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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127798
the area level and then proceed to a regional championship. From there the 42 top riders in each class are invited to travel to Loretta Lynn's to compete in three motos that will decide the year's 30 Amateur National Motocross Champions. This year a record 6200 riders tried to qualify at the area level. The Loretta Lynn's race itself takes place on the ranch property of country music superstar Loretta Lynn. The event is produced by MX Sports and is sponsored by Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Dunlop, Scott USA, Fox Racing, Acerbis, FMF, Race Track Designs, Dunlop and 1-800-Collect. The event began Monday with a day-long practice, and then motos ran from Tuesday through Saturday, going from 8 a.m. to nearly dusk every evening. The course was run in a clockwise direction, used only once before in the IS-year history of the event. Throughout the week the weather was almost perfect, though some showers Friday delayed the event for three hours Friday as the track crew did its best to keep the track from being a muddy mess. Carmichael's historic victory in the 250cc/Open A Stock class came at the expense of fellow Kawasaki riders Brock Sellards, Charlie Dunaway and Robbie Horton. Horton got closest most often, finishing second to the diminutive Carmichael in the first and third matos, but a middle-mota 10th cost Horton the runner-up spot. Sellards' 5-2-3 score bettered Dunaway's 4-3-6 and Horton's 210-2 tallies for second overall. "1 did what 1 had to do all week long and 1 knew that Brock and Robbie were having bad luck in the other motos," said Carmichael, who will make his Pro National debut September 1 at Steel City. 'Tm just really glad that 1 got the win with so many other top guys in the class. It just came my way, 1 guess. Now I'm going to take my title to Steel City with me and see what 1 can do against the big dogs." The title that got away from Carmichael went to another extremely fast Southeasterner - Horton. The young Georgian was a steady 1-2-3 to clinch the title and keep the buzz going about his own imminent professional career. Finishing second to Horton was Sellards who, like Carmichael, plans on making his 125cc Pro National debut in at the Steel City Nationals on Labor Day Weekend. "1 just went out and did my best," said Carmichael of two mota wins after the disastrous 12th-place finish to start the competition. "It really sucks that 1 messed up the first mota, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. 1 guess 1 was just trying too hard when I should've just taken it easy and let things settle." Carmichael's run at the record took some of the spotlight away from the 12Scc A Modified and 250cc A Modified classes. There fans saw Team Green/ Fox/ FMF/ Dunlop / Scott-backed Robbie Skaggs and SplitFire/Pro Circuit/ Bridgestone/ AXO's Casey Johnson earn hard-fought championships. Skaggs put up 1-3-2 numbers in three 250cc A Modified motos to better fellow Pro-Am racer Shaun Perolio - a four-time winner at Loretta Lynn's - and upstart California Suzuki rider Chris Wheeler. Johnson might have been a contender here but bad luck struck him down in the first moto in the form of a seized motor. Johnson won the last two motos, but had no chance for the title as all three motos count toward the final tally at Loretta Lynn's. Johnson got his revenge in the 12Scc A Modified class with a consistent 2-1-2 tally to beat Skaggs (5-2-1) and Perolio (Left) Former factory Yamaha rld8r Keith Bowen scored wins In both the Vet 25+ and 30+ divisions on a KTM. (BeloW) Emesto Fonseca s_pt all three 125cc Stock (1215) motos for the class win. (6-3-7). This class saw heavy hitters Charley Bogard of American Suzuki and Casey Lytle of the Honda of Troy team suffer breakdowns or crashes and fall out of contention, but the biggest surprise might ha ve been first-mota winner Chris Wheeler from California. The final mota of the Women's class was held just after Friday morning's rain delay, and the mud gave longtime Texas star Dee Ann Wood a chance to shine. Wood placed her Kawasaki in the lead position after passing early front-runners Shelly Kann from Minnesota and Pennsylvania's Melanie McConnell. But Wood's final-mota victory was not enough to knock defending class champion Kristy Shealy from her throne. Team Green/ Pro Circuit/ Fox/ CTi-backed Shealy was 1-1-2 in three motos to take the national title back to Texas with her for the second year in a row. Wood, second overall in 1995, was the vice champion again with a 2-2-1, while Kann scored third all three times out to maintain her third-place ranking for another year. Former factory Yamaha supercross star Keith Bowen came out of semiretirement to claim a pair of hard-fought championships in the Junior (25+) and Vet A (30+) classes on his KTM 250. The former leader of the infamous "Michigan Mafia" motocross squad posted 1-1- 2 finishes to better fast Texan Billy Whitley and defending class champion Kevin Walker in the 25+ class. KTM/Sinisa10/ Bell / Spy / Pro-Action-backed Bowen then reeled off three perfect rides to win the Vet A class over former Ohio pro David Hand (3-2-2) and Michigan's John Grewe (2-3-6). In the Senior (40+) class, Pennsylvania privateer legend Fred Vertucci won all three molos to claim the first amateur National title in his long career. Vertucci, with support from Boyesen, beat Georgia's Johnny Border and Ohio's Ken Frankenberry in all three heats to take the title in his first visit to Loretta Lynn's as a competitor. In the Masters (50+) division, Canadian Bill Van Vugt Sr. was able to keep a perfect record all week long and claim the championship for half-century racers. Idaho's Gary Doggett and Ohio's Henry Greff were second and third in the final tally. Danny Smith's first title came in the 125cc B Stock class, where the