Meet your Instructors

Nick Ienatsch

Nick Ienatsch

Chief Instructor, CEO

Nick’s passion for exact riding instruction comes from his own experience: as a young motojournalist he saw that championship-winning racers approached the sport in a technical way. As Nick started racing, he was helped by timely advice from racers who had “been there, done that”; he founded the Yamaha Champions Riding School in 2008 after 12 years with the Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School. His wall holds AMA #1 plates and he leads the school from the seat of a bike with two main priorities: Safety and Customer Service.

Chris Peris

Chris Peris

Lead Instructor, President

Chris Peris came to the Freddie Spencer School at 14 years old and has never left. Showing that persistence always pays off, Chris is now the company president. As a professional racer, Chris had success in World Supersport, AMA Supersport, AMA Superbike, and AMA Superstock with multiple wins and podiums. Chris is currently a 6-time WERA Endurance Champion with the Army of Darkness Endurance team on a Yamaha YZF-R1. Chris lives in Tucson, AZ with his wife and three kids.

Kyle Wyman

Kyle Wyman

Lead Instructor

Kyle Wyman is a current MotoAmerica Superbike rider/team owner and Harley-Davidson Factory rider in the King of the Baggers championship. Wyman is the 2019 Daytona 200 winner with 7 national road race victories in various classes, and multiple podium finishes in MotoAmerica Superbike. The Rochester, N.Y. native now hails from Tucson, Arizona to be closer to the YCRS winter home Inde Motorsports Ranch, where he is a member. Kyle is the current MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Champion.

Cody Wyman

Cody Wyman

Lead Instructor

Cody is a professional motorcycle racer and motorsports instructor. Cody is currently racing in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup series. Although he prefers working with motorcycles, he has also worked with multiple car manufacturers coaching, stunt driving, and demonstrating features and other vehicle dynamics.

Eziah Davis

Eziah Davis

Senior Instructor

Eziah Davis was born to ride a motorcycle. Eziah started riding at the tender age of three and started road racing at twelve years old. Eziah won the 2018 N2/WERA Middleweight Endurance Championship and has been on the podium in MotoAmerica Junior Cup. “EZ”has worked for multiple professional race teams, including the 2021 Daytona 200 winning team. Eziah is currently traveling the country, living out of a suitcase working year-round around teaching, racing, wrenching, riding, and working with motorcycles.

Michael Henao

Michael Henao

Senior Instructor

Michael “Hey Now!” Henao  is the ultimate free spirit. Traveling the globe and riding motorcycle exceptionally well, Michael is a current MotoAmerica Twins Cup rider and he owns the 750cc Superbike Lap Record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. He is also a Baja 1000 finisher. When Michael is not racing, he runs our ChampMini Program from his home in Colorado.

Louis Ferrari

Louis Ferrari

Senior Instructor

10+ years in the motorcycling educational industry, former AMA/Motoamerica mechanic and crew chief for superbike and super sport. Current expert level road racer. When not teaching for champ school Louis works in the finance industry in Denver, Colorado.

Mark Schellinger

Mark Schellinger

Senior Instructor

Mark has been a core part of the YCRS senior instructor team for more than a decade. Not only is Mark a    professional instructor with motorcycles but is also a professional driving instructor in cars. Mark travels the world training law enforcement and our military elite on the finer points of driving technique.

Ben Walters

Ben Walters

Senior Instructor

Ben Walters has been racing anything he can get his hands on since he was three years old. Ben started road racing 125’s at 14 years old and went on to win multiple sprint and endurance championships with WERA, CCS, and AMA Pro. Ben is also a professional flat-track and off-road enduro racer. Ben is currently a 6-time national endurance champion with Army of Darkness on a Yamaha YZF-R1. Ben lives outside of Richmond, VA with his wife and two children.

Don Williams

Don Williams

Operations, Demo Program Manager, Senior Instructor, Champ Military Liaison, and Get er' Done Specialist.

Don “goat” Williams is a retired Marine Major who came into the YCRS program during the development of real-world speed motorcycle training for the Marine Corps, where he was the lead active duty instructor for that curriculum. Don currently runs the Demo Program in Washington and helps with operations. Don is an expert-level road racer with multiple class championships in Southern California and Washington State.

Robert Cichielo

Robert Cichielo

Senior Instructor

Rob is an inventor, technology leader and holds many patents in the fields of encryption and telecommunications. Rob is also a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast and is an owner/principal of N2 Track Days, N2 Racing, and has revitalized endurance road racing in America by creating the N2/WERA National Endurance Series by Dunlop. N2 is the largest track day organization in America and founded on the core principles taught at YCRS. Rob lives in Hunterdon, New Jersey, with his wife and three boys.

Scott Rybarik

Scott Rybarik

Senior Instructor

Scott is an expert level road racer who, in addition to a strong interest in coaching and teaching, holds a Masters Degree in Education.  With 20 years experience on track, and leading organizations that promote motorcycling, he brings enthusiasm to the sport for riders of all levels.  Away from ChampSchool he is a professional desk wrangler who excels at contract negotiation.  Scott lives in Minnesota with his patient wife and their twin boys, who are up and coming road racers.

