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/126980
Kawasaki-mounted Jeff Matiasevich cla imed the Pro -Am Championship after winn ing both the 125 and 250cc Pro-Am classes. Buddy Antunez (16) leads J immy Button (1) whi le battling in .t he Junior M inicycle class. Button wound up the champ. AMAjHonda Amateur National Motocross Championships Childress, Mafiasevich shine at Loretta Lynn's By Davey Coombs HURRICANE MILLS, 'FN, AUG. 12-16 Kawasaki-mou nted Stevie Ch ildress; Hon da rider J imm y Button, and Kawasaki p ilots Bri an Swin k and J eff Matiasevich each took home a p air of class titles a t Loretta L ynn 's Dude Ranch. Childress and Button each played underdog . . hei to hea.vy f av?r~t~s In t err .re S pe ct.i ve d i v i s i o n s , w h i l e 12 the wins by Swink and Matiasevich came as no surprise to the thousands of fans who lined the fences at the five-day event. For the sixth year the AMA Nationals were held at the Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch, and the riders and their fami lies were again treated to optimum racing conditions and numerous off-track activities, including the 2nd Annual Gear/ Wiseco Volleyball Championships, . th e American Honda Chili CookOff, a remote ~o~trol car race, the Team Green Fishing Tourney, and the Triangle Training Cross Country Foot Race. For the Kawasaki-mounted Childress , for years a top-five minicycle also-ran, the transition to the big bikes this season has been a successful one. He took home the 250cc B Stock and Modified titles with six strong motos. I n the Modified opener, Childress put nearly a minute on the pack in a rain-soaked runaway after a late day cloudburst, then backed it up with a 3-1 from there to win the three heat title from Californians Craig Davis and Lance Barnett. Wh en Childress went to the line for th e first Stock class race, all eyes were on Yamaha's newest racing rage Damon Bradshaw. But when the card went sideways the YZ pilot caugh t too much traction too earl y" and rail ed th e back-drop gate, leaving Bradshaw in dead last . Childress and the rest of the pack motored away while Bradshaw rode like a demon to take seventh. A second moto first put th e South Carolinian right back in co nt ent io n, but Childress ran second and clinched th e upset win with a third moto third. Canadian KTM rider Todd Townend gave the Euro marquee its best finish in T ennesse e with a second, whil e North Carolina Kawasaki 'r ider Bobby Stoval took a 5-7-5 third. Bradshaw had another shot at a class title in the I25cc B Stock ranks, and after two rounds his scorecard read I-I. But in a climactic th ird moto Bradshaw collided over a camel jump with Kansas Kawasaki pilot jeff Emig, runner-up in both early heats, and went down in a heap. Bradshaw recovered for 10th while Emig had to have assistance leaving the track. jimmy Gaddis, 4-5 in the first couple of motos, ran third in the final behind Michigan's john Kitsch and Chris Neal to win the class crown. Bradshaw, Neal, Erick Hilton, and 'Kitsch rounded ou t the top five. Emig returned later to take the last moto of the 125cc B Modified class, .giving him the championship in that division. Gaddis won the first moto and a chance in the third, but a second round sixth meant second overall with Kitsch third. Michigan 's Greg Bowen has finally begun to show the consistency needed to match his impressive speed, and the Honda rider . tamed his sometimes wild riding style just enough to win the 125cc A Cham- . pionship. Bowen shared moto wins with California's Chris Young and Denny Stephenson, a double Schoolboy winner last year. But second and third in the fina l tally behind Bowen read Indiana's Mike LaRocco and Ohio fast guy Dale Spangler, winner of the five kilometer cross co unt ry race on Monday. LaRocco and Stephenson returned la ter to dice it out with Bowen in the 250cc A clas s, and it was LaRocco 's steady 1-2-2 count that meant the title. Stephenson was a 4-1-1 runnerup, while Bowen's third moto folly allowed Texan jason Langford the National Number Three. Robbie Taylor, fourth in the 250cc A ranks, ran even faster in the Open A class, sweeping the . early motos then following defendi ng champ Mike Stahlman home in the final stanza for the crown. Massachuseu's Keit h johnson split the champ and Stahlman in the overall results. Arizona's Button, another rising star from the SoCal mini scene , came into the Dude Ranch a slight second choice to Suzuki pi lot Buddy Antunez, but a steady strategy by the Honda pi lot paid off with a pair of titles in 85cc 12-13 racing. Antunez racked up two moto wins in each class , but a crushed wheel stopped him in the third Stock moto while a second round fifth meant the .differen cein Modified racing. Colin Edwards and Ohio's Hayden Richards ran 2-3 in the Stockers,