Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126837
...... ...... (A bove) John Kitsch (3) and Jason Langford (8) lead w inner Lowell Thompson (41 ) in 85cc Modified (14-15) action. (Below ) Mark Buscher (6 4 ) leads Dave Antonucci (2 4) in 125cc B Stock action. AMA Amateur and Youth National Championship Motocross Finals Bradshaw, Brundage & Thomson earn double titles at Loretta Lynn's By Gary Crider H U R RICA NE MILL'>. TN. AUG . 14-17 Damon Bradshaw, Frankie Brundage and Lowell Thomson conquered wet and dry track conditions to win double class crowns in the fourth running of the AMA Amateur and You th Nationa l Champio nship . , :\[X Finals at Loretta Lynn s D ude Ranch in cent ra l T ennesset' . Bad weather forced a shortten ing of the progra m - o n ly two morns pe r class were run inst ead of the usual th ree. Bradsha w p ut his Yamah a o n top of the 85cc (12-13) Stock and Modifi ed divi sions whi le the 250cc B Modified and Open B tit les fell to Kawasaki T eam Green 's Brundage. T homson tu rned in a perfect pa ir ~f scorecards to ,~ in th e 85c~ (14-15) Stock and "'-J odi Iied classes. I n-allv wanted to Will all four mot os since tl{is was m v last rare o n th e minis," said ThOln~on , who will ride a I 25cc mount in his next race. Women 's di vision anion kept the cro wd on its feet as Lisa Akin success- Iu llv defended her three-lime crown aga inst challeng er Mercedes Gonzales . In his first seaso n in the Seni or (over 30) divi sion , Robby Neeley rook the Narion al tit le and came hack to pla ce fourth in the Open A class. Six-member teams were chosen by each AMA district 10 com pe te for th e Dictri ct T eam Ch ampionship Cup. Headed by class winners And y Mich ner and Lisa Akin . Michi gan 's Distri ct 14 came o u t o n top. 18 points ahea d of ru nner -up Distr ict 4 of western New Yor k. No rt h and So u th Ca ro lina 's Distrier 29 finis hed in thi rd place. The WOO-plus entra nts in 26 classes qualified for the Nation al via Regional Cha mpionsh ip events . A rid er co uld qualify in as man y as four clas ses, but participa tio n at the Nat ional wa s lim ited to two classes. T he entry list showed representa tives from 40 sta tes and Canada. This year the Senior class was sepa ra ted int o ove r-Sf) and over-t tl age ratego ries, while the Pro-Am class was sp lit into 125cc and 25Occ/Open divi sions. Promoter Dave Coombs took a brea k fro m his chor es 10 co p fourth overall in the Senior 40 class. The course was in excellent shape until the th ird da y (Friday) of the fourday schedu le. when H urr icane Danny p ushed stormy weat her into the area. MOIOS contin ued to run on sched u le whi le 3.5 inches of ra in turned the trac k surface into slop. By the end of Frida y, a ll 26 classes had completed two motos each . Sat urday morning brought an end to the rain but several p arts of the course were under wa ter. AMA officia ls decided to cancel the third set of motos and de term ine championships based on the two mo tos already run. The Senior 30, Women and l 25cc Pro-Am classes were the o nly classes tha t didn't ru n in th e ra in. T he 25Occ/Open Pro-Am and Senior 40 classes had to run bot h motos under wet conditions. The remai ning 21 classes ran one dry and one wet mota. The openi ng Women's mota saw Californian Oonzales and Michigander Ak in trade the lead back and forth until Akin used a difficu ltj' um p 10 ta ke th e lead for good. Gonza es su ffered a flat rear tire on the last la p. and Su e Fish slipped by 10 fin ish second. In mota two. T eam Green /Hi Point/Scott-backed Gonzales opened up an ear ly lead wh ile Dynamic/HiPoin t/Scott-supported Akin was stu ck in traffic. By the end of th e second lap, Aki n had moved past Sandy Akerman into second position. Akin bega n closing the l 2-scco nd gap a ll Go nza les at the rat e of about two seconds per la p. Th eir last la p was a thr iller as Akin repea ted ly p