PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
The 38th running of the Ponca City Motocross Championships in Ponca City, Oklahoma, is officially in the books, and it was Amsoil Factory Connection Honda’s Matt Bisceglia who wowed the crowd with a perfect record, winning all 12 motos that he competed in and, along the way, claiming four championships in the 250 and 450 A and Pro Sport classes.
“I’ve been getting good starts all week, and that’s been the key,” said Bisceglia. “I’ve just been riding safe and smart and getting ready for Loretta’s next week.”
The youngster from Weatherford, Texas, is planning to make his pro debut at Unadilla after one more week of racing at Loretta Lynn’s next week.
Cobra’s Jett Reynolds fell just short of his own 12-moto sweep due to a crash in the second moto of the 51cc Stock class. But fortunately for Reynolds, that error didn’t stop him from leaving Ponca City with all four championships in the 51cc (4-8) Stock and Modified, and 51cc (7-8) Stock and Modified divisions.
Haiden Deegan, son of freestyler Brian Deegan, came away with multiple titles, claiming victory in the 51cc (4-6) Modified and Stock classes. The Cobra rider claimed two wins, three seconds and a third in his motos en route to the titles.
It was a winning debut for Kawasaki and its new 2014 KX85 at Ponca City. Team Green Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks rode the all-new machine to victory in the 85cc (9-11) Stock and Modified divisions.
The winner of the 65cc (7-11) Open Modified and 65cc (10-11) Modified titles was Aiden Tijero on an Orange Brigade-backed KTM.
Luke Purther won the Supermini 2 (13-16) title with two firsts and a second. The other Supermini Championship winners were Yamaha riders Hunter Sayles in the Supermini 1 (12-15) class and Shelby Peterson in the Supermini 1 (12-16) B/C title.
This year’s event didn’t come and go without a hitch, however. Weather, as it so often does here, put a halt to Wednesday’s racing when a storm rolled in Tuesday night wrecking havoc not only at Ponca City but all across Oklahoma. Racers Wednesday morning were greeted by a track submerged in water and signs of wind damage was all over the facility. Race organizers had no choice but to cancel the day’s motos to get things ready for Thursday. They managed to squeeze in all of the motos (though some were shortened) Thursday and finished out the racing as planned. This year, racing was scheduled to end on Thursday, a little earlier than usual, so racers and their families had a little extra time to make the trip to Tennessee for next week’s AMA Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn’s.
For complete 2013 Ponca City MX results, click here
