Hurricane Mills, TN (August 2, 2014) – Today marked the fifth and final day of racing at the 33rd Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL, and the final 17 championships were decided, making a total of 36. In addition, a few special awards were handed out to three deserving riders: RJ Hampshire, Tristen Chaboneau and Garrett Marchbanks.
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous all week, by Loretta Lynn’s standards, with relatively moderate temperatures (although Friday and Saturday we a tad bit warmer than the previous days) and no rain all week, making for perfect racing and spectating.
Among the special awards, Factory Connection/AMSOIL Honda’s RJ Hampshire was flawless this week, going 6-0 in his motos, which earned him the coveted AMA Horizon Award. Hampshire fended off challenges from Yamaha/bLU cRU’s Aaron Plessinger and Kawasaki-mounted Colt Nichols in the Open Sport division, plus a strong push by Yamaha-mounted Luke Renzland in the 250 A class, but in the end, Hampshire was all alone when he crossed the finish line in each case. The Horizon Award is given to the A rider who shows the most promise as they prepare to enter the professional ranks. Hampshire plans on compete in next week’s Pro Motocross round at Unadilla. Photo by Shan Moore
Tristen Charboneau grabbed another win in the 450 B class, today, making him perfect in the class for the week and earning him the title. The Rock River Yamaha rider also won the 250 B class with a 2-1-2 moto tally. For his efforts, Charboneau was given the AMA Motocross Amateur Rider Award, which is new for 2014. This award is presented to an outstanding non-A-class rider, and is designed to recognize those who are ready to make an immediate impact in A-class competition. Photo by Shan Moore
The AMA Motocross Youth Rider Award, which goes to a rider under the age of 16, was awarded to Garrett Marchbanks, who won titles in the Mini Sr 1 (12-13) and Mini Sr 2 (12-14) divisions. Marchbanks drew heavy fire from Husqvanra’s Jalek Swoll in today’s final moto of the Mini Sr 1 class, but managed to pull away for the win. In all, Marchbanks won five of six motos to capture the two championships. Photo by Shan Moore
MacKenzie Tricker overcame mechanical problems to win the Women’s 14+ title. The Yamaha/bLU cRU-backed rider from Australia, who is also currently leading the WMX series, went 1-2-5 during the week. Photo by Shan Moore
Austin Forkner topped fellow Team Green Rider Sean Cantrell today to complete a sweep of the Super Mini 2 (13-16) division, which turned out to be Forkner’s only title of the week. Forkner is currently training with Robbie Reynard, and his mentor won all three motos of the Vet 35+ class, giving him his 10th Loretta Lynn’s title. Photo by Shan Moore
Hannah Hodges completed a sweep of the Girls Sr. (12-16) class with an impressive win today over Danielle Grigoletti and Gracie Van Horn on her MavTV-backed Suzuki. Photo by Shan Moore
