The third 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) was delayed by three hours to give the track crew time to scrape the mud off the track after an early rain storm again drenched the area. The MX Sports track crew was prepared for the rains to come in overnight and rolled the track so it would be easier to fix in the morning. After scraping the track and getting most of the water off the track the racing started at 10:30 a.m., with a slight change in the schedule to allow the two 65cc classes to go first on a smoother track before the big bikes tore it up. With the rains from the other days, the schedule was still a little behind and now with another three-hour delay (Thursday) the racing of the second motos would be nonstop until the daylight ran out.
Loretta Lynn’s Update
The first race of the day was the 65cc (10-11) limited class that was won by Kawasaki team green rider Ryder Difrancesco. You would think the Bakersfield, California, resident might not be an experienced mud rider, but Ryder sure made it look like he is.
In the 65cc (7-9) Limited class, KTM rider Daxton Bennick from Morganton, N.C., made work of the rest of the competition. Daxton grabbed the holeshot and walked away with the win. On the podium Daxton said that he loves riding in the mud and didn’t let the conditions get to him.
After the small bikes completed their race, the Senior (45+) was next on the schedule. John Grewe made work of his competition again by taking another victory. So far John is having a perfect moto score in all kind of conditions this week at the Ranch; will he be able to win two classes with six wins at the end of the week? It’s looking that way.
In the Women All-Star/Women 14+ class, Hannah Hodges was leading the entire race and then threw it away on the last lap. Brandy Richards ended up earning her second win with Kaitlyn Morrow finishing third. Hodges ended up fourth.
Pretty much the same thing happened in the 14+ class. Jordan Jarvis fell down while leading and Jazzmyn Canfield got by to take the moto win. Canfield and Jarvis both have a moto win and a second place, so the title will be decided in their final race, which, if all goes well, will be held at the end of the day Friday (or first thing Saturday morning).
In the second 250 A moto, Challen Tennant took the holeshot ahead of Bradley Taft, Chase Sexton and Cameron McAdoo. Sean Cantrell started off in fifth. Tennant, who was riding with injuries, slipped back, letting Sexton, Taft and McAdoo battle it out for the lead. Sexton eventually made a clean pass on Taft, who continued to chase Sexton to the finish but couldn’t get the lead back.
Sexton took the win, followed by Taft, McAdoo and Tannant. Cantrell ended up seventh (2-7). When they all meet again in the third and final moto, Taft will have the advantage when it comes to the class champion; he’ll be going in with 1-2 moto finishes. Next best is Sexton with a 5-1.
In 85cc (9-12) Crockett Myers rocketed out of the gate and pulled a huge holeshot and put it to good use. He went on to take the win but Chance Hymas, Maximus Vohland and Jett Reynolds kept the pressure on him much of the way.
Reynolds actually passed Hymas for second but later crashed and had to work his way back up through the field to finish third.
Vohland was also near the front for a moment before he, too, fell while running second and dropped out of the race.
In the 250 B Limited class, Mark Markoff, who took second in moto one, nailed the holeshot but suffered a hard get-off when he tangled with another rider, ending his ride. KTM rider Mitchell Falk grabbed the lead and ran off with the win, finishing well ahead of Kawasaki rider Cameron Cannon and Yamaha pilot Nolan Heppner.
Falk is poised to win the class championship. He’ll enter the third and final moto Saturday with a 1-1. His nearest rival is Cannon with a 4-2.
The racing went straight though with only small breaks for the track crews to repair the track between every fifth moto. The 51cc moto two races that were scheduled for 12 p.m. were moved back to 6 p.m., so more races could be fit in on the shorter day. The day ended after the 51cc classes.
Racing has already gotten under Friday. The sun is out and things are getting back to normal, which means it’s hot at the Ranch. However, rain is still in the forecast, and the MX Sports crew is preparing for the worst.
A few titles have already been sewn up. Honda rider Ryan Surratt wrapped up the College (16-24) Championship with 1-3-1 moto finishes, with Samuel Redman (Kawasaki) taking second with 3-1-2 results. Richard Jackson (Yamaha) went 2-2-3 for third overall.
Because of the rain, results were all over the place in many of the classes, especially in the 250 C Jr. (12-16) Limited class, where Caleb Weaver (KTM) took the class championship with 7-5-5 results. Max Lee, who won the third and final moto came in with 30-11 results. Sean Swett was second in the final moto after going 13-19 in the earlier motos. Austin Roberts went 31-24-3.
For previous Loretta Lynn’s updates, click HERE
For complete Loretta Lynn’s results, click HERE
BY ROB KOY
