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West Coast Youth MX Championships
By Tony Alessi
ANTELOPEVALLEY
,CA,NOV. l~-IS
o p a ma te urs from across the
regio n faced off this weekend for a
two-day shoo tout for the ho no r
and glory of being crowned the West
Coa st Youth Champion.
Top amateurs such as Bobby Bonds,
Shan e Bes s , Brandon Layton , Mi ke
Alessi, Cole Seely and Virginia's Zach
Osborne w er e just some of the nea rl y
700 e n t ra n ts who conv erged on t he
Antelope Valley Fairgrounds for what
industry ins id ers billed as "America's
riches t Amateur Race."
Race amateur and avid mota enthusia st John Hemme spared no expense
in ach ieving his goal of prod ucing a
truly qu a lity event. More than $30,000
wo rth of p rizes were amassed , incl ud ing 12 Honda Z50 mi ni trails for class
cham p ions, 25 Redline bicycles for second- and third-p lace finish ers , a n d
ton s of othe r fun toys for the Ame rica n
yo u ths, suc h as skateboards an d video
ga mes .
Div is ion o ne SOcc (4-6) ch a m p ion
Michael Hall and Branson MX champion Nic Paluzzi battled throughout the
wee ken d, with Hall takin g overall wins
both d ays in the Modi fied cla ss , while
Pal uzzi took top hon ors in th e Stock
divisions on both da ys. The tie br eaker
was decided by the rid er with the most
mo ta wi ns , and Hall ' s six mot o win s
(co m pa re d to Pa luzzi 's t wo) was
enoug h for Hall to clinch the title in this
d ivision ,
Os borne, wh o was this yea r's Ponca
City Gr and National cha m p ion, took an
o p po r tu n ity to ra ce the West Coast
cha m p ions hips while on tour with hi s
dad , who was in town ra cing a t the
NHRA Win sto n Finals in Po mo na .
Young Zac h ha ndled the fiel d aboa rd
'
his bumblebee-colored Cobra, wi nni ng
seven out of eig ht motos for the title in
division tw o, SOcc (7-8). The on ly moto
he did n't wi n was the very first Stock
race, in which an apparen t case of locking bra kes rel e gated h im to seco n d
p la ce, be hind AC Ra cin g ' s Mik e
Mead e.
T he 60cc (6-8) div is iun three w as
clouded by controversy and was won by
KTM's Cole Seely. Tye Hames was the
fi rs t rider d isq ualified after h e was
proved to be older than the class allows
(he was 9 years old and racing in the 6- to
8-yea r-uld class ). Next, evada's Mark
Pro scelle was stripped of a ll his Stoc kclass points after confessing to riding a
m odifi ed bike in both th e Stock and
Modified division s. In the end, Seely's
thr ee mota wins were enoug h to sco re
the cham pionship over an eve r-improving Trent Pugmire and Chad Gores.
The Alessi brothers controlled the pace
in the 60cc (9-11) class, with Mi ke winning all eigh t mo tos in d ivision four for
the class wi n over his brother Jeff, who
posted eight second-place finishes , Mike
Alessi returned in division five, the 80cc
(7-11) class, to ba ttle Was hington-bred
Brandon Layton. Alessi posted the Modified wins on both days while Layto n took
the Stock classes during each day.
Wit h the cha m pions h ip on th e line
an d the ove rall wi n han ging in the bala nce, the cha m pio ns h ip wo u ld bl!
claimed by the winner of the final mo ta .
Alessi led that particu lar race u n til the
fin al lap but fell in a fres hly wa te red
tum, thus handing the victory to Layton.
Tea m Yama ha's Lay to n a nd Tea m
Green's Mike Alessi turned in arguably
the week's fastest minicycle lap tim es by
clocking in th e 1:09-1:10 range consisten tly du ring Sunday' s showdown.
T
Tea m Suz u ki's Sha ne Bess was the
u ndispu te d s ta r of division six - the
80cc 02-13) class - by winning seven
out of eigh t motos en route to the title.
Th e only moto he did n't win was the
first of the weekend, which was won by
Team Gree n's Sea n Collier. Be s s
blamed a faulty ignition and lack o f
practice for his less-than-perfect show ing in that moto, bu t he found redemption later by running within three seconds of the week 's top 12S cc
Intermediate racers.
