| August 4, 2016
The second day of racing at the 2016 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, presented by AMSOIL at Loretta Lynn’s (Hurricane Mills, Tennessee) went off as scheduled with the first race dropping the gate at 7:30 a.m. For the most part, it’s been wet here at the ranch, but enough sun came out Wednesday to produce some drier racing, though the rain did return later in the day.
Loretta Lynn’s 2016
Wednesday started with the 15th race on the schedule—the 125 (12-15) B/C class—and was won by Husqvarna rider Jalek Swoll who also won the Schoolboy 1 class on Tuesday.
The 250 A race was up next and the crowd started to pack the fences for what promised to be a good race but ended up being a running-way victory for Bradley Taft, on the Horton’s Yamaha. He took the lead early in the race and started to pull away from the pack, while all the close racing took place behind him. The rider from Nixa, Missouri, Taft, ended up easily winning the class in a dominating manner. Six seconds back, Sean Cantrell took second, followed closely by Egan Mastin.
In Schoolboy 2 (13-16) B/C, Garrett Marchbanks finally put it all together for a win. He jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, though he nearly threw it away on the last lap. Jordan Bailey and Tanner Stack went 2-3.
The Masters 50+ class saw John Grewe take the holeshot and lead all the laps to a convincing victory. Defending Masters 50+ Champion Earl May, who is still recovering from an injury, was able to finish in fourth. Earl said that he is still weak and the rough track is taking its toll on him.
The 250 B Limited class saw Mitchell Falk take the victory over his KTM teammate Max Markoff.
The Girls Sr. (12-16) class saw Jordan Jarvis take the win, with Jazzmyn Canfield taking second. These two young ladies seem to be on another level than the rest of the girls. Jordan and Jazzmyn diced around everyone else as they race each other for the win.
The 50cc classes finally got to get their races in around the lunch hour after the track crew groomed the track for the young guys and girls on the small bikes. Winners were Jaden Palmer 51cc (7-8) Limited, Seth Dennis 51cc (4-6) Limited, Alyxander Goatley 51cc (4-6) Shaft Drive, and Ryan Herring 51cc (4-6) Special Limited.
After the 50cc classes, the big-bike races continued without an intermission to try to catch up from the rain delay on Tuesday and also for the chance of more wet weather later in the day. Around three p.m. the skies did open up and dumped a lot of water on the track. Unlike yesterday, though, the threat of thunder and lightning was very low, so the races continued on a very wet and muddy track. As the final races of the first motos were completed, the second motos started as they did on Tuesday—in the mud.
The inaugural 250 All-Star A/B 14+ gate was full of up-and-coming talent, but James Anderson Jr. outshined them all when he earned the Bell Helmets Holeshot Award. Anderson felt immediate pressure by Jerry Robin, and the two had a three-lap battle until Anderson tipped over in a turn, allowing Robin to move into first. As the moto wore on the hot and humid conditions began to take a toll on Robin, and Brandon Gourley continued to charge hard and eventually take the lead along with the win. Robin and Gordon Keck followed in second and third. Robin also competed earlier in the day in the 250 A class where he also scored a top-10 finish.
In other racing action on the day, Jake Masterpool ran off with the win in the 450 B class. He took the checkered flag with a huge lead over runner-up Ashton Dickinson and Jyire Mitchell.
Dilan Schwartz rode his own race in Mini Sr. 1 (12-13) and took home the moto-one win, with Hunter Yoder’s 65 (7-11) moto going much the same way when he crossed the finish line first.
Riding a 125, Robbie Reynard came out on top of the 25+ class. Michael Stryker took second. Moto-one winner Austin Stroupe pulled off the track on the second lap and recorded a DNF.
Rain has made its presence one more time on Thursday. Another delay has halted racing, which will make for another busy day of racing once things get underway again.
BY ROB KOY
Click HERE for 2016 Loretta Lynn’s results
Click HERE for previous Loretta Lynn’s news