| October 31, 2023
The final AMA IRC Motoclimb Super Series round took place at the Carnegie Classic in Tracy, California, on October 29. This 500-foot-long hill at Carnegie SVRA was dry and rough, challenging some of the best Motoclimb athletes in the nation and making the points race even closer than expected. In addition to the racing action, the event featured youth racing, over a dozen vendor booths, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and elevated starting pads on semi-trailer decks where racers launched off and into the hill.
Logan Cipala wrapped up the overall MotoClimb Super Series Championship in Tracy, California. Photo: Steve Goodall
By Matt Musgrove
Logan Cipala had hopes of wrapping up his fourth AMA IRC Motoclimb Super Series Championship and also the three all-new points class championships. Going into the final round at Carnegie, Cipala had a lead in all four classes, but his standing was at stake, with Austin Teyler and Logan Mead all within striking distance in different classes. The Pro Mod class kicked off the race day with about 21 of the 41 racers making it over the hill and with non-series racers throwing themselves into the mix and upsetting the points standings. Joseph Allnutt laid down the fastest run on his KTM 450 SX-F with swingarm extensions, with Logan Mead only 0.2 seconds behind in second place. Cipala finished this class in seventh place and barely won the 2023 Pro Mod Championship by one point over Mead.
In the Pro Stock Qualifier, the racers started off the elevated starts to get a feel for the metal starting gates and checked their speed going from the landing and into the hill. This hill was very difficult, where a handful was feet away from making it over the top as none of the 36 racers crested it in the first round. In the second round of racing, it was Joseph Allnutt who made it over the top on the same KTM 450 SX-F but without extensions and remained the only athlete to get through the top timing lights. This put Allnutt in the number one seed of the top-32 bracket in the Pro Stock Main.
The course on the hill was widened a bit for the Pro Stock Main, with these racers about to battle side by side into a very tough hill. In the Pro Stock Championship standings, Cipala entered the Carnegie Classic with only a five-point gap over Austin Teyler, so everyone was anticipating these athletes to go all-out. In his second round of racing, Teyler won but had a strange crash and tweaked his knee. His next race after that crash was against Cipala in the quarterfinals and would determine the class Championship. Cipala got the jump on his GasGas MC 450F and pushed Teyler to the left, taking the fast line and moving on to the next round while securing the 2023 Pro Stock Championship. But the racing wasn’t over, as Cipala ended up in the finals against Supercross racer Brandon Ray. They left the start decks and were bar to bar in the first couple hundred feet, but B-Ray pulled ahead on his Honda CRF450R, going over the hill and winning the Pro Stock Class.
Brandon Ray was the day’s Carnegie Classic overall winner. Photo: Steve Goodall
In the Pro Open class, a whole new course was opened on the left side of the hill, which started off-camber, avoided several large boulders, and hooked right into a very steep 100-foot section to the top. In the first round of racing, only 11 of the 21 athletes made it over, with Logan Mead holding the fast time with an 18.043-second run on his KTM 1290. Ray, riding Josh Hill’s Yamaha MT-09, gave it his all on the second pass with a 17.173-second run, setting the fastest time for his first race ever on an open-class bike. Teyler then pulled up on his Suzuki GSX-R750 on 50-percent nitromethane and put in a very quick 16.721-second ride, securing the class win and gaining points on Cipala for the championship. Cipala placed fifth on his Buell 1190HCR, which gave him a two-point buffer to spare over Teyler to win the 2023 Pro Open Championship.
(L-R) Austin Teyler, Cipala and Logan Mead finished out the year on the championship podium. Photo: Matt Musgrove
With the MSS determining the event overall from the Pro Stock and Open classes, it was Ray who finished 1-2 and won the Carnegie Classic event. Logan Cipala ended the day winning his fourth overall MSS Championship and won the three class championships for the season.
