Southern California motocrossers once again dusted off their vintage iron, this time for Scott Burnworth’s SoCal Vintage MX Fall Classic presented by 100% at Glen Helen Raceway.
By James Adams
The October 20-21 weekend was host to a number of classes, ranging from Classic (1972 and earlier), Vintage (1975 and earlier) and Post-Vintage (1975-1995), all the way up to modern bikes, providing something for everyone. But the feature event of the weekend was the Inaugural Gary Jones YZ GP, which, of course, starred former motocross champion Gary Jones.
In celebration of the 50th year of the iconic Yamaha YZ motocrosser, as well as a tribute to Gary Jones, the Yamaha-sponsored Gary Jones YZ GP saw the man himself line up on a replica 1974 Yamaha YZ360 two-stroke. The bike was a replica of his 1972 Trans AMA YZ prototype, built by John Woolsey with a motor by Ed Zornes and parts from Hinson Racing, Chris Oberender, Tom Sherman and John Kovalcik. Jones raced the beautiful YZ360 against a stacked class in the YZ GP, which was broken down to included classes for Vintage 125, Vintage 250 Open, Post-Vintage 125 and Post Vintage 250 Open.
“We had a great turnout for the Inaugural Gary Jones YZ GP,” remarked Burnworth. “All in we had 40 entries across the four classes, which is great to see. It was an honor to have Gary out there. He had some tough competition, but cool to see him come away with the win!”
Jones went 2-1 for the Vintage 250 Open-class win. The only one to best him being his own kin, Justin Jones who topped the first moto. Justin got a taste of motocross the way dear-old-dad experienced it, commenting simply, “this YZ360 rips!”
Other notable entries included Yamaha stalwart Doug Dubach, and of course, Scott Burnworth himself. Burner helped himself to the Revolution 125 Expert class win with a 1-1. Dubach handily took win in the first the Modern 450 Expert class.
A surprise entry came from former Supercross pro Adam Enticknap. The “7-deuce-deuce” lined up on a Noleen J6-built 1981 Maico 490 in Evolution 250/500 Expert, 500cc Cup Expert (81 & older) and the Post-Vintage Meister Cup Expert classes and swept both motos in all three divisions.
The SoCal Vintage MX Fall Classic also included the Dual Sport Open class, sponsored by C&D Cycle, and the “Burnie Burnworth” memorial mini team race.
Burnworth plans to continue hosting more SoCal Vintage Classics, the next to come in the spring. Follow SoCal Vintage MX Classic on Instagram for more info on upcoming events.
Click here to read the 2023 SoCal Vintage MX Fall Classic story in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
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