| November 30, 2022
The annual Thor Mini O’s, presented by Pro Circuit, has been a long-standing tradition for many racers and their families, 51 years to be exact. The Mini O’s is one of the five events that make up the prestigious American Motocross Championship Majors and is a week-long Thanksgiving tradition for the amateur motocross community.
This year’s 51st running of the Thor Mini O’s saw a record number of entries. Drew Adams (300) was one of the week’s big winners.
Words & Photography by Rob Koy
The Mini O’s not only attracts top racers from the U.S. but top racers from all over the world. The race combines both supercross and motocross and gives the racers a chance to be awarded number-one plates in both events. At the conclusion, a combined Olympiad award is given to the top three riders in each classification.
In anticipation of a record number of entries in both SX and MX, the race program started a day earlier than usual so the event could conclude on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Promotor Wyn Kern and his staff worked hard to increase the size of the pits for the increased entries that was expected.
In supercross the entries topped last year’s record with 2594 entries. The motocross entries also broke the record from last year at 3063 entries.
Haiden Deegan was the star of the show this year. The Star Yamaha rider came away with five championships and two Olympiad awards.
Supercross racing started Sunday with heat races going all day long as the top racers qualified in their perspective classes for the mains. The main events started on Monday afternoon with SX Championships awarded all day long.
Star Racing Yamaha rider Haiden Deegan won the 250cc Pro Sport main, but it didn’t come easy. Ayden Shive got the holeshot and held off Deegan for most of the main until lap five, when Deegan got by him. Bryce Shelly also got around Shive, who held onto third place.
Daxton Bennick, in his debut race for Star Racing Yamaha, got by French rider Quentin Prugnieres for the lead and take the win in 250cc A. Ben Garib passed Prugnieres for second place, and Prugnieres held onto third. Deegan got a bad start and was only able to make it up to fifth place.
Gavyn Welzien earned the Nihilo Prodigy Award, which is handed out to the rider who accumulates the highest number of points in the 50cc class in both supercross and motocross.
In the 450cc Pro Sport main, Prugnieres got the holeshot followed by Bennick. Deegan got a top-five start and had to work his way up through the pack. Deegan made his way by teammate Bennick on lap seven for second and closed the gap on Prugnieres.
On the last lap, Deegan made the pass with two turns to go to take the win in 450cc Pro Sport. Star Racing Yamaha riders swept the top step in the A classes.
Team Green Kawasaki rider Krystian Janik led all laps in 250cc B to take the win, with Julien Beaumer in second place after working his way up from a fifth-place start. Drew Adams completed the podium in third.
Avery Long took the top step of the podium in 450cc B after Janik and Beaumer went down on lap six. Mitchell Zaremba came in second and Jadon Cooper completed the podium in third.
Tiger Wood was the Supermini 2 supercross champ.
Beaumer lead the whole main to take the win in Schoolboy 2, with Adams in second and Janik in third place. Adams threw down some impressive laps to make it close at the end, but Beaumer edged him out.
In Supermini 1, Team Green Kawasaki rider Landen Gordon led all laps to take the win over a hard-charging TLD GasGas rider Tiger Wood. Third was Max Shane.
In Supermini 2, Wood got the start he needed and was able hold off Gordon who had to work his way up to second place. Max Shane made the podium in third place.
In the 85cc class, a standout rider in SX was Carson Wood who was making his Team Green debut. And it was a good one. Wood won the Mini Sr. 2, took second in Mini Sr. 1 and 85cc (12-13), and took third in 85cc (9-13). Not bad, indeed.
Noah Stevens was the 250cc B Limited-class champion.
At the halfway point of the week, Wednesday, the motocross racing started. Many of the classes had at least two divisions, and the little-bike classes and the novice classes had three divisions in moto one.
Deegan dominated the field in the 250cc Pro Sport, 250A and 450cc Pro Sport. He went 1-1 in each class and led all the laps in the 250cc Pro Sport and 250cc A motos. In the 450cc Pro Sport class, Deegan had to work his way to the lead after getting mediocre starts.
In moto one, Deegan had to work up after getting a 16th-place start. But by the fifth lap, he had moved up to third place, then second. He made a pass on Benjamin Garib on the last lap to take the win.
Ayden Shive went 3-3 for second overall in 450cc Pro Sport, and Ben Garib finished third overall with a 2-8 moto score. Garib fell on the first lap and worked his way up to eighth and was surprised he made the overall podium.
In 250cc Pro Sport, Prugnieres went 3-3 for second, while Star Racing teammate Daxton Bennick went 5-2 for third place.
Krystian Janik celebrates winning the Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C and 250cc B (MX) championships and 250cc B supercross championship.
Drew Adams went 1-1 in the 450cc B class and had a big lead in both motos. Avery Long went 4-3 for second, while Zaremba was consistent with a 3-3 for third overall.
Team Green Kawasaki’s Krystian Janik came back from injury after sitting out Loretta Lynn’s with an elbow injury. Janik went 4-1 for first overall, while Zaremba went 3-2 for second overall.
KTM rider Noah Stevens had moto scores of 2-3 to complete the podium in third. Long looked comfortable in the 450cc B Limited class with 1-1, while Zaremba went 1-2 for second, and Noah Stevens went 2-3 for third overall.
The 250cc B Limited class saw Steven score a 1-2 for first overall, while Leum Oehlhof’s first moto score of fourth hurt his overall chance for the win. Oehlhof went 4-1 for second overall, and Nicholas went 3-3 for third overall.
Landon Gordon topped the Supermini 1 MX championship.
Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C saw Janik take the overall win with a 2-1 moto score. Long went 1-2 for second. Adams lost the lead when he tipped over in the Gator Pit, leaving Janik to take the lead, while Adams went 1-4 for third. KTM rider Luke Fauser took the overall wins in both Schoolboy 1 (12-17) and 125 (12-17) B/C.
The Supermini class saw Team Green rider Landen Gordon continue his winning streak from SX with a 1-1 in Supermini 1 (12-15). Tiger Wood had a bad moto two. While leading the race, he fell and was only able to move back to third. Wood went 1-3 for second, while Logan Mortberg went 2-4 for third overall.
In Supermini 2 (13-16), Landon Gibson (GasGas) went 1-1. Mortberg kept it on the podium again in Supermini 2 with a 1-3 for second overall. Tiger Wood went 5-2 for second overall.
Carson Wood claimed three titles in the Mini (85cc) ranks.
Brennon Harrison looked good in the Mini Sr. 1 (12-14) with a 1-1, while Carson Wood went 2-2 for second overall. Inaki Abarzua went 2-3 for third. Carson Wood improved his moto scores and looked dominant in Mini Sr. 2 (13-15) with a 1-2 for first overall. Kane Bollasina came in second with a 3-4, and Gregory Jordan was third with a 2-5.
At the conclusion of the races, the Olympiad Award was handed out to the top three combined riders in both SX and MX. The Mini O’s also gives out sponsored awards to the top riders of the week.
SCOTT GOGGLE AWARD
Ashton Arruda
DUNLOP SILVER TIRE AWARD
Haiden Deegan
PRO CIRCUIT PLATINUM PIPE AWARD
Haiden Deegan
NIHILO AWARD
Gavyn Welzien
THOR BRONZE BOOT AWARD
Marcus Trujillo
DIAMOND AWARD
Drew Adams
ENGINE ICE COOL UNDER PRESSURE
Wyatt Duff
