries already.
150 Robert Bettencourt – a good kid, will need to wick it up a bit more. Bettencourt may not belong in this list.
169 William Pedro – I hate to be the bad guy here, but Billy Pedro has no chance of making the qualifying cutoff.
227 Edwin Cosme – went well at NJMP after switching to an FZ07. Cosme has been on the bubble a lot this year.
262 Michael Martin – could surprise me since I don’t now this Michael Martin.  Southeast WERA racer, I believe.
323 Eric Reed – I’ve never seen Eric Reed not smiling, but he’ll need to drop some time and bring lots of beer!!!
428 Calvin Crosslin – CPC is not getting any younger and could struggle to qualify.  Hopefully Calvin has fun.
446 Yaunce Long – may have learned from PittRace how tough the class is.  Needs Ryan Carson to crew chief.
675 Shannon Deane – I’m not familiar with this Californian. I apologize if Deane is a ripper and wish him well.
996 Greg Reisinger – Reisinger made the cutoff at PittRace but I would guess Greg’s praying for rain all weekend!!!



Just my opinion.  Not on the list, unfortunately, is Sam Wiest.  Boooooo.  Nor Jerry Reeves, Tyler Freeman, Curtis Murray, Kris Turner, Heather Trees, Justin Filice, Chris Speights, Cassidy Heiser, etc, etc.

I’m on my way to Barber to watch the race in person.  Stop by the Robem Engineering tent if you want to discuss my ridiculous predictions or check out the championship winning Aprilia RS660.

-Russell Masecar

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