MOTOCROSS
AMA AMATEUR NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP AT LORETTA
JULY 31-AUGUST 4, 2018
LORETTA LYNN RANCH / HURRICANE MILLS, TENNESSEE
P114
the last moto, but his 10th in the
opener ruined his bid for another
title. DiFrancesco ran second,
which was enough to take the
overall ahead of Washington's
Preston Boespflug (5-4-3).
The going was a bit easier in
the 85cc (9-12) class for Ryder
D. as he went 1-1-3 to top the
7-2-1 of Idaho Kawasaki rider
Chance Hymas. Third-place
went to North Carolina KTM rider
Daxton Bennick, who is build-
ing quite a resume for himself.
Bennick won all three 85cc (9-11)
motos to earn his third career
title at the Ranch, bettering the
2-3-4 of Georgia Suzuki rider
Casey Cochran.
The 65cc (7-11) title went to
Bennick's North Carolina neigh-
bor and friend Haiden "Dan-
gerboy" Deegan, who swept all
three titles. Deegan, a native of
DiFrancesco continuing building
his case to be ranked as one
of the all-time fastest minicycle
riders by adding two more titles
to his career haul of six at Loretta
Lynn's, with several years to
go. (Current Monster Energy/
Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Adam
Cianciarulo has the most with 11
minicycle titles.) Ryder D. made
it hard for himself in the first
Mini Sr. 1 (12-13) moto when he
crashed and struggled to reach
seventh at the checkered flag.
But then first-moto winner Myles
Gilmore of Australia only made it
up to 11th after his own mistake,
and DiFrancesco was back in
business with a moto win. The
aforementioned Braswell won
the first two national titles of his
amateur career.
In Supermini 1 (12-15) Thrasher
was followed in all three motos
by California KTM rider Max
Vohland (son of former AMA 125
Pro Motocross, AMA 125 Super-
cross and FIM Grand Prix winner
Tallon Vohland) and fast Kansas
kid Kaeden Amerine. Vohland
followed Thrasher in all three Su-
permini 2 (13-16) motos as well,
though third place in this class
went to Louisiana's Matt LeBlanc.
Florida's Caden Braswell used
1-1-2 moto scores to take the Mini
Sr. 2 (12-14) title from Oklahoma's
Jackson Craig, who posted 2-2-1
moto finishes.
Kawasaki Team Green's Ryder
(Left) Seth Dennis was
the 51cc (7-8) Limited
runner up last year.
This time he grabbed
the number 1 plate
with 2-1-1 moto scores.
(Right) Tennessee's
own Nate Thrasher
was the only rider to
go undefeated and win
all six motos on his
way to both Supermini
National titles.
