By Billy Ursic; Photos courtesy of Zak Lowery (pbase.com/lowery)

If you're reading this, I'm quite sure you realize the magnitude of the AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn's. It's by far the biggest amateur motocross event in the world, and this time of the season is the most intense, as Regional qualifiers narrow the field of thousands down to 42 of the best riders in each class. If you finish in a qualifying position, you're guaranteed a gate at the National; if not, well, there's always next year...

 
This past weekend was the Northeast Amateur Regional, which was held at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, PA, the very same facility which will be hosting the final round of the 2008 AMA Toyota Motocross Championships later this summer. Riders were greeted with crystal clear, sun-filled skies, as well as almost unbearable heat and humidity as the mercury climbed to record-setting levels all weekend long. But if you've ever been to Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, the site of Loretta Lynn's Ranch, you know that nothing compares to that heat and humidity.

The United States is divided up into seven regions, and the Northeast always lays claim to being one of the toughest to qualify in. Almost every amateur class has a full gate of riders, and one of the most impressive rides of the weekend was put forth by Team Green Kawasaki's Cody Robbins, who made the trek north to Pennsylvania from Huntersville, North Carolina. Robbins, who dons #8, won every single moto of all four B classes, tallying a total of 12 moto wins. Robbins now has to decide which two classes he will compete in at Loretta Lynn's, because you're limited to two at the National. Runner-ups to Robbins in those four classes included local hotshot Dylan Slusser (Motocross B Modified), German import Ken Roczen (MX Lites B Stock), Ohio's Steven Mages (Motocross B Stock), and Millsaps Training Facility product Sean Lipanovich (MX Lites B Modified).    

Speaking of Roczen, the young Suzuki rider is being acknowledged as the next major star from Europe, and he told us before the motos started that he was less than four weeks into recovery from a few broken ribs and a punctured lung, which resulted in a week-long hospital stay after a first-turn crash in Europe. The Red Bull/Fox/Cernic's Suzuki-backed rider rode cautious yet was quick to qualify in both the MX Lites B Stock and Modified classes.

  In the A classes, the only rider to win more than one class was yet another North Carolina resident, Taylor Futrell. The Serious Racwear-supported rider turned a lot of heads over the weekend, guiding his Honda CRF450Rs to victories in both the Motocross A and Motocross A Pro Sport divisions. He also carded top three finishes in both of the Lites A divisions too, but you could've thrown a blanket over the trio of Futrell, Suzuki's Steven Clarke, and Honda-mounted Michael Picone in almost every moto, as the racing was that close! Clarke, who hails from England but now resides at the Millsaps Training Facility in Cairo, Georgia, took the win in the MX Lites class, while Picone took the overall in MX Lites Pro Sport.

The C classes saw some great battles as well, with South Carolina's Seth Caldwell taking the victory in MX Lites C Stock, and New York's Dominick Guastella taking top honors in both the Motocross C and MX Lites C Modified classes aboard his Suzukis.

In the age classifications we saw two-time Loretta Lynn's champion James Evans face some difficult opposition from Pennsylvania's Ashlee Woskob in Plus 25, as Woskob's 1-3-1 bettered Evans' 2-1-2. New York's Jeremy Parsons swept all three motos to guarantee a position in the Vet B/C 30 Plus class, and Cernic's Kawasaki's Raymond Niebel looks to be well on his way to defending last year's National championship with a 1-1-1 in the Senior 45 Plus class. And former KTM factory pilot Keith Johnson used a three-moto sweep to take the honors in the Vet 35 Plus class.

After all was said and done, the Northeast Amateur Regional again shows its strength as being one of the fastest regions for amateur motocross in the country, as some of these riders will surely be in contention for championships later this summer at Loretta Lynn's Ranch.

Below is a list of the top seven in each class, all of who are guaranteed a spot on the gate at Loretta Lynn's. Congratulations, and we'll see you in Tennessee!

