Slaw Dog
Annnnnnnnnddddddddddd that’s a wrap on the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch. Thanks for joining us all week and special thanks to our sponsors: Fox Racing, Scott Goggles, Arma, and Race Tech.
The final champions were crowned on Saturday and here is 6 ½ things we saw from the final day of racing.
1. Thrasher Wins the Battle, LeBlanc the Title
What could have been for Nate Thrasher in 250 B. In the first moto, Thrasher went down with Nicholas Romano and a lapper on the final lap while running fourth and was relegated to ninth. It arguably cost him the title, as he won the second and third motos, but lost out on the championship.
Thrasher led this one start to finish with Romano holding second until two laps to go when Kaeden Amerine made the pass.
Matthew LeBlanc didn’t need to do much to claim the championship and he didn’t, as he cruised to fifth and took the title with 1-2-5 motos. It’s the second title of the week for LeBlanc, who won the 450 B title on Friday.
Moto 3 Top 5
- Nate Thrasher
- Kaeden Amerine
- Nicholas Romano
- Chance Hymas
- Matthew LeBlanc
Top 5 Championship
- Matthew LeBlanc 1-2-5
- Chance Hymas 2-5-4
- Nath Thrasher 9-1-1
- Kaeden Amerine 7-4-2
- Tommy Rios 5-7-8
2 Ryder Sweeps Supermini
Ryder DiFrancesco entered Saturday looking to sweep both Supermini classes on the week. And he made it look rather easy.
Supermini 2 took place in the morning and Ryder was up front early. The holeshot went to Collin Allen with Benjamin Garib in second. Garib quickly took the lead and keep Ryder honest for a few laps before giving up the spot. DiFrancesco would open up a gap from there and sweep the class.
Starts killed Evan Ferry all week, but what a massive improvement he made from a year ago. In the third moto, he was buried off the start but worked back to capture second in front of Garib, who said he rode his practice bike with 150 hours on it after his main bike blew up yesterday.
In the third Supermini 1 moto, Ryder wasted little time getting to the front. Ferry got into second early, but wasn’t able to challenge for the lead. Garib, who finished third in the first moto, had a big crash and DNF’d.
After his 6-for-6 week, DiFrancesco now has eight mini cycle titles at the Ranch.
Supermini 2 (13-16) Moto 3 Top 5
- Ryder DiFrancesco
- Evan Ferry
- Benjaim Garib
- Gavin Towers
- Jayden Clough
Supermini 2 (13-16) Championship Top 5
- Ryder DiFrancesco 1-1-1
- Evan Ferry 2-2-2
- Benjaim Garib 4-3-3
- Gavin Towers 3-5-4
- Jayden Clough 5-4-5
Supermini 1 (13-16) Moto 3 Top 5
- Ryder DiFrancesco
- Evan Ferry
- Gavin Towers
- Jayden Clough
- Ivan Aldama Jr
Supermini 1 (13-16) Championship Top 5
- Ryder DiFrancesco 1-1-1
- Gavin Towers 2-2-3
- Jayden Clough 5-3-4
- Evan Ferry 4-5-2
- Collin Allen 6-4-DNS
3. Kitchen Ends Week in a Runaway
Slaw has no clue if Levi Kitchen is the “next big thing”. Hell, until a few days ago the Slaw had never heard of him. But I’ll tell you this: the Washington native was the breakout star at the Ranch this year.
He dominated EVERY. SINGLE. MOTO. he was in this week and went a perfect 6-for-6 in 250 and 450 B Limited. I mean, the kid was winning most of his motos by 30+ seconds!!! I don’t care who you are racing, that’s damn impressive.
It was more of the same in the final 450 B Limited moto on Saturday, as Kitchen grabbed the early lead and ran away to a 35.7 (!!!) second win over Matthew Curler. Luke Kalaitzian rounded out the podium and took second overall.
Moto 3 Top 5
- Levi Kitchen
- Matthew Culer
- Luke Kalaitzian
- Brock Lassiter
- Daxton Bennick
Top 5 Championship
- Levi Kitchen 1-1-1
- Luke Kalaitzian 5-2-3
- Brock Lassiter 4-3-4
- Matthew Culer 2-8-2
- Daxton Bennick 3-7-5
4. Fauser Wins Thriller in 85cc
If you missed the 85cc (10-12) class today, you lost out on the best championship battle of the weekend. KTM’s Luke Fauser (2-3) and Suzuki’s Landen Gordon (1-2) entered the third and final moto with championship hopes and it was an absolute thriller.
Kawasaki’s Drew Adams ran away with the moto win, but a first moto DNF ruled hm out the championship. Behind Adams was a championship showdown. After the first lap Fauser was in second with Gordon in third and second moto winner Kade Johnson in fourth. To win the title, Fauser needed someone to get around Gordon and Johnson made a case early pressuring Gordon for the early part of the race. On lap 5, the two tangled going into the corner after the start and both went down. Johnson got up first and took over third, but Gordon fired back to regain the position and the championship. Johnson tried to fight back but dumped it in a corner and was out of the running.
