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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127274
GMOTOCROSS 9th Annual AMA/Honda Amateur National Motocross Championship_Fl_'D_als ~ "."...-----~ -------. Open B/C champ Todd Gardner (35) leads Billy DePriest (16), Paul Bishop (II ) and Scott Slay (14) into the first tum, Patrick Slate (47) and Brett Melton (41) lead I25cc Schoolboy w}nner Timmy Ferry (7), who earn ed a trip to Japan, Hughes, Swink dominateat Loretta L Dude Ranch ynn's By Davey Coombs HURRICANE MILLS, TN, JULY 3G-AUG. 4 a liforn ia 's R yan Hu gh es and Mich igan's Brian Swink eac h captured a pair of Expert class Nat ional titles at th e AMAlHonda Amate ur Nationa l Motorcross Fin als at the Lore tta Lyn n 's Dude Ranch . The two T eam Green rid ers spent almost the entire five-day racing week C at th e top of the 125 and 250cc A Stock and Modified classes. Hugh es winn in g four of six Mod ified mot os whi le Swink pi cked up five moto wins . T he top minicyclist was Georgia 's Ezra L us k, a 14-year-o ld Suzuki ri de r backed by Pjl , Bell , Sco tt and H iPoint. Lusk ra n awa y with the win in every 85cc (14-15) class moto he entered on his way to his thi rd and fourth AMA Amateur title. In all , 27 di fferent class cha mpions were crowned ou t of a field of approximately 1200 entires, Among them were five double-class winners. Besides Swink, H ugh es and Lu sk, Boyesen / CMC Racin g/Hondaline/P3 Racin gbacked T im my Ferry ra n away from everyone in the I25ccSc hoo iboy classes whi le Ohio 's Hayden Richards p icked up two titl es in 125cc B Stock and Modified racin g. Th e Loretta L ynn 's even t ha s beco me the bi ggest race in AMA amateur competitio n. This year nearl y 6000 riders a ttemp ted to qual ify for the fina ls throug h the area and region al qualifying forma l. On ce in T ennessee, the finalists were treated to a week of dawn-to-dus k racin g and then fam ilytype eveni ng activities with tourna- , merits in volleyball, softball, tug-owar , horseshoe pitching , chi li cook ing, and remo te con trol car raci ng. Th e fir st divisio n to leave the starting gate for a trio of 2G-mi nu te motos was the Wome n's class. Defending champ ion Mercedes Go nzalez once again proved to be the fastest woman on the planet, putting together three strong wi ns on her Team Green/ AXO/Scon-backed KX125. It was th e fourth title of Gonzalez's illustrious career , one short of the Women 's record of five set in '88 by Lisa Akin-Wagner. Even with her three-heat sweep, Gonzalez was forced to share the spotlight with Massachusetts' Cynthia Col e, who earne d the crowd 's respect by p us h ing a Suzuki RM80 into th e ru nner-up spot in all th ree motos for second overall. Michigan 's Debra Mon was thi rd across th e line in each moto, H ug hes' first time ou t on the track might have been his most impressive effort of the week. At the end of th e first lap in 125cc A Modif ied raci ng th e CTi/ Pro Circu it/ Pj IlVP/ Dunlop/Tsub akiz']'T Racing rider found himself outside the top 10. " I got a prett y bad jump off o f the ga te an d th en Mike Brown came into a co rner a nd took me ou t," sa id Hughes foll owing his comeback ride. " I kept pu sh ing myself because I kne w Brown was ou t front and he would get tired." Hugh es mad e it to second just behind T ennessee's Brown but ran out of time before he cou ld a ttempt a pass. In the last two mot os Hughes simply outrode the field. H is second heat win p u t h im into a tie for the overa ll with runner-up Brown. In the all-impo rtant th ird moto Brown broke from the pack early but H ughes came thr ough with him. At the end of th e mechanics' stretch the T eam Green/Pro Circuit! Answer-backed Brown tried to put the hammer down on Hugh es with . a n inside bl ock but H ughes avo ided con tact, mad e the pa ss, and went on to take the title. Brown faded to th ird ' but reta ined second overa ll with Steve, Herman. Swink, who was goi ng after th!; fourth and fifth titl es of his career, found himself in a familiar positi on? in the 125cc A Stock class; battling in the ber m s with fell ow Michi gan resident Eric McLear. Swink won the first moto on his Scott/Pjl /CTi/Hi· Point Kawasaki but th en crashed in race two, losing h is fender and the. victory to the Yam aha of McLear. Race th ree would be the decisivq match of the week between th e two and, once into the lead McLear looked lik e a good bet to win. Bu t the FMF/ Scot An swer-supp orted 17-year-old fell after the finis h line whoops, losing hIS momentum and advantage to Swin,K: Fro m there it was a spri nt to the flag for the T eam Green rider, where h e, accep ted his firs t of two championshi ps. McLear held on for second overa ll with Californ ia 's T o mm y Clowe rs pi lo ting a Kawasak i to third. Som e of th e best lap tim es of the. wee k were recorded during R yan Hugh es' 250cc A Mod ified titl e chase. Hugh es streaked to two straigh t wins. and opened a sizeable lead on Team Gr een teammat e j erem y McG rath goi ng into th e fin al heat . Th in gs might h a ve go tte n to o close for Hugh es' com fort in th e last rnoto wh en the leader crashed in a long stret ch of whoops that Hugh es and the other leaders often triple-jumped through. " I was just cruising bu t a lapper go t in front of me as I was up in the air, " said Hugh es of his near cata stro p he. " I h it his back wheel and face-planted into th e last whoop. I tried to keep my cool and I go t back on before too many peo p le passed me." Only Ph il Lawrence got by and he.