Junior 25 Plus

1. Ashlee Woskob (Hon)

2. James Evans (Kaw)

3. Chad Sanner (Kaw)

4. Greg Pahart (Suz)

5. Keith S. Johnson (Kaw)

6. Billy Ursic (Kaw)

7. Billy Schlag (Kaw)

 

MX Lites C Stock

1. Seth Caldwell (Yam)

2. Tom McDaniel (Kaw)

3. Michael Slater (KTM)

4. Josh Bock (KTM)

5. Robert Wilson (Yam)

6. Dominick Guastella (Suz)

7. Justin Ferguson (KTM)

 

Senior 45 Plus

1. Ray Niebel (Kaw)

2. John Camelio (Hon)

3. Darrell Sims (Yam)

4. Joe Dibella (Hon)

5. David Capane (Suz)

6. Tom Sebastian (Suz)

7. Jim Mandrin (Hon)

 

Motocross B Modified

1. Cody Robbins (Kaw)

2. Dylan Slusser (Kaw)

3. Steven Mages (Kaw)

4. Sean Lipanovich (Hon)

5. Johnny Wasco (Kaw)

6. Josh Emmi (Kaw)

7. Chris Carr (Kaw)

 

Motocross C

1. Dominick Guastella (Suz)

2. Ben Toye (Hon)

3. Max Stevey (Suz)

4. Dana Krause (Kaw)

5. Michael Slater (KTM)

6. Jake Bailey (Kaw)

7. Ryan Perkins (Yam)

 

Motocross A Pro Sport

1. Taylor Futrell (Hon)

2. Jay Weller (Suz)

3. Steven Clarke (Suz)

4. Brian Shuckhart (Suz)

5. Chad Wages (Hon)

6. William Duffy Jr. (Kaw)

7. Anthony Roth (Hon)

 

VET B/C 30 Plus

1. Jeremy Parsons (Kaw)

2. Jason Maraugha (Kaw)

3. Wes McCoy (Kaw)

4. Mike Bendis (Kaw)

5. D.J. Ament (Kaw)

6. Mmike Russell (Yam)

7. Jeff Fenton (Kaw)

 

MX Lites B Stock

1. Cody Robbins (Kaw)

2. Ken Roczen (Suz)

3. A.J. Catanzaro (Kaw)

4. Garret Toth (Suz)

5. James Decotis (Suz)

6. Brandon Phinney (Suz)

7. Sean Lipanovich (Hon)

 

MX Lites A Pro Sport

1. Mike Picone (Hon)

2. Steven Clarke (Suz)

3. Taylor Futrell (Hon)

4. Derek Rogers (KTM)

5. Brian Shuckhart (Suz)

6. Jay Weller (Suz)

7. Shane Durham (Kaw)

 

Vet 35 Plus

1. Keith S. Johnson (Kaw)

2. Greg Pahart (Suz)

3. Kurt McMillen (Suz)

4. Michael Treadwell (Kaw)

5. Darren Edsall (Hon)

6. Gaylon Dickson (Kaw)

7. Mark Kane (Hon)

 

Four Stroke

1. Daniel Lewandowski (Hon)

2. Steven Mages (Kaw)

3. William Duffy Jr. (Kaw)

4. James Evans (Kaw)

5. Alex Sigismondi (Hon)

6. Johnny Wasco (Kaw)

7. Reed Chapman (Kaw)

 

MX Lites C Modified

1. Dominick Guastella (Suz)

2. Seth Caldwell (Yam)

3. Luke Knowlton (Yam)

4. Thomas McDaniel (Kaw)

5. Cameron Smith (Suz)

6. Robert Wilson (Yam)

7. Chris Duymich (Hon)

 

MX Lites A

1. Steven Clarke (Suz)

2. Taylor Futrell (Hon)

3. Mike Picone (Hon)

4. Justin Weeks (Suz)

5. Shane Durham (Kaw)

6. Dakota Kessler (Hon)

7. Daniel Corbin (Yam)

 

Motocross B Stock

1. Cody Robbins (Kaw)

2. Steven Mages (Kaw)

3. Sean Lipanovich (Hon)

4. Tyler Clark (Yam)

5. Josh Emmi (Kaw)

6. Chris Williams (Kaw)

7. Ricky Winters (Hon)

 

Senior 40 Plus

1. Kurt McMillen (Suz)

2. Gaylon Dickson (Kaw)

3. James McIlvaine (Hon)

4. Mark Kane (Hon)

5. Chuck Nicholson (Suz)

6. Gary Lussier (Suz)

7. Barry Ferguson (KTM)

Motocross A

1. Taylor Futrell (Hon)

2. Mike Picone (Hon)

3. William Duffy Jr. (Kaw)

4. Greg Durivage (Hon)

5. Chad Sanner (Kaw)

6. Dakota Kessler (Hon)

7. Josh Clark (Hon)

 
MX Lites B Modified

1. Cody Robbins (Kaw)

2. Sean Lipanovich (Hon)

3. Ken Roczen (Suz)

4. Steven Mages (Kaw)

5. Garret Toth (Suz)

6. Nicholas Myers (Suz)

7. James Decotis (Suz)