Loretta Lynn's Amateur National Motocross Championship Rockstar Makita Suzuki Race Report

The 2010 Amateur National Motocross Championships were held this past week at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN. In the eyes of most if not all, including your's truly, this race is the pinnacle of amateur motocross. To even be allowed to compete at the Ranch, you must first qualify at an area qualifier, then follow that up by qualifying through a regional championship race. If you are one of the talented few to actually make it, you better bring your A game.

The 3 moto format requires podium level consistency and there is never a shortage of sweltering heat and humidity to overcome in the long motos. This, the 29th annual visit to whiskey country, was the hottest anyone has seen in quite some time. I heard rumors in the pits of temps soaring over the 110 degree mark, and the constant, unending sweat droplets pouring from my person did not make me think otherwise. In fact there were several cases of heat stroke throughout the week as riders gave it their all, striving for their respective class titles.

I was very excited to attend this, one of my favorite races of the year, but also delighted to see all of my amateur kids as it had been a few months. With the talent on our Xtreme Rockstar Suzuki and Rockstar Makita Suzuki amateur elite teams, I knew it would be a good week. The two teams as a whole were able to achieve a stellar 14 moto wins, 35 moto podiums, and 59 moto top tens. They followed that up with 5 overall titles, 12 podiums and 18 top tens by week's end.

This also marks the graduation of top Rockstar Suzuki A Class riders to enter the pro ranks and continue their careers in the big time of Outdoor Nationals and Supercross. We will see Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Austin Howell this coming weekend at Unadilla and the debut of Xtreme Rockstar Suzuki's Ian Trettel hopefully as soon as Southwick, the following race.

Xtreme Rockstar Suzuki Rider Ian Trettel finished out his amateur career with a title in 250 A followed by a solid 2nd overall in 250 A Pro Sport. Trettel, a long time Suzuki phenom will now move on and start his Pro career most likely in Southwick, Massachusetts. The break out rider of the week had to be Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Gannon Audette. Gannon, a B class champion In 2009 came out swinging in the A classes in 2010. Audette dominated the 450 A Pro Sport class via (1-1-1) Finishes. He also finished 2nd overall behind Trettel in 250 A. Gannon finished no worse than 2nd in any moto he Contested.

Also graduating to the Pro class is Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Austin Howell. Austin will be making his Pro debut Immediately, at Unadilla this coming weekend in New York. I have no question that he is ready for the long Pro Motos after seeing him come off of the track not even fatigued slightly during the hottest motos of the day. Howell locked up 2nd overall in 450 A after winning the final moto by some 20 seconds.

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Joey Savatgy was able to collect a title in Schoolboy 2 with consistent (1-3-2) moto scores. Joey found the grit to recover from a hard crash in Schoolboy 1 and charge through for the win. In the final moto for the Championship, Savatgy had a malfunction that caused his header pipe to break off. Riding smart as directed by his dad Joe via pit board, he was able to cruise home and clinch the overall championship.

In the 85 12-14 Modified Class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Steven Gretchen overcame varying conditions to become The victor. The first moto was blazing hot, the second moto was red flagged and cancelled for the day after severe lightning and rain. The second moto reconvened the following morning and was the muddiest of the week. After Negotiating the tough conditions and finishing 2nd in the third and final moto, Steven was crowned champ.

Also claiming a title for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki squad was Jace Owen. Jace was able to win the final two motos of the Supermini 2 class to lock down a title of his own. Had it not been for motor problems while leading during a muddy Supermini 1 moto, Owen may very well have gone home with 2 titles under his belt. Jordon Smith just missed out on titles in both his classes, but two 2nd overall finishes at LL is very impressive. He was able to pick up the pair of 2nd’s in the 85 12-14 Stock and Mod classes.

85 9-11 Mod rider Rookie White put in one of the best performances I saw all week in his final moto. Rookie Came from outside the top 15 to overtake the leader and pull away to a huge lead. In doing so, White was able to finish on the box with a 2nd overall.

Unfortunately Xtreme Rockstar Suzuki’s Jeremy Martin had a bad first moto in Schoolboy 2 as he turned things around drastically to win both moto 2 and 3. With his comeback performance, he claimed the 3rd and final spot on the podium.