Rocky Mountain AMA Amateur MX Crowns Its Champions

Some 38 National Championships are decided at the presented by AMSOIL.

The 34th Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL finished up its fifth and final day of racing at the legendary Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, Saturday, with presentation of 38 National Championships and four AMA specialty awards.

The first National Championship of 2015 actually went to Justin Cooper (1-1-1) on Firday. Cooper was challenged by Jacob Williamson (3-2-4) and Austin Dodd (2-9-3). Austin Forkner (1-1-2) was nearly unstoppable in 250cc B class during the week, and he claimed the class title with ease. Chase Sexton pushed for the lead but fell short with a 2-2-3 overall, and Michael Mosiman laid it down in the third moto but took third (4-4-1) overall.

The Junior (25+) division was the domain of Ricky Renner again. Renner won the National Championship last year via a three-moto podium sweep, and he mimc’d that performance this year. Sebastian Tortelli gave Renner a fight, but Renner was able to beat the former World Champion ion all three motos.

The 250cc A championship fight was a crazy one. Mitchell Harrison (2-1-4) came out on top over Darian Sanayei (4-5-1) and Lorenzo Locurcio of Venezuela (7-8-3).

In 85cc (9-11) Limited class, Jett Reynolds finished strong to claim the title with a perfect 1-1-1 performance. Caden Braswell (5-2-2) and Luke Kalaitzian (6-3-3) finished second and third respectively. Marco Cannelia (1-3-4) was consistent enough to top the Schoolboy 1 (12-16) B/C division, with Mitchel Falk (6-1-2) second and Brock Papi (4-2-3) third.

The inaugural Women All-Star (14+) division featured hard-fought battles all week long with Australia’s Mackenzie Tricker taking home her second consecutive National title with 1-2-2 finishes. Brandy Richards (3-3-5) and Kirsten Raemisch (2-4-7) finish second and third, respectively, with Gracie Van Horn (1-2-2), Annie Wernig (3-3-4) and Danielle Foot (4-5-3) also putting in strong performances.

The 450cc B class was dominated by yet another podium sweep for Brandon Hartranft, and he was followed by Hawaii’s Kai Mukai (2-6-6) and Jared Jennings (5-9-5) in third. After a slow start to his week Benny Bloss emerged triumphant in the Open Pro Sport class via 3-1-1 scores. Marshall Weltin (1-3-2) and Mitchell Harrison (4-4-3) came away second and third respectively.

The Mini Sr. 2 (12-14) boasted great racing all week long. Pierce Brown clinched the title Friday after putting up a fight against Carson Mumford, Ty Masterpool and Jarrett Frye. As it turned out, Frye (1-4-3) finished second, and Mumford (5-3-4) finished third. Garrett Marchbanks (2-1-1) topped the Mini Sr. (12-16) class, with Lance Kobusch (1-3-2) second and Conner Mullennix (4-4-5) third.

Casey Cochran claimed the win in the 51cc (7-8) Limited class via 2-2-1 scores followed by Moon Gerrits (5-4-5) and Krystian Janik (7-6-2). Emile Lacher (1-1-1) made it a clean sweep in the 51cc (4-6) Special Limited class, followed by Barrett Keiffer (8-3-2), and Bryson Tolliver went 6-4-5 to capture the third overall for the week. William Canaguier held on for the 51cc (4-6) Limited title with 1-2-1 finishes, topping Sam Garroutte (2-1-2) and Manual Dumais (3-4-4). The 51cc (4-6) Shaft Drive Limited title went to Canyon Richards (1-1-1), who held off Seth Dennis (3-2-2) and Preston Payne (7-8-3). Maximus Vohland swept all three motos for the (10-11) Limited Championship. Ryder Difrancesco (1-1-2) fought hard until the end to take the 65 (7-9) Limited title.

John Grewe swept all three motos in Senior (45+), with Barry Carsten right behind him (2-2-2) and Dag Boyesen rounding out the podium (3-4-6). The Masters (50+) took to the track for the last time Friday as well, and Earl May came out victorious (1-1-2) with Rodney Smith second (2-2-1) and Barry McCarty a consistent third (3-3-3).

