Remaining championships awarded as Loretta's concludes
Further upsets in 2022 AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.
The remaining 17 titles were awarded in the 41st running of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Tennessee’s Loretta Lynn Ranch on Saturday.
With a two-point lead entering Saturday’s final Open Pro Sport moto, all eyes were on Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Ryder DiFrancesco as he looked to overcome his hardship from the 250 Pro Sport class.
Unfortunately, another challenging third moto resulted in additional heartbreak for the California rider when he went down in the early laps. That left Monster Energy SlamLife Racing Honda’s Cole Martinez to go on and win the moto, which was enough to clinch the crown and he also won the Junior (25+) title.
While things didn’t necessarily work out in his favor in 250 B, Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Haiden Deegan was certainly on point all week in Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C. Entering Saturday’s finale, the second-generation racer handily won the first two motos and once again stepped up when it mattered the most in moto three for the title.
Fresh off a triumphant outing on Friday in the 125 Jr. (12-17) B/C class, all eyes were on Husqvarna Factory Amateur Race Team’s Casey Cochran entering the third and final moto in Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C. An emphatic victory put the exclamation point on 3-1-1 moto finishes, which resulted in his second Loretta Lynn’s championship of the week.
All week long the Supermini classes featured head-to-head battles between KTM Orange Brigade’s Jeremy Fappani and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Leum Oehlhof and that continued in the deciding moto for both Supermini 1 (12-15) and Supermini 2 (13-16).
The third and final Supermini 1 moto saw both riders put themselves in the mix off the start, where Oehlhof had the edge initially starting a couple positions ahead of Fappani.
What followed was an exceptional race in which the title combatants had to also battle against GasGas Factory Amateur Race Team’s Tiger Wood and Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Landen Gordon. Wood controlled the race early, as Oehlhof and Fappani fought for second. Fappani made the pass happen and then found his way into the lead.
Oehlhof, meanwhile, encountered brief misfortune and dropped to fourth, which proved to be the deciding factor in the title fight. While Fappani appeared to have the moto in hand, a hard charge by Gordon in the late stages of the moto saw the Kawasaki rider move into the lead.
Fappani fought back but endured some miscues that caused him to lose touch with Gordon. The Kawasaki rider brought home the moto win, but Fappani’s runner-up finish was enough to wrap up the championship.
When Fappani and Oehlhof returned to the track to kick off the final Supermini 2 moto, both riders sat a single point behind Wood in the overall classification. That ultimately set the stage for a winner takes all moto between the three riders.
When the racing got underway Wood did exactly what he needed to do and put his GasGas at the head of the pack. The same four riders occupied the top four spots on the track as the moto took shape, where Oehlhof soon emerged as the fastest of the group.
After starting fourth, Oehlhof charged up to second and stalked Wood for half of the moto before he made the winning pass. In his effort to fight back Wood encountered misfortune and crashed. While he held on to second, he lost invaluable ground to Oehlhof.
Fappani endured some misfortune of his own and dropped to 10th place before putting in an impressive rebound effort. However, it ended any hopes of a Supermini sweep at Oehlhof took an emphatic and championship-winning moto victory. Oehlhof (1-4-1) and Wood (3-1-2) completed their Supermini 2 journey tied atop the overall standings, but Oehlhof earned the tie-breaker.
In WMX, after Fasthouse KTM’s Viviana Contreras made the opening statement of the week with the moto one win, defending class champion and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Kawasaki rider Sophia Phelps responded with a moto win of her own to move into control of the title fight.
As the field entered Saturday’s final moto, Phelps sat tied with KTM Orange Brigade’s Tayler Allred, who had been the most consistent rider of the week. In the end, Phelps’ resiliency proved to be the hallmark of her successful defense of the WMX crown, with 3-1-1 moto finishes that easily helped her earn back-to-back Loretta Lynn’s championships.
The final titles captured included Dawson Cobb (250 C), Gage Stine (College 18-24), Sawyer Gieck (65cc 7-9), Ryder Bell (250 C Jr. 12-17 Limited/250 C Limited), Avery Long (450 B Limited), Landon Gibson (85cc 10-12 Limited), Jimmy Jarrett (Senior 45+), Kyleigh Stallings (Girls 11-16) and Maddox Temmerman (65cc 10-11).
Additionally, GasGas Factory Amateur Race Team’s Caden Braswell received the prestigious honor of the Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award, while NSA Yamaha Factory Amateur Team’s Avery Long earned AMA Amateur Racer of the Year honors and Husqvarna Factory Amateur Team’s Casey Cochran was named AMA Youth Racer of the Year.