For Bobby Fong, all it took was the right opportunity at the right time.
Fong began the 2025 season on board the Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing, securing the type of ride he waited so many years to secure.
“Man, I’ve been fighting for this damn position my whole, entire life — and I’ve been short each year to get a factory ride, so I’m going to try and make the best of it for as long as I can,” Bobby Fong told NBC Sports before the start of the MotoAmerica Superbike season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey.
Then, he went out and scored a commanding victory in the first of three races in the weekend. That certainly qualifies as making the best of it.
Setting Up for Success
Fong finished second in the first race with his current team, but momentum was hard to sustain. He failed to podium in the next two races and then rattled off three more second-place finishes. That kept the championship leaders in sight. After Round 3 at Road America, Fong was only 15 points behind Josh Herrin, who was two races into what would become a five-race winning streak.
Fong’s season took a turn at The Ridge Motorsports Park. He finished fourth in the first race of a double header. Herrin won again and stretched his advantage. Race 2 was worse; Fong finished eighth.
“The season overall? I feel like it’s been really good,” Fong said. “I made a few mistakes at the beginning of the season and I feel like we’ve really cleaned it up in the middle, until the end.”
Fong’s characterization of the next three rounds were an understatement. Fong was back in his now-familiar position of second in the first race of a tripleheader at Laguna Seca, Weathertech Raceway in Monterey, California. He won the next two races.
“It was unreal,” Fong said. “For one, it was my first win of the season and it was at my home track, which was really cool because I had a lot of family and friends. And especially that track. I’m not a big fan of that track. Notoriously, I’ve had a lot of bad luck at that track for whatever reason. But it was really cool to get it done in front of my home crowd.”
Fong swept the next round at Virginia International Raceway and then added one more in the first race at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course. In motorsports, anything can happen to derail one’s best efforts, however.
“I don’t really get my hopes up too much in this sport, because you can go from hero to zero within the blink of an eye,” Fong said. “So I was really taking it day-by-day. Yes, I had confidence but there’s so much stuff that can happen — and we race so many fast guys. In this sport, you just never know.
“How I lost the win streak, it was just a racing incident with another racer and I blew off track and that ended it right there. The simplest thing can ruin your day. I really didn’t get too confident; I knew it could be over pretty fast because this sport is weird like that.”
Nothing changed between The Ridge and Monterey, other than some added chemistry with the team and more time on the bike.
Happily for Fong, his appearance on the podium was another thing that did not change. Since finishing second in the first race at Monterey, he’s been a fixture there in every race of every round, slowly amassing points along the way and assuming the points lead after Mid-Ohio.
When is it Enough?
But it’s never enough.
“Going into the last round, I definitely don’t like this position: having three races this weekend and kind of winner-take-all,” Fong said. “But it’s good for the fans. It’s good for the sport. It’s going to be a wild weekend.”
Fong added five points to his lead on Saturday in New Jersey. That raised the bar for his competitors as Fong needs only to finish second or better in the two Sunday races. In the most recent round, the three championship contenders, Fong, Cameron Beaubier, and Herrin, swept the podium. They did so again on Friday, so Fong can only be thinking about winning.
“There are so many points to grab,” Fong said. “There is so much stuff that can happen, but it will be a really good feeling if we pull it off. These past three rounds — you try not to think about the championship — but these past three rounds, it’s either first, second, or third [for the three contenders]. It’s all about who is going to maximize the points each weekend. I try to block all the outside noise out, but it’s still there.
“Win or lose — obviously we want to win — but we have to know we put our best efforts forward. I can’t be ashamed if I do lose. It’s not from a lack of trying. We’re all going to give it 100 percent.”
