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eve n t is th e fina l s te p in a th ree -s tep
q ualifying p roc ess tha t incl u des a rea
a nd regional q ua lifiers a ll ac ross the
United States . This yea r, nearl y 8000 riders tried to make it to the final 42 spots
on the ga te at Loretta Lynn's in 30 differe n t cla ss es, making this easily th e
biggest amateu r mo tocross eve nt in the
world .
The Nationa l Cha m pions hip Finals
b e gin with a full d a y o f p ra ctice o n
Monday and then cons tant racing fro m
Tu esd ay throu gh Saturday on the 1 ~
mile-long ranch track, which hosts only
one mot ocross event a year to ensure an
even pl ayin g fie ld for rid er s fro m a ll
over the cou ntry. Track condi tions were
almos t perfect, for the mos t pa rt, thou gh
rain late in the week sent the MX Spo rts
grou n ds crew sc ra m b li ng to dry th e
track on Frid ay and Satu rday.
Monda y' s ope ning cere monies we re
clo u d ed by the ne w s of race fou nd er
Dave Coombs' passin g earlier that day
after a long illness. Man y rid er s de dicated their efforts to the promoter and his
pursuit to better amateu r motocross in
this country .
Of the 30 class champio nshi p crowns,
only two went to rid ers who won more
than on e title this time aro und . (Riders
are li m it ed to en tering tw o classes
apiece in Tennessee.) Only California
minicycle ace Ryan Mo rai s (85cc Stock
a nd Mo dified 14-15) a n d Ya ma hamo un te d Brya n M cGa v ran 0 25cc B
Stock and 250cc !Open B M od ifi ed )
were able to takehorne a pair of titles.
Th e FMF ! Ya ma ha -b a cked Morai s
was a dominant force in the Senior mini
races, wi n ni ng a ll three m ot e s in th e
Stock group an d then ge tting two ou t of
three w ins in th e Mod ified class. Th e
Mod ified d ivision runner-up was Massachusetts' Paul Veracka, who p ilo te a
Kawasaki KX80 to 3-4-2 scores to edge
Califo rn ian Billy Laninovic h (4-3-5). Secon d best in th e Mod ifie d d ivision was
Texan Kawasaki rider Adam Mennen ga,
who pu t togeth er a 4-3-6 card for runner• up honors. Florid a's Troy Adams ran 74-5 for third . Both Laninovic h and Vera cka put in good Modi fied motos as well,
bu t neither could show any consistency .
McG a vran dire ct ed h is Ya ma ha
YZ400F to a 2-1 -1 sco re for th e
250cc!Open B Mod ified wi n, then deftly
swi tched down to a YZ125 to show his
versatility on hi s w a y to th e B Sto ck
Ch ampion ship with 2-2-1 moto scores .
en
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