Simi Cycle 's J.R. Terry posted a slamdunk in division seven- the 80cc (14-16)
class. Terry, just back from inju ry, won
every mo to in which he competed and
raced u ncha llenged all week long .
Divi s ion eigh t, th e 125cc Beginner
class , was the pro perty of Larry Turner,
who posted six a u t of eig ht moto wins
for the championsh ip. Turner, w ho was
a tr ue begi nne r, seemed to hold it a ll
toge ther despite so me tou gh cha llenges
from Bria n Schaumbu rg a nd Charles
Dana . Turner later tu rned his winnings
(a Ho nda 250) into $1000 cas h by selling
his p rize to a Pee Wee dad before the
end of the weekend .
Division nine, the 12Scc Novi ce class ,
sa w former mini ace , Sco tt Howe, 13,
win four out of eight motos for the title.
. Howe rod e hot and cold all weekend ;
when he was hot, he was unbeatab le,
but when he was cold , he was tight and
troubled - he gave way to Donnie Durrier and Richie Owens, who each posted a
couple of moto wins. But at the end of
th e dav, it all worked out for Howe,
who scored the cha m p io ns h ip with a
healthy e ig h t- p o in t advantage over
Donn ie Du rrier .
The fina l a mateu r d ivision was the
12Scc In term ed ia te, division ·10, w hich
was swept by 14-year-old Bobby Bonds .
The Team Yam ah a former mini s tar was
flawless, winning all eight motos aboard
hi s Th uu s a nd O a ks Ya ma ha- bac ke d
YZ 12S. Bonds topped Kyle Locke and
Kevin Tow ns end for the overall cham pionship title.
I~
Antelope Valley Fairgrounds
Antelope Valley, California
Result s: November 14-1 5,1998
Saturd ay
50 BEG (4·6): 1. Ch ance Se ely (KT M) ; 2. Ky le
Ke sin ger ( KTM); 3. Chris Deeds (KTM ).
s
50 BEC (7-81: I. Et han Flo res ( KT M) ; 2. Etha n
Kenne (KTM).
dy
SO ST K (4--6) 1. N ic Palu zz i (Cob); 2. Micha e l Hall
:
(Cob); 3. BIelke Baggett (Cob); 4. David Ml,a de (Cob) ; 5.
Ch ris Plouffe (KT M) .
50 M O D (4-6): 1. Micha el H all (Cob); 2. Blak e
Bagge tt (Cob) ; 3. Da vid Ml.' dt.' (Cob) ; 4. C hris Plouffe
a
(KTM); 5. Nie Palu zzi (Cob) .
SOSTK (7-8); I. Zac h Osborne (Cob) ; 2. Mik e Mead e
(Co b); 3. Danny Go nzalez (Cob); 4. Donnie Kea rn ey
(KTM I; 5. Carrick No ble (Cob) .
SO M OD (7-8) : 1. Zach Osborne (C o b); 2. Mile
Me ad e (Cob); 3. Do n nie Kea rney ( KT~1); 4 . Joh nny
Ield crda (ICTh.f); 5. Bi1ly B.11I~h.·ro.
SIP /\\, (6-lJ): 1. Do n nie Kearne y (KTM) ; 2. Tylor
H emme (KTt--t>; 3. Jake-Ca nada (KnA); 4. Ca rrick Nobl e
(Cob) ; 5. Scott No ble (Cob).
60 BEG (4-8): 1. Bi Llv Balles te ro (Ka .....); 2. Jake
Morrow ( KT'M); 3. Kyle Smith (Kaw l; Christopher Taft
ll<.w).
so ST K 14-6): 1. Co lt' Seely ("'1M); 2. Trent Pugmire
UC
.1W); 3. Cha d Cores IKaw); 4. Buddi Bruner (K.1W); 5.
Roberto Jiron (Ka w).
60 MOD (4-8': I. Mark Proscel le (Kaw): 2. Co lt'
Seely ( KT M); 3 . C ha d Cores (Kaw); -to Buddi Brun er
(K.1w); 5. Zach Osborne (K.1W)
.
60 BEG (9·\1): I. Cody Sheare (Kaw).
60 STK (9-11): 1. Mik e Ales si (Ka w): 2. JC'ff Ales si
(K., w ); 3. B.J. 80M.. (KTM); 4. B",nt Davey (KTM ); 5.
Sr.lno on Wt.~t (KTM).
'
60 MO D (9-111: 1. Mikl' A I~s i (!