For years, the Lemmon Valley area, aka The Valley of Speed, on the north side of Reno was the site of the annual Reno Air Races that ran from 1964 through 2023. But the Air Races have since moved to New Mexico, and the Valley lay relatively silent until the March 21-22 weekend, when MMX Racing reintroduced organized dirt bike racing on a parcel of BLM land where locals enjoy free access to ride. Based at the twisty, hilly Stead MX track, the Silver State GP served as round four of the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, presented by FMF.
Photos by Mark Kariya
Despite a rocky start, six-time and reigning series champion Dante Oliveira bounced back to secure his fourth consecutive win of the season, extending his points lead. However, new to the top of the podium this year were Pro II winner Dustyn Davis, earning his first-ever Pro-class victory, and Pro Women winner Ava Silvestri.
The 90-minute $5000 feature race saw Pro Circuit Kawasaki Off-Road Team’s Justin Hoeft shoot off the line at the head of the pack on his Hatch Racing/Dunlop/Fast House-backed KX450SR followed closely by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Mateo Oliveira, AMA West Hare Scrambles Pro 250 champ Ryder Thomaselli (trying a 450 at a National for the first time) and the rest of the field.
FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team champ Dante Oliveira found himself mired near the back of the pack on his Red Bull/Motorex/Alpinestars 450 XC-F after not paying attention. “Maybe I wasn’t paying attention to the way the starter was doing the flags this weekend,” he said, “but I feel like typically they point it at us with 10 seconds to go, and I wasn’t focused on that until I saw that flag point and all of a sudden, everybody fires up and goes. And I go, ‘Ah [shoot]!’ The chase was on from there.”
With lap times in the low seven-minute range (several minutes shorter than the usual NGPC course), the leaders would eventually complete 13 laps with Hoeft out front for the first five.
But the shorter course also meant the leaders would come up on lappers sooner, and that happened abruptly to Hoeft, who reportedly tried to fit between the lapper and a bush on the side of the trail while in fifth gear. The bush caught his foot and ripped him off the bike, sending both cartwheeling into the brush.
Mateo Oliveira was only a few seconds behind and saw it happen. When he saw a course worker shortly after, he tried to get the worker’s attention to let him know Hoeft was down and might be hurt, and he ended up dropping his Acerbis/FMF/Fly Racing FE 450—one of two small spills that did nothing to help his rhythm.
“I felt good on the track, but it just wasn’t coming to me,” he said. “This track suited my style; it was just a little slower, it was pretty technical, it was chewed up, and I was right in there [for about the first half of the race]. Who knows what would’ve happened if I didn’t go down. The track was hard to pass on, and my brother charges hard to the end, but you can’t expect to win going down twice, especially against him and [eventual runner-up] Dare [DeMartile]. Another third, but I think it was maybe my strongest one of the year, so I can hang my hat on that.”
After Hoeft went down, Liqui Moly Beta’s DeMartile found himself leading, unknowingly.
“I didn’t see him crash, so I didn’t know I was in the lead. When I got around Mateo, I thought Justin was far out front,” he said.
DeMartile and his Bridgestone/Seat Concepts/Moose Racing 450 RX led for about 10 minutes before Dante finally showed up at the front, assisted by a quick pit, though lappers and dust also made it tough for DeMartile to stay with Oliveira.
“I tried to make a hard charge the lap after that and made a couple mistakes,” DeMartile admitted. “We were right on the edge, so I really didn’t want to pick myself up off the ground, so I just kind of stayed at my pace the last couple laps.”
Dante said, “It was a hard battle for quite a while, all the way to the pit stop. The first three, four laps, the lead pack was getting away, and I was watching them go, and I’m just like, ‘Oh my, I’ve got to get moving!’ ”
He launched a steady charge and picked off every rider ahead of him with well-planned passes, as well as a sprint lap when DeMartile pitted for gas, which saw him squeak past the Beta exiting the pit. From there, it was simply a matter of hitting his marks and enjoying the ride all the way to the checkered flag. He leads DeMartile by 31 points now, 120-89, with Mateo third at 84.
FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Mason Semmens is still learning how to race 450s optimally and matched his season-best fourth place, just seven seconds behind Mateo Oliveira.
And after his heart-breaking last-lap fall robbed him of what appeared to be a sure victory at round three, Zip-Ty Racing’s Dustyn Davis went wire-to-wire aboard his C&C Tile/Maxxis/Fly Racing FC 250 for his debut Pro II win. One spot and 14 seconds separated him from class points leader Sam Pretscherer, the Slam Life Racing Honda rider, having to work his way through the pack after a mediocre start.
“I got a good gap on the first lap, came into the scoring chute, and saw no one behind me so I just tried not to look back [after that],” Davis said. “This means a lot to me, so I just want to keep the ball rolling. I think a lot of my [doubting my ability] is my mental [outlook], and not having enough confidence and overstressing. Now that I’ve had some good finishes, I’m ready to carry that through the rest of the year.”
Pretscherer had his work cut out for him after the start, finding himself 11th overall after one lap, but he and his Monster Energy/Southern Powersports/Fly Racing CRF250RX methodically chased Davis down to earn fifth overall, second Pro II and hold onto the points lead over Davis, 103-89.
Acerbis/Maxxis/Alpinestars GasGas-mounted Giacomo Redondi finished seventh overall and fifth in the Pro class, followed by Simi Valley Cycles YZ250 rider Cody Simpson, who placed third in Pro II. Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts performed well in his NGPC debut, taking advantage of the track’s proximity to home to finish ninth overall, sixth in Pro, with fourth Pro II Noah Gordon of the FMF RPM Racing KTM squad rounding out the top 10.
After showing leading speed on Saturday, Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Ava Silvestri used that and the momentum she’s built thanks to wins in the desert over the past month to claim first in Pro Women. While she seemingly never put a wheel wrong on her Racer Decal/Six Five Oh Racing/Troy Lee Designs FC 250, she said, “In general, this whole year, I’ve been riding on a bit of a high, regardless of getting second at the last couple GPs. I still feel like I’m in a pretty good place everywhere—on the bike, in my head. But as I said on the podium, I definitely have to go back to work and work on a few things.”
Defending Pro Women champ Mikayla Nielsen had an off day, the SLR Honda rider hitting the ground a couple times but holding on for a solid second in class and retaining the points lead over Silvestri, 115-105. 3Bros/KnucklesUp Racing Husqvarna-mounted Dana Raynor took third for the second round in a row and is third in points at 78.CN
2026 NGPC Round 4 Results
PRO OVERALL (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM) 1:34:52
- Dare DeMartile (Bet) 1:35:04
- Mateo Oliveira (Hus) 1:35:28
- Mason Semmens (KTM) 1:35:35
- Dustyn Davis (Hus) 1:36:02
- Samuel Pretscherer (Hon) 1:36:16
- Giacomo Redondi (GG) 1:36:40
- Cody Simpson (Yam) 1:37:52
- Zane Roberts (Bet) 1:38:19
- Noah Gordon (KTM) 1:38:33
Click here to read the 2026 NGPC Round 4 Results in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