u lled a lo ngside o nly 10 sec Gonza les hold her ground. Akin and Gonzales were side-by-side through the fin al sweeper, then Akin look over in the next turn 10 win with a perfect score. "This cha mp ionsh ip mean s more tha n ever before." sa id Akin, " because th is is the closest co m pcritio n J hav e ever had. :\fercedes is very good; we're about even." Im med iately fo llow ing the heartstopping fina l Wom en's moto, the 125cc Pro-Am class lined up for their second tim e o ut. MOIO-X Fox -backed Keith Turpin had won the first mot o over T eam G reen / D MC-backe d T vson Vohland. At th e sta rt of mot o two it was H on da -mou nt ed Sha un Kal a s leading the way whi le Vohland , Mik e J ones and T urpi n foll owed in close forma tion. The quartet q uic kly p u lled away from the pack, leaving Carroll Rich ardson a distant fifth . J on es and Vohland swapped second back and forth until J on es brok e free and took th e lead from Kala s. Vohla nd passed d Kala s and event ually wo rke by J on es to win and cla im the cha mpionsh ip via his 2-1 score over Turpin's 1-2. J ones came across the lin e for th ird, but his 40th in mot o o ne held him to 19th o verall. Top hopefuls Bader Manneh and Rodney Barr were en tered in the 125cc and 250cc/Open Pro-Am classes, but scratched due 10 injuries they sustained in Pon ca City the week before. Bradshaw ho leshot the openi ng 85cc Modified (12-13) mota a nd too k a wireto-wire win over a pressuring Junior J ackson. Yamaha/Hi -Point/Barr's Competition- sponsored Bradsh aw pull ed a not her holeshot in the rain-drenched final mota with T eam Gr een /Scott's J ackson in lO W to begin a mud-slinging debate o ver the lead . Bradshaw had the edge and won 10 lock up the title over J ackson and Brian Swink. In 85cc Stock (12-13) actio n. Swink and J ackson shared mota wins but Bradshaw 's 4-2 tallv earned him his second cro wn. Oregon resident J eff Dail ev came from behind in the first mot a 'a nd posted a 5-3 to claim runnerup honor s. Swink recovered from a crash in the first rnot o and copped third overall via a 9-1 score. First-mota winner Jackson DNF moto two due 10 a burnt clutch. Ida hoan Thomson and Joh n Kitsch of Michigan had close contests in bot h 85cc Stock (12-15) motos. In mota o ne. Kitsch followed T homson up through traffic and fin ished just four seconds behind winner Tho mson . In pouri ng rai n. T ho mso n grabbed the holeshot in mota two and led a ll the way wh ile Ans wer/ Sco tt's Kitsch kept pace to fin ish just six bike leng ths beh ind , posti ng a 2-2 10 the I-I of wi nner Thomson. Kitsch DNF the open ing 85cc Mod ified (14-15) mo ta . leavin g JT/ Pj l / DMC-backed Thomson to run awayn with both mota wi ns aboard his J ohn Mitch ell-tun ed Kawasaki. En route to the front , T homson had to pass ru nner-up finis her Den ny Stephenson of Nebraska both times. Hank Moree led the opening 85cc Stock (7-11) mota until the last lap, when he sustained a sligh t concussion in a spill avera jump nea r the scoring tower. Moree didn't start the second Stock mota. but went on ride the final Modified mota. Desp ite his inj ury. jT/ Sco tt-backed Moree won the mota and th e title via his 2-1 tally. while Buddy Antunez copped second with his 3-2 rides. First-mota winner jimmy Button DNF mor o two . With Moree out of the picture in the final Stock moto, Jeff Curry pos ted the win and took ho rn e the tit le wit h his 2- 1 sco re. Butto n fini shed second over all. Ca lifo rnian Sean Thorn ton topped the 65cc Stock divi sion via his pair of seco nd-place finis hes. T exa n Co lin Edwa rds won th e first moto but problems in the rain -soak ed mot a two held him to eighth overa ll. Georgian Ezra Lusk led the first 65,c Modified (i- I I) mow from stan to finish and had a 35-seco nd lead in the mudd,' final wh en he sta lk-d. Lusk salvagt'd ' third pl ace to net ru nn er-up honors behind Wt'St Virg inian Chris