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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127854
MOTO R S C OS AMA AMATEUR NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAJIPfONSH1P (Left) Travis Pastrana won two classes on the trac k -125cc Stock (12-15) and SChoolboybut was later disqualified from his SChoolboy win. (Right) David Millsaps made a three-mota sweep In the Pee Wee (H I) class, as well as topping the 65cc Stock (7-9) field. (Bel ow) Josh Summey lumps ahead of the 85cc Stock (14-15) class. Summey went on to take the overall. riding my own race and bea ting Fred. I was tense a nd nervous at first, but then I relax ed and it aU worked out for me." "We're in a sport here where consistency is im po rta nt," offered up eastern MX legend Fred Vertucci. "When you're not consistent. you don' t win. I won the first mol o and then pulled off a second a fte r a bad start in the second, which ke pt m e in the hunt, but in the final moto I never flowed. I made mistakes like a m is sed shift, and then i n my overzealousness to recover, I would make even more. In the end, I was just beating myself up. Wilmer was riding a strong. smoolh race - he's a good rider, and I can't take anything away from him." Io w a's Ric k Munson was a solid third in the Senior class with straight threes. Alabama's Wallace Fincher ran 2-1-2 to w in the Vet B (Over 30) title o ver Kansas' Kevin Dunham and Iowa's Steve Schmerbach, while Illinois' Gary Peak topped the Masters (Over SO) class after a week-lo ng d uel with defending champ Bill Van Vugt Sr. of Canada. Georgia's Warner Wilbourn was third. 1t was a great week. except for the problems I had in the mud in the third moto," said Team Green /Pro C ircuit/Fox /Oa kley-backed Kristy Shealy, 18, who won her third straight AMA National ti tl e in the Women's cla ss, and her fou rt h in five years . " I guess you could say I was just riding smart in the last race, because Dee Ann (Wood) wasn't o u t th er e, so I d idri't reall y have to win." Texan Shea ly won the fi rs t two moeos while lon gtime rival Wood ga ve chase. But Wood jarred her back in the second ouling and was in too much pain to ride the last muddy molo o n Friday. So Shealy then cruised to fourth. behind Cernic's Racing / AXo-backed Amber Hughes, Rorida's up-end-coming Jessica Patterson. and eventual vice champion Shelly Kann of Minnesota. In the Sen ior minicycle races, Buck elew proved himself to be the fastest each time out, bu t his moto wins only numbered five instead of six. The only rider to beat the popular New Mexican was Honda-mounted Christopher GasseIaar of the Honda R&D team. Wh en Buckelew crashed on the whoops in the serond Mod mo ta, Gosselaar too k ove r th e lead withou t kno wi ng it. In fa ct, accord ing to his father, Mik e - St eve Lamson's mechanic o n th e Honda pro motocross team - it wasn't until five minutes after the race that the kid realized he had won. Still, Buckelew got the win with a 1-2-1 score to Gosselaar's 31-2. Oklahoma's Jo hn ny Ma rley wa s third with a 2-3-5 score. 1 was out front and I had a little tipover," explained Buckelew of his only loss of the week. "I do n' t know what it's been with me tipping over lately, but I was able to hold on to the lead until I got to the 'Ten Co mmandments: I cased a triple there and kind of hurt my wrist, but I was still able to hold on to second." The two Senior-class wins marked the third and fourth minicycle titles of Buckelew's ca reer - they a re also th e last. "I' m actually ta kin g a 125 home to practice on so I can get ready for the rest of the year," Buckelew said. Yamaha -bac ked Buck el ew agai n headed the 85cc Stock (14-15) class, leading a ll three m ot os, w hile Gosselaa r went 2-2-3. California's Jona than Shimp was third with a l-3-2 score, while Florida's Ryan Davis and Georgia's Aaron Undsey rounded out the top five. In the SuperMin i (1 2- 15) cla ss , Kawasald-mounted Chase Reed beat the hard-charging. Yamaha-mounted Johnny Marley, who, like Reed, ha ils from