| April 9, 2024
The Golden State National was a doubleheader weekend—with a different winner on nearly every podium—hosting the opening rounds of the Rockwell Pro Hillclimb Series and the AMA CFMoto Motoclimb Super Series, presented by Hi-Tech Motorsports, April 6-7. More than 60 athletes traveled from all across the United States, Canada and even France to compete at the Carnegie SVRA hill in Tracy, California.
Logan Cipala won Saturday’s King of the Hill competition.
By Matt Musgrove | Photos by Jenny Keller Photography
The day before the event began, it was hailing and storming badly, scaring the promoters and the racers who traveled a long distance to the event. But the storm passed through, and the dirt conditions became the best they’ve ever been. Because this event had representatives from three countries, it also hosted the second Nation’s Cup, an international exhibition that awarded the top athletes from their respective countries.
Saturday kicked off the Rockwell Pro Hillclimb Series, which hails from the Billings Motorcycle Club in Billings, Montana. The day kicked off with the 490-600cc class, which is a limited class for bikes with a wheelbase of 66 inches and use rubber knobby tires. Kenny Ingalls won the class on his CR500, followed by Logan Mead and McCoy Molzahn.
The 450 Pro Modified class was up next, allowing 450cc bikes with any length and paddle tires. This hill was marked out a bit fast, and the top athletes were making 11-second passes up the 500-foot hill. Local racer Jon Wolfson won this class on his Honda CRF450R, followed by Jake Anstett and Petey Krunich.
The Pro Masters class was next, allowing racers over 40 years old and bikes with a 700cc limit. Dusty Quast won this class, followed by Ryan Wyatt and Jason Geisler. The 0-700 class allowed bikes up to 700cc with any rubber tire combination, and was won by Logan Mead, followed by Logan Cipala and Anstett.
The final class of the day was the 701-Open, which allows any custom motorcycle over 701cc and was the most exciting event of the day to see and hear. There were all types of motorcycles in this class, everything from KTM twins to Japanese four-cylinders and more. The last time these bikes ran at Carnegie, Cipala won the King of the Hill on his Buell 1190 HCR back in October and followed up with another win for the Rockwell Open class this weekend on the same bike. He beat out some of the best Open-class riders in the world, sharing the podium with Anstett on his KTM 1190 and Payton Reimers on his circa-1970s air-cooled wonder that is named “Chunga.” This day of racing consisted of super tight times and the best dirt conditions one could ask for.
Dusty Quast topped Saturday’s Pro Masters class.
Sunday’s racing consisted of the AMA Motoclimb Super Series classes, changing up the hills, and allowing a couple of different bikes into the program. The first class of the day was the Pro Mod class, allowing 450-700cc bikes with any tire, fuel and length combination. Anstett came out swinging on his Lloyd’s Performance KTM, winning by nearly a half-second ahead of Petey Krunich and Cipala.
In the Pro Master’s Open class, Ryan Wyatt won ahead of Mike Norton and Jason Geisler. The MSS Open class allows nitromethane and metal on the rear tires, which both weren’t needed here to do well on the hill in the excellent conditions. Cipala followed up his win from the day before with another win on Sunday, making a 13.825-second pass on his Buell 1190 HCR with a paddle-tire setup. Anstett and Mead were close behind, both on KTM 1190s.
In the Pro Stock class, 37 out of 52 riders made it over the straight-shot hill, with Jon Wolfson winning it on his Honda CRF450R and getting the top seed in the Verticross bracket. Josh Mouzakis brought out his Stark Varg and finished two-tenths of a second behind Wolfson, and Cipala finished third on his KTM 450SX-F. In the Pro Stock Verticross, the top 32 were seeded into a tournament bracket and had a hill with many options to go up and over.
The upset of the day was when AJ Christopherson beat out Cipala in the second round of racing and past champion Joe Shipman, allowed Christopherson to move on and eventually make it to the third-place runoff against Wolfson. Mouzakis ended up in the finals against Joseph Allnutt on a KTM 450SX-F. Mouzakis and his Stark Varg got the jump and beat out Allnutt over the top, marking Mouzakis the Pro Stock Verticross winner and getting the Stark Varg its first win in AMA competition.
The overall score was determined by the Pro Stock single runs, Pro Stock Verticross, and the Open Class, and it was Jon Wolfson who won his first-ever MSS Overall event with 35 points on the weekend. Cipala, four-time MSS Champion, finished in second, with Mead in third.
The next round will be on June 1-2 at the Big Sky Challenge in Billings, Montana. This will also be a combined series event between the Rockwell Pro Hillclimb Series and Motoclimb Super Series.
