The Loretta Lynns
AMAAmateur
Motocross National
Finals: Its big, it's
exciting, it's got
history, its right
around the comer.
Ann apo lis, M ar y l and , n am ed T rav is
Pastrana picks it up a not ch . The sec o nd moto of th e highl y c o m p etit ive
12 5 c c A c l a ss h as hit t he hal fway
ma rk , and Pastrana, th e am ateur whiz
k id touted as " the ne xt bi g th ing " of
Ameri can m otoc ross , wan ts to pr ov e
th e cl airv oyants correct.
Lead ing the m ot o is a Yam aha suppo rt rider from Al buquerque, New Mexico , n a m ed J ason Bu c k el e w . Also
p eg g ed as a fu t ure st ar , B ucke lew ,
d esp erate t o wi n th e m oto an d t he
class overa ll, does everything in his
power to keep the fast fading daylight
between himself and Pastrana. But it' s
to no ava il. One lap lat er, Pastrana ,
banging and careening off of the many
bumps and jumps present on th e
By
E RIC J O HNSO N PH OT OS FROM
T HE CY CLE N EWS A RCHIVES
~I
t's la te Wednesday afternoon ,
~ August 4 , 1999 , an d as the
sun begins its slow ar c behind the tall
trees , and the shadows begin t o
le ngt hen , a tee naged kid f rom
24
A U G U ST
9 , 2000 '
cue
I
e
nevus
swee ping tra ck, closes in on the Yam aha 's rear fend er, m ak es his m ove, and
whizzes, away into the sun set.
Th e t h o u s a n d o r so fans w ho
st and al on gside t he fences and ban ners t h at su rro u nd t he trac k cheer
and sha ke th eir heads in that rever e n t so r t of d i sbel i e f o nly s e en i n
motocross . K e en l y a w are of Pas t r ana 's prod ig io u s ta lent an d in n er
st ren gth, t h ey b eli ev e th at m aybe ,
just m aybe, th ey are, in fact, seeing
"the next big th in g" ri ght befo re thei r
very eyes .
And as fa te would soon dictate,
they were.
W elcome t o the AMA Amateur
Moto cross Nation al Finals, better
known as t he Loretta Ly nn 's Ama teu r
Recognize th is guy? It's Ricky
Cannichael (31. who certainly left his
mark at Loretta Lynn's.
Nati on als. Now abou t to enter it s 19th
y ear, "t he wo rld 's greatest m ot oc ross
va cation " has become, arguably , the
greatest singl e motocross rac e in th e
w orld . A w e e k l on g celebr atio n o f
motocross , t he st o ried even t, create d
b y th e lat e D av e Coo m bs ( w ho
p a ss ed away i n 19 9 8 ) du r i n g t he
sum m er o f 1982, b r i n g s t o g et h er
1260 m otocro ss riders who m ak e up
30 cl asses of 42 riders each . For all
of them , whether they be a five-yearold kindergartner, a 15 -year-old fac tory minicycle rider, or 55 -year-old
vet-class campaigner, the trip to Hur-
