35th Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship Officially Kicks-Off with First Motos

Courtesy of MX Sports

HURRICANE MILLS, Tenn. (August 2, 2016) - The 2016 Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, presented by AMSOIL, officially got underway today, August 2, at the historic Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. This year marks the 35th running of the world's largest and most prestigious amateur motocross championship. Track officials were forced to delay racing after an abundant amount of rainfall occurred over night and continued throughout the early morning.

The first official gate drop of the AMA Amateur National was the College (16-24) division which kicked off the day at 11:30 a.m. California's Ryan Surratt jumped out to the early lead grabbing the Bell Helmets Holeshot Award and continued to lead the race from start to finish. In the next moto, after a 10-year hiatus, Austin Stroupe made his return to the Ranch in the Junior 25+ class. Much like Surratt, Stroupe made his way to the front of the pack early on and continued his dominance until the checkered flag waved.  

The Mini Sr. 2 (12-14) class brought the heat to a damp race day. Carson Mumford found himself leading the way once the gate fell, but he suffered through a few crashes. Joshua Varize secured the lead position early on until facing a wreck in the famed Ten Commandments. Ty Masterpool held down the fifth place position, but continued chipping away positions and secured the lead position on lap five. By the time the race was complete Masterpool had over 12 seconds on Dilan Schwartz and Levi Kitchen who placed second and third.

Defending champion Jett Reynolds lined up in the 85 (9-11) Limited class with one less competitor by his side. Matthew LeBlanc was unable to make the start when he experienced an issue with his throttle cable on the site lap. Team Green's Nick Romano grabbed the holeshot with his teammate behind him in third. Romano managed to lead majority of the race before crashing, while Reynolds faced a string of bad luck with multiple tip overs. Eventually Reynolds was able to put it all together and lead the way until wrecking on the last lap. Jordan Biese capitalized on Reynolds' mistake and made the last-minute pass to earn the first moto victory.

Open Pro Sport took to the rough and rutted track for their first moto. Deemed the elite class of the AMA Amateur National, the up-and-coming stars were eager for the Moto 1 gate drop. By the time they checked through timing for the first time Dustin Winter was leading the way. Cameron McAdoo seemed unfazed with his arm injury where he sat in the top five right in front of Chase Sexton. Bradley Taft took command of the top spot by lap four, but took a spill in the 10 Commandments which handed the lead over to Sexton. McAdoo placed second and Taft managed to recover and earn third.

Evan Ferry led the way to the holeshot line 65 (10-11) Limited class, while a big pile-up gathered behind him. By the conclusion of the first lap Ferry and Ryder DeFrancesco had a rather large gap on their competition. As they challenged each other through the breaking bumps Hunter Yoder slowly started catching the duo. At the conclusion of the grueling 20-minute moto Yoder stood atop of the podium.

The 42 fastest ladies lined up on the gate to end the first day of racing. Hosting the top Women's Motocross Championship (WMX) competitors was the Women All-Star (16+) class. Class rookie Hannah Hodges found immediate success earning the holeshot. Hodges ended up getting caught up with a lapper near the mechanic's area allowing Brandy Richards to pass. Richards held onto the lead taking the Moto 1 win with Hodges and Marissa Markelon rounding out the podium. Jordan Jarvis took home gold in the Women (14+) division.

Day two of racing will resume tomorrow, Wednesday, August 3, with the remaining opening motos along with the beginning of the second set of motos. RacerTV continues with live streaming coverage beginning at 10 a.m. EST/ 9 a.m. CDT.

Tuesday's achieved coverage is now available on RacerTV.com, to view the racing action from day one please click HERE, while complete results from the 2016 National Championship can be found HERE.

The 2016 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL is taking place now through August 6 at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

For additional information, visit the official website at www.mxsports.com or call (304) 284-0101. Also follow the official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for exclusive content and to catch the latest news.

About the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship
The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship is the world's largest and most prestigious amateur motocross racing program. The national qualifying program consists of 55 Area Qualifiers (February through May) and 13 Regional Championships (May through June), hosted at select motocross facilities across the country. The qualifying system culminates in the National Final (first week in August) hosted annually since 1982 at the home of country music star Loretta Lynn in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Nearly 22,000 racers attempt to qualify in 37 classes for the 1,482 available positions at the National. Christened "The World's Greatest Motocross Vacation," the National event serves as a launch pad for some of the biggest names in professional motocross and supercross, including Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey. The national program is produced by MX Sports, Inc., a West Virginia-based race production company and sanctioned by AMA. For more information, please visit www.mxsports.com.


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