The NMA Grand National Championships wrapped up with the final runoffs in Ponca City, Oklahoma, today, where the last of 70 class championships were decided, and Florida Cobra rider Jordan Bailey walked away with the most titles – a total of four, while Kawasaki teammates Adam Cianciarulo and Zach Bell each claimed three.
Bailey came into the final day of racing with his eye on five titles, and the nine-year-old finished out the week-long event with championships in the Jr Cycle Stock 6-8, Jr Cycle Mod 6-8, PW Stock 7-8, and PW Mod 7-8 divisions. However, he fell while leading the Super Pee Wee 6-9 and ultimately finished second to Carter Halpain.
“I don’t really know what happened but I have to learn from my mistakes,” said Bailey. “It was kind of foolish of me to do that. I feel really good about winning four titles, but I was hoping to win five. I didn’t have very good starts this week and that’s something I’ve got to work on.”
Meanwhile, Cianciarulo had designs on four titles heading into the final day of racing and walked away with championships in the 85/150 Stock 12-13, 85/150 Open Thru 16, and Supermini Thru 13 classes, but the 12-year-old could not match the speed of Zach Bell in the Supermini Thru 16 race, where he finished a solid second.
“I just went up against the older guys in the Supermini race and I gave it my all but I ended up with second behind Zach Bell,” said Cianciarulo, who almost didn’t ride the Supermini Thru 16 race because of a stomach ailment.
In addition to the Supermini Thru 16 championship, Bell added titles in the 85 14-16 Stock and 85 14-16 Mod divisions to finish out a great week for himself and younger brother Chase, who took the title in the Jr Cycle Mod 9-11 division.
“I got the holeshot in the Supermini race and I just rode as smooth as I could,” said Bell. “I knew AC was back there, I kept checking on him, and on the last few laps I was able to just ride around for the win.”
Despite struggling all week with his starts, Eli Tomac claimed two titles, the Colorado Honda rider winning championships in the 250 4-Stroke Non-Pro class, with a 1-1 score and the125/250 Sclboy Thru 16 class with a 2-2. Tomac came from outside the top-10 to finish second in the the125/250 Sclboy Thru 16 runoff to get the title.
“I just wasn’t getting good jumps – I guess my reaction time was off, and in that last moto I got juked by the starter,” said Tomac. “I just tried to charge super hard through the pack and it paid off. I could tell a lot of those guys were getting tired and I just didn’t give up.”
Other title winners included Kyle Peters (250 Stk Int), Blake Barnes (250 Stk Nov), Jake Pinhancos (Jr Cycle Stk 9-11), Justin Bogle (125 2-Stroke Non-Pro), Donny Brown (85 Stk Thru 11), Conner Elliott (250 Mod Nov), and Ryan Surratt (85 Mod Thru 11).