Saturday marked the final day of the week-long event, and it included the presentation of several specialty awards. The coveted AMA Horizon Award is given to the A rider who shows the most promise as he or she prepares to enter the professional ranks. In 2015, the award was presented to Yamaha’s Benny Bloss, who won the Open Pro Sport class and finished third overall in 450cc A dvision. The newly crowned AMA Horizon Award winner plans to compete in the upcoming round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Unadilla in New Berlin, New York.

The AMA Motocross Youth Rider Award goes to a rider under the age of 16 chosen for his or her performance in the youth classes at the 34th Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL. Youth riders who also participate in amateur classes will be considered, but only their youth class will be factored into the final decision. This year’s recipient in the Youth division was Jett Reynolds, who swept all six motos in 85cc (9-11) and 85cc (9-11) Limited.

The AMA Motocross Amateur Rider Award is designed to recognize an outstanding non-A-class rider at the Loretta Lynn National who is ready to make an immediate impact in A-class competition. This year’s recipient, Austin Forkner, plans to turn professional before the start of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season. Forkner finished first in 250cc B and in Schoolboy 2 (13-16) B/C.

The AMA Motocross Vet/Senior Rider Award acknowledges an outstanding rider over the age of 30 at the AMA Motocross National Championships. Results from all Vet classes are taken into consideration in selecting the winner. In the ultra-competitive division, Sebastian Tortelli proved to be a front-runner by capturing the the Vet 35+ (2-1-1) title over Robbie Reynard (1-2-2) and John Grewe (3-3-3). Both Tortelli and Reynard raced Junior 25+ in addition to Vet 35+, but the positions were swapped as Reynard captured the title in Junior 25+.

California added another State Championship award by having the most racers of any other state in the country to win the overall titles.

In Saturday’s racing action, Kawasaki owned the podium in the Vet 30+ class. Paul Perebijnos, a former mechanic got professional rider Dean Wilson, prevailed in the final moto with a 2-2-1 to claim the National Championship. Blake Keeton (1-3-5) was second and Charles Castloo (5-5-2) was third improving on his disappointing 39th-plac finish in Junior 25+. Douglas Flinner (3-2-2), Terry Bostard (1-6-1), and Jay Wagner (9-3-3) were the top three in Senior (40+).

Tristan Charboneau, 2014 AMA Motocross Amateur Rider award winner, had the fastest lap time of the week, running a 1-minute, 53.547-second lap of the Loretta Lynn’s track. Charboneau was expected to be a contender for the 450cc A championship, but unfortunately he suffered a mechanical issue and DNF in the last moto, opening the door for Bradley Taft (3-1-2) to grab the title, with Darian Sanayei (2-3-6) and Benny Bloss (4-5-3) finishing second and third, respectively.

Justin Cooper claimed the College (16-24) championship and the Two-Stroke (16+) titles to his resume by sweeping every moto in both classes. The 250cc B Limited title went to Joey Crown, who won via 3-1-1 finishes. Michael Mosiman (4-3-2) was second, and Cole Barbieri (7-4-3) was third. Hannah Hodges ended her minicycle days with yet another clean sweep of the Girls Sr. (12-16) over Jordan Jarvis (2-2-2) and Jamie Astudillo (3-3-3). In Girls Jr. (9-13) Jazzmyn Canfield dominated the field with 1-1-1 over Karly Morgan (4-2-2) and Tayler Allred (3-3-5).

Super Mini 1 (12-15) and Super Mini 2 (13-16) both belonged to the quick moving Garrett Marchbanks, who is moving up to the B class next year. Carson Mumford (1-4-4) clinched the title in Mini Sr. (12-13) with Jarrett Frye (2-2-2) finishing second and Joe Shimoda (4-2-3) finishing third.

The KTM brand enjoyed a clean sweep of the 65cc (7-11) classes with Matthew Leblanc (1-2-1) winning, and Maximus Vohland (3-1-3) and Hunter Yoder (4-3-5) also making the podium.

All three 250cc C divisions ran on the final day of racing. Sam Franklin (1-2-2), Richard Taylor (5-1-1) and Devon Oxsheer completed the 250 C podium. Levi Newby (6-1-2) claimed the first ever National title in the 250cc C (12-16) Limited with Gaige Demars (4-6-1) and Richard Taylor (1-2-8) finishing out the podium in second and third. 250cc C Limited was Sam Franklin finishing 1-1-2 and with Levi Newby (2-7-1) and Trevor Pavlik (4-5-3) rounding out the podium.