RJ Hampshire posts historic 6-0 Record, captures two amateur titles on the Rocky Mountain’s penultimate day.
Friday was the first of two days in which the glorious process of crowning America’s Amateur National Motocross Champions took place at the 33rd Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL. The penultimate day of racing at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, boasted ideal temperatures and excellent track conditions for the start of the final set of motos.
Factory Connection/AMSOIL Honda’s RJ Hampshire is well on his way to earning the coveted AMA Horizon Award after posting a flawless 6-0 win record in the Open Pro Sport and 250cc A classes. Hampshire dominated the final Open Pro Sport moto after inheriting the lead from Jerry Robin early in the race. Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki’s Colt Nichols finished second in the race, and that was good enough for second overall in the class (3-2-2). Yamaha/bLU cRU’s Aaron Plessinger had a tough run earlier in the week after a big crash in the 250cc A class knocked him out of title contention, but the Ohio native finished third overall in Open Pro Sport via 2-3-3 moto scores.
The final 250cc A moto showcased perhaps some of the most exciting amateur action of the week as it featured a close battle for the lead between Hampshire and Luke Renzland. In attempt to end Hampshire’s perfect record, Renzland mounted a strong challenge in the final moto and applied pressure on Hampshire. The outcome was the same, however, with Hampshire landing the moto win to go 1-1-1 in the 250cc A class as well as the Open Pro Sport class. Hampshire’s perfect sweep of both classes marked the first time that feat has been accomplished in 19 years. Renzland secured second overall (4-2-2), while Monster Energy/Team Green Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge rounded out the podium (2-8-4).
Lorenzo Locurcio dominated the 450cc B final moto, completing a 1-2-1 peformance that netted his first his first 250cc amateur title at Loretta Lynn’s. Later in the day, Luocurcio capped his week by finishing second in 250cc B. Yamaha made it a clean sweep in 250cc B, with Tristan Charboneau (2-1-1) capturing the title and Ryan Surratt (5-6-3) rounding out the podium.
After sweeping the first two motos of the College B/C class, Stone Edler held a commanding lead over the field prior to the final moto. RJ Wageman made a last-ditch effort to steal the championship away from Edler by grabbing the Bell Holeshot, while Elder sat in 29th following a bad start. Ashton Hayes eventually passed Wageman for the lead while Elder worked his way all the way up to sixth, which was good enough to keep the championship. Wageman (6-4-2) finished second overall, with Salvatore Colangelo (2-7-4) in third.
In Two-Stroke B/C 16+, Carlen Gardner finished strong to claim the title with 3-1-2 scores. Timmy Badour (1-2-4) and Bennett Mantooth (2-5-3) finished second and third.
In a crazy battle for the Schoolboy 2 (13-16) B/C championship, consistency proved to be the key. Dylan Merriam (4-5-2) didn’t win a moto all week, but the Honda-mounted rider was consistent enough to secure the amateur title after three motos with scores of 7-7-1, Chase Marquier landed the second place position and Rookie White rounded out the overall podium with moto scores of 8-1-6.
In Vet action, Ricky Renner continued his perfect run in the highly competitive Junior 25+ to secure the championship on Friday. Robbie Reynard (2-5-3) stayed consistent in all three motos to lock in second, while James Povolny captured third with 3-2-6 moto scores. Reynard bounced back in Vet 35+ to capture his tenth career title at Loretta Lynn’s. James Povolny grabbed another podium finish with solid 2-2-2 finishes for the week and Tony Lorusso (5-3-3) rounded out the overall podium.
In minicycle, Stilez Robertson was the man on top after taking home two titles on Friday: the 85 (9-11) Limited with 1-2-1 scores and 85 (9-11) with a 2-1-1. Pierce Brown captured second overall with moto scores of 11-1-2 and Ethan Mann (5-5-4) rounded out the podium.
In Mini Sr. 2 (12-14), Garrett Marchbanks (1-1-2) outlasted his fiercest competition, Chase Sexton (2-2-1), to win his first title of the week.
Nicholas Romano (1-1-1) made it a clean sweep in the 51cc (7-8) Limited class, followed by Noah Geyer (4-3-2) in the second place spot. Daxton Bennick went 5-9-5 to capture third overall for the week. In 51cc (4-6) Limited, Kace Evans held on for the title with 1-2-2 moto scores, topping Mason Dixon (3-5-1) and Evan Woody (5-4-3). Wyatt McGrath swept the 51cc (4-6) Special Limited title over Reed Harrison (4-5-4) and Braxton Black (2-6-9). In the final 51cc class-(4-6) Shaft Drive Limited-Aiden Eyler (2-2-2) held off Holland Purser (5-3-4) and Tyler Mollet (6-4-3).
In the 65cc divisions, Joshua Varize swept all three motos for the (10-11) Limited championship. Jett Reynolds (9-1-1) emerged victorious in a wild finish to capture the 65cc (7-9) Limited title.
The final day of racing will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, crowning the remainder of National Champions. Live streaming coverage begins Saturday morning.
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