MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP, PRESENTED BY AMSOIL
VOL. 51 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 12, 2014 P93
age of 16 for their performance
in the youth classes.
STANDOUT B'S
A new award was presented this
year at Loretta's—the AMA Mo-
tocross Amateur Rider Award,
which is presented to an out-
standing non-A-class rider, de-
signed to recognize those who
are ready to make an immediate
impact in A-class competition.
The first recipient was double-
title winner, Washington's Tristan
Charboneau, who topped the
super-competitive 250 B (2-1-2),
and 450 B (1-1-1) classes on his
Yamahas.
Even though Ryan Surratt took
top honors in the final 250 B Lim-
ited moto, it was Yamaha rider
Bradley Taft of Missouri who took
the class title after going 1-1-3.
Surratt ended up second with a
2-4-1 and Kawasaki pilot Chase
Bell third with a 4-2-4.
In 450 B Limited, Georgia's
Lorenzo Locurcio rode his Ya-
maha to the class championship
with 1-2-1 moto finishes.
MOVING ON UP
Arguably the top minicycle rider
coming out of this year's Loret-
ta's race was Monster Energy
Kawasaki Team Green's Austin
Forkner. He ended his minicycle
days with a sweep of the Super
Mini 2 13-16 class, topping long-
time rival Sean Cantrell each time
out.
A crash in the first Super Mini
has. After finishing second to Chris
Alldredge in the first 250 A moto,
Baker was quick to acknowledge from
the podium the sacrifices his parents
made for him so he can race.
"It's nice to finally break through
a little bit, because last year I was
floored by injuries and haven't rid-
den that good or that solid," said the
19-year-old Baker. "It always just starts
out as fun and then I started to kind of
break through on mini bikes but never
got a factory ride up until the bigger
bikes, then I started to do good and
my parents wanted to take the next
step and take me to all of the Nation-
als [and Loretta's], but it's next to
impossible to do that without help. So
my parents actually sold their dream
home in Kentucky, their RV and ev-
erything. They decided to do this, so
I can live my dream as a professional
athlete. What else could you ask for?
"I haven't had the best track
record with everything, but my dad
has believed in
me since day
one and I can't
even explain. I
shouldn't even
be here right
now, but my
dad sacrifices
his everyday liv-
ing so I can be
out here, have fun and hopefully live
out my dream of being a professional
motocross racer."
And then there is long-time pro mo-
tocrosser Tony LoRusso who dedicat-
ed his first-moto win in the Senior 40+
class to his wife who passed away in
January. You can only imagine what
he's had to deal with the past few
months, but motocross no doubt has
helped him and his daughter/pit crew
pull through the unimaginable.
Sometimes it's how they get to Lo-
retta's more than how they do on the
track that makes them winners.
Shan Moore
Tony LoRusso,
with the help of
his daughter,
gets ready to
do battle.
Daniel Baker wants to pay back
his parents' sacrifices with results
on the track.
