MOTOCROSS
27TH ANNUAL NIIA
WORLD IItNt GRAND PRIX
By Tony Alessi
LASVEGAS,NV,APR.I5-l9
n what was arguably the most highly
anticipated showdown at the 27th
annual NMA World Mini Grand
Prix, Team Green's James Stewart and
Team Suzuki's Shane Bess split victories
in the 80cc 12- to 13-year-old divisions
during the carnival-like event held at
the Las Vegas Speedway.
For Stewart, his impressive comefrom-behind victory marked his firstever national title in the 80cc Stock 0213) age division, while Bess posted the
80cc Modified 02-13) class title in his
final World Mini appearance in that age
range.
Both Bess and Stewart joined over
2000 other racers in what is arguably the
largest amateur motocross national in
the US..
"This year we had to turn away over
200 entries who tried to post enter on
the day of the event," said race director
Ron Henrickson. "We have racers here
from six different countries and 43 different states. It's going to be a true
showdown to find the best of the best!"
The track and facility were nothing
short of first class this year as operations
manager Lance Moorewood kept a keen
eye on the minute-to-minute operations.
"We have Kurt Henrickson and his
staff on track maintenance this year, and
they can groom a track like no one else,"
Moorewood explained.
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It was a draw In the highly competitive aGec (12-13) class as Shane Bess (top, 134) won the Modified class and James Stewart (above) won
the Stock class during the 27th Annual NMA Wortd Mini Grand Prix at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
