AMAIAir Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships
Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch
f
By JASON WEIGANDT
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN
HURRICANE MILLS, TN, AUG. 4·9
ith past AMA/Air Nautiques
Amateur National Motocross
Champions Ricky Carmichael, Kevin
Windham and James Stewart dominating the current pro motocross
scene, the search is on for the next
big thing in professional motocross.
And as it has been for 22 years, the
search is carried out each August at
Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane
Mills, Tennessee.
"
The pressure of racing for a title at
Loretta Lynn's often leads to amazing
performances nd great racing. In
fact, many rackside pundits fe(t this
year's event was the llil"os e citing
ever. In tbe end, the big names rose
to tfie top, but not without nqtable
efforts by a host of the 1314-rider
pack, all of whom earned entry to the
event through a two-part series of
area and regional qualifying races.
The initial field of racers attempting
to qualify nearly reached an astonishing 19,000.
The two amateur riders who have
garnereqrthe'most headlines lately
ended up claiming two championships in Tennessee. Suzuki
prospect Davi Millsaps, who will turn
pro just after his 16th birthday next
spring, overcame a hungry pack of
competitors to win the 125 A and 125
"'odified (12-15) classes. And Millsaps' long-time minicycle
rillal Mike Alessi, who
still campaigns the
~maller bikes for
\' onda, cleaned up in
Hie Semior Mini ranks,
winning all six of his motos in the
85'cc Modified (14- 15) class and the
105cc Supermini class.
Both riders now have nine
AMA Amateur National /
W
f
,
/
~~
Championships to their credit, tying
them for second on the all-time title
list with Carmichael and amateur legend Kevin Foley (who won the Over
(Above) Mike Alessi put the hurt on both
his classes at Loretta Lynn's, winning all
six motos of the 85cc Modified (12-15)
and Supermini classes. He now has nine
titles.
(Left) Davi Millsaps was also quite
impressive at Loretta Lynn's. The 15·
year-old topped the 125cc Modified A
and 125cc Modified (12-15) events.
--
40 class this year).
"I'm really happy to get my ninth
title on minis and move into the big
bikes now," said the Honda/FMF/
Varner/Alloy/Bel-Ray-backed Alessi.
"I don't like the feeling of finishing
second. I didn't want to leave any
doubt, so I won all six motos." Alessi
has one more year as an amateur to
try to match Stewart's record of
eleven titles.
"Man I'm going to miss this place,"
said the=Suwk.f/i'io-Fear1Dunlop/Pro
