Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128118
NMA Grand National Championships -.Jack Blevins MX Park D simply not enough room to park the record number of contestants. The town of Ponca City is exceptionally receptive to motorcycling and really gets behind its motocross track. The track is city owned and a local businessman's group, AMBUCS, operates the facility with the proceeds going back into the city. AMBUCS works jointly with the NMA to host the annual Grand National Championship event, which is one of the smoothest running programs in the nation. Twenty-six motos, mostly run-off motos, were run like clockwork on Saturday, and by 4:00 p.m., the caravan was packing for Loretta Lynn's. "This is the best event ever," AMBUCS president Brian Simon said after the event. "Everything' went smoothly with no problems. This event brings in an estimated two million dollars into the Ponca City economy each year. The community really supports it." Another impressive performer was North Carolina's Shane Hall, who won the Pee Wee 50cc (4-6) Stock and Modified classes. The Polini-sponsored Hall won the Stock run-off to tie Blake Dungey for overall points, but Hall was awarded the class championship via his better finish in the tie-breaking run-off. Hall used consistency to win the Modified division. His 2-2 moto results was just enough to top Joey Peters' 1-3. "This is a really important championship for us - so many people see this ra'ce at a National 'level and it means a lot for us to get this win," Polini USA's Ken Benardis said of Hall's wins. "He was the most consistent performer all week in his classes. He just came off the win at the World Minis in Vegas and he is favored next week at Loretta's, as welL" Honda rider -Turbo Reif nearly had a perfect weekend. The Californian won three of the four 125 and 250cc Stock and Modified Pro classes, as well as winning seven of the eight motos. Unfortunately for him, that one moto he didn't win cost him the Mike Alessi was the first multi-class winner ever to sweep all the motos he entered last year, and he repeated the performance this year in the 85cc Stock (12-13), 85cc Modified (12-131 and 85cc Open (0-181 classes. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE PONCA CITY, OK, JULY 30-AUG. 4 t was deja vu all over again for Thousand Oaks Yamaha rider Mike Alessi at the NMA Grand National Championships in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Last year, the Moorpark, California, resident became the only multi-class winner in Ponca City history to sweep every moto of every race entered. Alessi repeated his performance of a year ago, taking nine wins in nine motos, this time in higher age groups. The performance ranked as one of the best ever at the Grand Nationals. Alessi's formula, the same one he used last year to claim four classes, was simple - get the holeshot, go hard for two laps to stretch a lead, check the riders in and then ride cautiously to the finish. The formula earned Alessi the 85cc Stock (12-13), 85cc Modified (12-13) and the prestigious 85cc Open (Thru 16) Championships. "That was my toughest race," Alessi said of the 85cc Open event. "All the top riders are in that class. The races are five laps, so I would try to pull out a 10-second lead on the first two laps, then watch the guys I 18 AUGUST 22.2001 • 0 U '0 I e from there. Usually, I would let them close up to about five seconds by the end of each moto." Alessi had spent the previous four weeks in Virginia practicing with Zach Osborne, another three-class winner at Ponca City. Some of the Northern riders had suffered ill effects from the notoriously high Oklahoma humidity. Temperatures were consistently in the triple digits all week with the heat index reaching 116 degrees, but Alessi and Osborne were not affected. "We practiced in the rain and humidity for a month, so the humidity here didn't affect us much," Alessi said. "Riding with the Osbornes was good preparation for the Nationals, we would ride with top pros like Mike Brown for like five hours a day, so now I am used to the high heat and humidity." Osborne turned in some impressive rides of his own to take the 65cc Stock (9-11), 85cc Stock (Thru 11) and 85cc Modified (Thru 11) classes. Over 1500 competitors making up 2000 entries squeezed into the Jack Blevins Motocross Park for this year's edition of the Minicycle Championships. At one point, motorhomes were turned away because there was n e __ s Z8ch Osborne airs out his KTM on his way to the 65cc Stock (9-11) championship. He also topped the 85cc Stock (0-11) and 85cc Modified (0-111 classes.