Oklahoma. It was Re ed's first-eve r Loretta Lynn' s win . Ca lifornia n Sean Hamblin was third. North Caro lina's Jo sh Summey wrapped up his first -ever AMA Ama- teur National win with a solid 1-2-1 performance in the 85cr Stock (12-13) class. The Team Green /Fox-backed Summey got the better of Georgia's Derri ck fisher, who rides a Suzuki. and young Ryan Morais, a Yamaha rider from California. Mo rais avenged his loss with a follow up win in the 85cr Modified (9-13) class, winning two out of three motos to outdistance fellow California n Bobby Bond s (3-2-6) and Fish er . Cos ta Rica's Edgar Rojas (2-5-10) and Suzuki-mounted Shane Bess (15-3-I) rounded out the top five. . The s u cce ssful amateur career of James Stewart Jr. took ano ther step forward when the highly regarded floridian won his fourth Ju nior Minicycle title in five years. St ewart ran off with a ll three motos of the SXc Stock (7-1I) class at Loretta Lynn's to help make up for a disastrous two-DNF showing in the Modified class. Team Green/FMF/Fox / Bent-backed St ewart was trailed by Su zuki pilot Brae H eple r (4-4-2) and Washington's Brandon Layto n (2-2-6). In th e ever-co n tr overs ia l Pee Wee 51cc Stock classes, the pages of the rule books were being turned almost as fast as th e rid ers w ere turn ing laps . Th e Loretta Lyn n's race follows the AMA's prescribed definit ion of s tock, which provides little room for changes. In the m uch-antici pated showdown between 7· to -8-yea r-olds David Millsaps (o n a Co bra) a nd Mik e Al essi (o n a KTM ), Flo rida's Millsa ps beat the Ca lifornia kid straight up in th e first two mot os, then cruised out front alone in the third w he n Al ess i brok e d own in the las t moto. With Alessi out, South Carolina's Jake Griffis, Kentucky's Jus tin Sipes , and Ten nessee' s own Chase Beck made it a . southern sweep of th e to p four spots. And the Co bra marque, wi th 37 of 42 en tries, cla imed all 10 trophies 'u p for grabs. The most Significant protest cam e in the 51cc (4-6) Stock class wh en Ca lifornia's Col e Seely came under scrutiny after wi nning a mo to on his Actio n bike. After teari ng d o wn the bi ke, officials found tha t holes had been d rilled in th e front forks, thus modifying the machine beyond th e AM A' s sta n d a r ds. Ten nessee ' s Brandon La rge w ould ha ve been crowned cha mpion anyway but, with th e ad jus ted 1-1-2 tally, he easily outdis ta nced Arizona's Buddi Bruner a nd O hio's Ha ven H oldcroft. Large, Bruner and Holdcroft were all on Cobra minicycles, as were the rest of the top 10. Millsaps grabbed his second title of the event (and third in two years) with a 1-1-3·tally in the 65cc Stock (7-9) class. Millsaps ou tran fellow Floridian Kyl e Ch ish ol m and Mic higan's Josh Lichtle fo r the tit le on a Ka wasa ki KX60. Yet a no ther Flo ridia n - Tarpon Springs' Jimmy Keys - was fou rth, w hile Alessi finished fifth with a l-3-1O showing . In the older 65cc class (10-11), it was Pennsylvania's Broc Hepler ou t front on a Cernic's Racing / AXO / Renthal/Srottbacked Kawasaki. Hepler racked up two wins in the first two mo tos and then rolled to third in the finale to clinch the first AMA championship of his young caree r. Ohio's Micha el Willard was seco nd overall with a 2-3-4 score, while Cali fornia' s Sean Collier finished third wi th a 4-2-5 ca rd . New Yorker Bob Kiniry wo n the fina l mota, but a seventh and a 40th put him a t 13th overall. Ohio's Chris Kuhn won his first-ever Nationa l title w it h a co nsisten t 1-4-2 tally in the Open BIC class . Kuhn took advantage of the firs t-mo ta misfortune of Florid a's Forrest Butler, who did not finish the race but then carne back to win the last two motos to sa lvage 11th overa ll. Fin ishing second and third in the class were Alabama's Ni cholas Pinegar and Iowa's Steve Schmerbach. Washingt o n state' s Steve Su lli va n kept up the Northwest's long tradition of d ominating th e Novice classes by winning five out of six heats in the 125cc C Stock and Modified classes and a pair