It looked like Gordon would take third and the championship, but down the stretch Enzo Temmerman made a huge charge to catch Gordon. Gordon held him off with two laps to go, but Temmerman made the pass for third on the final lap in the corner after the finish. Gordon spent the last lap desperately trying to catch Temmerman and made a last ditch effort in the final corner but made a mistake and fell short of the title. Fauser would take second to win the championship in dramatic fashion.
Moto 3 Top 5
- Drew Adams
- Luke Fauser
- Enzo Temmerman
- Landen Gordon
- Kade Johnson
Championship Top 5
- Luke Fauser 2-3-2
- Laden Gordon 1-2-4
- Kade Johnson 3-1-5
- Kelana Humphrey 4-5-6
- Diesel Thomas 5-9-10
5. Schools Out for Summer
Maximus Vohland wrapped up a huge week at Loretta’s on Saturday with another dominating performance in Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C to capture his second title of the week. Vohland also sweep 125cc (12-17) B/C to go a perfect 6-for-6 on the week.
He won the third moto by 12 seconds over Talon Hawkins, who went 2-2-2 on the week.
Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C Moto 3 Top 5
- Maximus Vohland
- Talon Hawkins
- Larry Reyes Jr
- Gage Stine
- Avery Long
Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C Championship Top 5
- Maximus Vohland 1-1-1
- Talon Hawkins 2-2-2
- Larry Reyes Jr 3-3-3
- Crockett Myers 5-7-7
- Avery Long 8-5-5
For Jett Reynolds to even be racing after his huge crash while leading the second 250 B moto was impressive enough. And it damn sure looked like he was going to win the title as he led the third Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C moto early. But his terrible luck at the Ranch this week continued, as he lost the front on lap 6 and gave up the lead to Nicholas Romano.
Meanwhile, Thrasher was buried early and had to work his way through the pack. This opened the door for Chance Hymas to enter the championship picture. With all eyes on Reynolds and Thrasher, Hymas entered the moto with 2-3 scores and took full advantage of Thrasher’s bad start and Reynolds’ crash.
With Reynolds down after his crash, Hymas began to work on Romano for the lead and took over the no. 1 spot on lap 7. A lap later, Thrasher moved into second and set up a showdown for the title. Thrasher made a hug push on the final lap, but it was too little too late, as Hymas held on for the title in a stacked class.
Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C Moto 3 Top 5
- Chance Hymas
- Nate Thrasher
- Nicolas Romano
- Wyatt Liebeck
- Jett Reynolds
Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C Championship Top 5
- Chance Hymas 2-3-1
- Nate Thrasher 3-1-2
- Jett Reynolds 1-2-5
- Kaeden Amerine 8-4-8
- Brad West 7-5-11
6. Stilez Ends Career on High Note
On the heels of his 250 Pro Sport sweep on Friday, Stilez Robertson entered the final Open Pro Sport moto tied with Mason Gonzales for the championship (both had 1-2 finishes).
It was a winner-take-all showdown between the two, and it was Gonzales using his starting prowess to take the early lead. Robertson slotted into second to set up a face-off for the title. Robertson made a few mistakes early, but finally found momentum on lap 3 and pulled the rear wheel on Gonzales. He took over the lead a lap later and pulled away from the Yamaha rider. He’d go on to win the moto and his second title of the week.
Both Robertson and Gonzales said they are turning pro next week at the opening round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s—yes the same track they just raced at all week!
Moto 3 Top 5
- Stilez Robertson
- Mason Gonzales
- Dilan Schwartz
- Jyire Mitchell
- Austin Black
Championship Top 5
- Stilez Robertson 1-2-1
- Mason Gonzales 2-1-2
- Dilan Schwartz 3-4-3
- Preston Kilroy 4-3-18
- Vincent Luhovey Jr 5-6-7
6.5. Dennis Ends the Week with a Title
The FINAL moto of the week—65cc (10-11)—actually had a ton of intrigue entering the third moto. Vincent Wey and Seth Dennis were tied for the championship as both had 1-3 motos entering Saturday. Canyon Richards was still in contention with 2-4 scores, but needed help.
Richards did what he need to off the start, grabbing the early lead. Dennis, Blecha, and Wey slotted in behind. Wey quickly got around Blecha and pulled onto Dennis for second—and the championship. On the second lap, Wey was pressuring Dennis when he went down in the Billboard turn. Wey would get up in fifth, but his crash gave the title to Dennis.
Richards would win the moto, but it wasn’t enough for the championship as Dennis took second. Wey worked up to third but had another problem late in the moto and finished sixth.
Dennis also won the 65cc (10-11) Limited title on Friday.
Moto 3 Top 5
- Canyon Richards
- Seth Dennis
- Deacon Denno
- Caden Dudney
- Cole Blecha
Championship Top 5
- Seth Dennis 1-3-2
- Canyon Richards 2-4-1
- Vincent Wey 3-1-6
- Caden Dudney 5-2-4
- Cole Blecha 4-5-5
Bonus: Video of the Day
Seth Heggie was the first Vurb Red Program inductee and has spent the week with us here at Loretta’s. Well, ole Seth celebrated his 18th birthday on Friday with an absolute fire edit from the Ranch.
