Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS AMA AMATEUR NATIONAL ...." Lynn's Ranch, Tennessee ........ MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPp----~~~ ~--~~ ---------------- ------' behind the ever-smiling Sellard s, wbile Dos ta l posted a 1-7-4 sco re for th ird . Su zuki riders Kelly Smith and Jam es Povolny rounded out the top five. Team Green/ Pro Circuit / AXO/BelRay / Scott-backed Sella rds got the win in th e 250cc A Mod race with another pa ir of mot o wins, this time backed up by a third. "It w as between me, Povolny a nd Kelly Smith," Sellards said . "I won the first moto and then I went from somethi ng li ke 17th to second , but th en I cras hed and had to work my way back op to third . I knew tha t third was still good because with a 1-3-1 yoo can' t be beat. The third moto was muddy; I got the start and just stayed ahead of everyone ." By Davey Coombs HURRICANE MILLS, TN, AUG. 4-9 he annual gathering of America's T bes t yo uth and amateu r riders took p lace at Loretta Lyn n 's Ranch last week with the usual results: fu n and controversy, runaways and walkovers, upsets and surprises, and 30 newly crowned 1997 AMA Amateur National Motocross Champions. Among the biggest winners were Michigan's Nick Wey, Ohio's Brock Sellards, ' New Mexico's Just in Buckelew, and Florid a's Davey Millsaps. The Loretta Lynn's Amateur Nationa l, a t th e plantation home o f famed country singer Loretta Lynn, was celebrating its 16th year of existence. After the summer-long area and regional qualifying program narrowed the initial field of more than 7000 down to just over 1200 finalists , the event attracted full gates of 42 riders in all but a couple of classes . Each division used a tbree-molo format, with all three 20-minute-long heats counting toward the overall. Riders were limited to entering two classes, The MX Sports-designed track was tamer than in years past, afte r the track builders decided to back off of the sawdus t routine. Minicyd e hero Bucke lew described the track as "a little mo re hard-packed than usual, so it didn' t gel quite as rou gh. It gave me some problem s because I'm used to Loretta Lynn's being th e ' loa m capital ' of the w orld with the sawdus t and all, but it was n' t really there this year. The soil was totally different." "I' m pretty stoked abou t the whole week, but it wa sn't perfect," said W ey, 17, w ho notched the sixth and seventh Nick Weylumps ahead ollhe 125cc A class. Wey did a 10101 leading, as he rode 10 overall wins in bolh the 125cc and 250cc A classes, taking five moto wins along the way. titles of his amateur career at Lo retta Lynn 's. "I rea lly wi sh I could 've won that second moto in the 250cc Stock class because it seems like I can never win all six motos here - I alw ays jack one up ." Wey w a s referrin g to th e sec on d 250cc A Stock rnoto, wh ere a bad start for him and a fine performance by Doug Parson s kept him from a clean sweep. Wey won the other tw o motos in tha t class to clinch the title, bu t in the 125cc A Stock class, the soo n-to-be Pro Circuit rider was unstoppable. Pro Circu it/Team Green / AXO/ Spybacked Wey won all three motos in the 125cc class, though each time out Yamaha -mounted Danny Smith put in fine p erforman ces as Wey' s prima ry pursue r. "Danny was going fast all wee kend, especially in the last moto," Wey said. "I knew I didn't bave to win, so I was able to key off of what Danny did and pull out another win. " Idaho's Smith was second overall in the 125cc A Stock class with straight twos, wh ile Nevada's Shane Esposito ran third wit h a 3-6-3 score. Michigan's Jimmy Wilson (5-3-6) an d California's Parson s (44-7) we re next. In the 250cc A Stock class, Wey was followed in the fin al sta nd ings by Yamaha-mounted Parson s (2-1-2), Suzuki rider Wilson (63-3), Kawasaki-mounted Karl Scott (544) and Esposit o (3-6-7). Whil e Wey w as on top of his game from the start, the Loretta Lynn' s week almost did n't happen for 125cc A Mod ified and 250cc A Modified cha m p io n Sellards. . "I started out really sick and I didn 't eve n know if I was going to be able to race," said Sellards , 19, wh o now ends his amateur career with five career titles after this year' s pair. "I got over it, and the racing ended up going reall y w ell for me . I got second in my first moto because I just d idn't have the strength to catch up." Ca li fo rn ia's Jiri Dostal e nded up lea d ing Sellard s across the fini sh line that moto. Sellards' wins in the last two motos came at the expense of the hardcharging Danny Smith, who did not win a moto all w eek bu t still establis he d himself as one of th e fast est up-andcomers in the country. "Danny came on real hard those last two motos," Sellards said . "He was riding really ... I was im pressed ." Smith en ded up se co n d ove ra ll Minnesota's Povolny was a strong second here with a 2-1-5, whil e Michi gan 's Smith took third with 3-2-1 scores, Team Green' s Charlie Dunaway and Isa iah Johnso n rou nded out the top five. In the Intermediate o r B cla s ses , Costa Rica's Ernesto Fonseca kept his Loretta Lynn's winni ng s treak alive with at least one title for the third yea r in a row. This time the 16-year-old BSY Yama ha pilot wo n th e 125cc B Stock and Mod ified classes while w'inning four of six motos. Th e two AMA titles gave Fonseca four for his career. "This was a go od week for me for su re , even though I lost a cou p le of motos," Fonseca said. "I rode a little bit tighter than I normally do, but I'm still really happy with the way it turned ou t. Nothing cou ld be greater for me than to come here and win both classes." In the first moto of the I25cc B Modified class, Fonseca , who is also backed by Yamaha, Fox, Scott, Shoei, Hammerhead and Pro Circuit, looked to hav e th ings under con trol before a last-lap crash cost him the race. "I crashed in the big sweeper on the lasl lap after lead ing the whole wa y," Fonseca said. "That's motocross, I guess . Mistakes hap pen , bu t what reall y matters is the cha mpionship." Fonseca and a very fast Tim Langdo n crossed the finish line nearl y locked arm in arm , but the Kawasaki -mounted Langdon got the nod . Fonseca won the second Mod moto before losin g th e fin ale to Michi gan' s Rand y Valade, but the Costa Rican still go t th e overall with a 2-1 -3 to the Kawasaki-mounted Valade's 3-3- 1. Langdon was third overall with a 1-2-1 score. In the 125cc B Stock version, Fons eca wo n all thr ee mo tos after so me fierce pressure from rising amateur star Brandon [esseman of Pennsylvania and Californians Donovan Mitchell an d Billy Payne. It took a last -lap pass on Jesseman in the final moto for Fonseca 10 gel the clean sweep; [es sernan, in jured in the first B Mod moto of the week, rode in pain to second with a 3-3-2 showing. Mit ch ell was third with 4-2-4 scores; Payne dropped out in the second moto.

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