Josh Siegel

Josh Siegel

Majority Shareholder, Senior Instructor

In addition to being owner and CEO to multiple companies, Josh is also a senior instructor at YCRS and major shareholder. His contributions and guidance were responsible for the re-start of YCRS in 2014. Josh is an expert level road racer with a Formula 40 National Championship.

Brian Smith

Brian Smith

Senior Instructor

Like so many of us, Brian enjoys bikes from the saddle and in the garage. This builder and fabricator has been riding for over 40 years, with most of those miles on bikes considerably “not stock”. He dabbled in roadracing in his early 20s but quit racing to raise a family and help grow his family-owned business. After decades of street riding, Brian attended YCRS, began instructing for us, and rekindled his roadracing career with AHRMA on a pair of significantly-upgraded Ducatis; wins and podium finishes were the result. This guy likes four wheels too and was the Porsche Club of America chief driving instructor for a decade.

Roger Hayden

Roger Hayden

Superstar Instructor

Roger is the youngest of the world-famous Hayden brothers and an extremely accomplished racer. Roger has raced MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Superbike, MotoAmerica Supebike, American Flat Track, and has a #1 Plate in AMA Supersport. Roger recently retired from professional racing and currently serves as an on-air personality for the MotoAmerica Series. Roger lives in Owensboro, KY with his wife a couple hundred cats.

Chip Spalding

Chip Spalding

Business Development Manager, Instructor

Chip is a 20+ year motorcycle industry professional, former MotoAmerica Superbike team manager, and expert level road racer. In addition to working with ChampSchool, Chip also works with N2 Track Days, Millennium Technologies, and KWS Motorsports for marketing and sales strategies though his company Burning Star IV Marketing Services. Chip lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and two young children.

Steven Roth

Steven Roth

Operations, Demo Program Manager, Instructor

Steven has grown up in the Motorcycle Racing paddock. In addition to working with Champ School he also works with Dunlop Motorcycle Tires, WERA, N2 tracks days, and is an active expert level racer himself. Steven is from Lancaster Pa.

Keith Culver

Keith Culver

Instructor, COO, CFO, Janitor, Travel Agent, Truck Driver, Mechanic

Keith is a former expert level road racer, avid street rider, and lifelong dirt bike rider and racer.  Keith helped run a successful trackday program and coached kids moving up from minis through amateur racing and into the professional ranks when he met Josh Siegel.  In 2014 Keith and Josh teamed up to bring the Yamaha Champions Riding School to New Jersey MotorSports Park where it began its second evolution and now operates in ten states.  Keith currently resides in Paso Robles, CA with his wife Tischa and has one son, Erik – 25 who is a motorcycle technician.

Steve Ritchey

Steve Ritchey

Instructor

Steve is a military veteran and 25+ year Police Motorcycle Training Instructor formerly with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.  In addition to working with ChampSchool, Steve is also a State Certified Motorcycle Safety Program Instructor and Riding Academy Manager for one of the Harley-Davidson dealerships in Southern Nevada.  Steve lives in Las Vegas with his daughter.

AJ Ciampa

AJ Ciampa

3C Coordinator, Instructor

Coaching and instructing since 2015.  Lead instructor for the Advanced Training Program (ATP) with N2 Track Days. USMCA Certified Coach.  Owner/operator of GP Coach, providing premier performance riding coaching on the East coast.  Works in the IT industry when not on two wheels.  Based out of Manchester, MD.

Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson

ChampMilitary Liaison, Instructor

Mark is a retired major in the USMC where he worked as a traffic safety expert. He became involved with YCRS in 2014 when he initiated a new motorcycle safety training program for the USMC. In addition to working with ChampSchool, Mark also instructs with N2 Track Days, and Military Track Days at Jennings GP. Mark recently purchased a Toyhauler and spends most of his time on the road.

Emerson Amaya

Emerson Amaya

Instructor

Emerson lives motorcycles all day, every day. Emerson owns BobbleHeadMoto which prepares and rents race bikes as well as sells racing part. Emerson also helps run the N2 MotoAmerica Race team with his wife Shiloh who is the crew chief. Emerson currently races in the N2/WERA national endurance series and MotoAmerica 1000 SSKT series.

Elena Meyers

Elena Meyers

Instructor

Elena’s motorcycle racing career spans over 13 years, with her most notable accomplishments being the only woman to win an AMA Professional Roadrace at age 16, the only woman to win a professional race at Daytona International Speedway at age 18, and a top-5 finish in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at age 21. Since retiring from racing in 2015, she has worked for McGraw Powersports as Operations Manager. She currently resides in Athens, Alabama with her husband, Dean, and two young children, Harlow and Harrison.

Limore Shur

Limore Shur

CMO, Partner

Limore has the rare quality of a disruptive dreamer melded with remarkable business acumen. His passion for directing, design plus street and track riding comes through in our marketing. In addition to working with ChampSchool, Limore owns an ad agency www.modop.com and privately consults with small brands.. Limore lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and three young children.

Alex Hatfield

Alex Hatfield

Instructor, General Manager

As a former Army sniper, Alex brings a unique perspective on the concepts of “degree of application” and “brilliance in the basics” that translates perfectly into the world of motorcycles. An expert-level road racer, Alex is also the Lead Instructor for the Utah Sport Bike Association.