TURNER RACING’S 2020 season started back in January with one rider and quickly by the End of February developed into a three»rider team. Most new teams start with one or maybe two but three, no way. We started off with the mindset of just getting our feet wet for a year and developing for the 2021 season. At the first race in Daytona that is exactly what we had, one rider Cameron Smith.
Fortunately for us the pandemic Covid-19 had just hit and at the last minute and already in Daytona the race was cancelled, Fortunately, is not the word most would use in this regard, but it truly was. While in Daytona we met an outstanding young rider named Cole Zabala and after spending some time with him quickly added him to our team. With the racing season on hold we quickly went to work developing and strengthening our team.
Part of building a team is track testing our bikes to ensure we are getting the most out of our riders and motorcycles. At our first track test we met an outstanding young man getting ready for his first season as a pro. This young gun was none other than Trevor Brunner the 2019 Nicky Hayden horizon winner. This honor is given to the best amateur in each season that shows the most talent to become a successful pro. After watching just a few laps we knew we had to have this kids’ talents on our team. We signed him on the spot. TURNER RACING line up for the 2020 season was set Cameron Smith, Cole Zabala, and Trevor Brunner.
After the delayed season started TURNER RACING quickly became a force in the sport against the premiere factory sponsored teams of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and KTM. We competed the whole season as a privateer team with no manufacture help and with a lot of hard work and dedication had a record year for our first attempt at professional motorcycle racing.
Highlights include:
Out of 18 races and 32 riders for each race we made all but 3 main events where only 16 riders out of the 32 qualify for the main event of each race. 10 top-tens, 5 top fives, a 2nd and a 3’d and one 1st Cole Zabala finished with 2 podium finishes a second place and third place. Trevor Brunner had first place win and won American Flat Track rookie of the
year.
