Robert Carroll became passionate about riding bikes when he was 3 years old.
“My grandpa got me a Honda CRF50 (four-stroke engine) at the time and I was hooked the second I got on the bike,” he said. “I couldn’t even put a foot on the ground because it was so tall. He had to hold the tail section until I started moving, and then to get off he would tell me to just slow down and hop off and let the bike fall on the ground.”
Now 23 years old, the Carmel resident is ready to enter West End Racing Association’s Sportsman Series National Championships in the Expert class in 2024.
Leading up to racing sport bikes, Carroll started racing at age 20 on track days down at Putnam Park in Greencastle. Track days are categorized into groups by speed or experience in sessions.
“I did track days for a year-and-a-half and caught on to the techniques and speed very quickly,” said Carroll, who was homeschooled and graduated high school in 2018. “I then went to race schools like California Superbike School and Yamaha Champ School to better my skills and add more knowledge to my tool belt. After I had tons of seat time, I did finally register to race my first season with West End Racing Association road racing in 2022.”
Carroll won the WERA Sportsman Series National Championships for both C Superbike and C Superstock Novice classes this year. Carroll had finished first in the North Central Region (Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania), with 18 victories and two second-place finishes in the Novice class. That qualified him to enter the Expert class.
“I was very pleased that I was able to reel in half of the Expert grid and overtake them all and finish ahead of them in the overall race,” he said. “Next year my goals are to try and make the top three as I know there are tons of very skilled riders in the Expert grids.”
He finished the season competing in the Grand National Finals in Birmingham, Ala.
“My best result, aside from finishing first in nearly every race, was finishing in the top 10 on the grid overall with Expert racers,” he said. “They have us spaced out at the start of the race so that Novice racers don’t interfere with the Experts at the start of races. Sometimes we have a two-wave start where the Experts will start and then a few seconds after they clear turn one on the track they give us the green flag. It gives a good amount of space for us so nothing can happen.”
His next goal is to race MotoAmerica, which promotes the American Motorcycle Association Superbike Series.
“The keys to making it to MotoAmerica is not only getting 100 Expert points, but it takes talent, a good bike, a team, and, of course, funding,” he said. “A lot of people try to race MotoAmerica just to say they did it, I, however, would love to make it to the top and then chase my next goal of racing overseas in the Isle of Man TT (in May and June).”
Carroll works three jobs to fund his racing and also receives funding from his parents. His race weekends are usually four days, with Thursday being a travel day, practice on Friday and racing on Saturday and Sunday.
