MXA’S WORLD VET PHOTO GALLERY: IT’S LIKE BEING THERE…EXCEPT YOU WEREN’T

DEBBI TAMIETTI’S WORLD VET PHOTO GALLERY

Rise and shine. The sun rises over the San Bernardino Mountains, but only a handful of riders have risen to greet the day.

Jeremy McGrath received the Edison Dye Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday night, signed autographs and really enjoyed himself.

Mike Brown races his reflection.

Ben Lamay (426) chases Ryan Morais (116). Ryan was fresh off a 4th at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm and came to Glen Helen and got 3rd in the Over-30 Pro class and the Pasha Over-30 125 class. Ben was fourth in the Over-30 Pro class.

Geoff Patterson brought out one of his Hitch Hotels. It can be towed behind even the smallest car and has room for your bike—plus you can sleep in it. 

Nine-time World Vet Champion, AMA Supercross Mechanic of the Year (when he worked for Chad Reed), and Doug Dubach’s long-time mechanic, Alan Olson, stopped by to say hello to Lori Wilson in the control tower.

If you live right, eat healthy and surround yourself with motorcycle racers, you too could still be racing at 81 years old. Lars Larsson was the first European GP racer to come to America to live and race when Edison Dye brought him over in 1966 to demonstrate Husqvarnas and he’s still racing in America 56 years later.

Pete DeGraaf, with wife  Jeannette, came out of Canada in 2007 and racked up four Over-50 World Vet Championships and backed that up with two Over-60 titles. His 2022 hopes were dashed when he broke his fib practicing one week before this year’s race. He still came to support his fellow Canadians.

Pete Murray won the Over-40 class in 2000, the Over-50 class in 2012, the Over-60 class in 2019, 2020, 2021 and again this past weekend.

Pete Murray could have dominated the Over-40 class after his 2000 victory, but he got beat by Jeff Ward in 2001, Andy Jefferson in 2002 and Doug Dubach in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. His one win in the Over-50 class in 2012 was because Dubach didn’t turned 50 until 2013. 

After their races were over, these 10 guys went over to the bleachers and cheered for all their friends as they went by.

Josh Fout (75) appears to have found a way to climb Mount Saint Helen without having his wheels touch the ground.

If you think that motocross is a male-dominated sport, you haven’t gone to the sign-up booth to complain to these ladies that you were mis-scored. They will pull up your lap times in two seconds to show you exactly where you finished and how slow you were going.

Bob Rutten was a 1970s desert ace and Baja star, today he’s a motocrosser who lives in New Harmony, Utah, and races at Glen Helen. That’s like living in Chicago and racing in Dallas. Bob went 3-3 in the Over-65 Expert class and ended up fourth overall.

Here, Trey Jorski (49) leads, New Zealander Tony Cooksley (6) is second, Val Tamietti (31) third and Bob Rutten (83) fourth.

Bones Bacon and wife Debbie like to cruise the pits and talk to all the riders that Bones worked on their suspension back in the day.

When Ralf Schmidt was the U.S. TM importer there would always be a hard-core group of TM racers at the World Vet. This year Ralf was on the only TM we saw. He was 4th in the Over-50 Expert class (not the Pro class). He lives back in Holland, but is going to open his own racetrack in Germany soon.

When you are racing you never even notice the rock wall glistening with gold. Mike Monaghan is a dedicated two-stroke rider, but after blowing his YZ144 up three times in the past month, he borrowed a 2023 Honda CRF250 from MXA to race.

Long-time Glen Helen checkered flagman Robbie Carpenter, moved to North Carolina with his family, but got talked into coming back to Glen Helen to be the finish line flagger one last time. He is holding an autographed poster that the racers gave him…it was even signed by Jeremy McGrath.

Team Canada was the highest placing team in the World Vet Championship Cup of Nations that actually had three riders from the country they were representing. Canada finished second overall out of 14 teams with a 4-2-3 score.

Kevin Foley was a Loretta Lynn hero, winning ten titles (from his very first in 1983 to the last in 2013). Today, Kevin works at Suzuki and took his RM-Z450 to the win in the Over-55 Expert class with a 1-1.

Coming down the 200-foot drop and going under the Glen Helen bridge is a thrill ride—especially if the wind is blowing and you get to see the flags waving.

Sean Collier (207) finished second in the Over-30 class and won the Over-30 Pasha 125 two-stroke class in front of Mike Brown. It paid $2500.

KTM had their Austrian test riders at the World Vet. Guenter Schmidinger (49) was fifth in the Over-30 Pro class and sixth in the Pasha Over-30 125 two-stroke class, while Michael Staufer went 3-4 and was fourth in the Over-40 Pro class and 11th in the Over-30s. American inhouse test rider Ryan Morais was third in the Over-30 Pro class and the Pasha Over-30 125 two-stroke class. Ryan Morais won the World Vet Over-30 Pro class back in 2015.

Andy Jefferson, the 2002 Over-40 Pro class winner, still looked good 20 years later. Andy went 2-2 in this year’s Over-60 Expert class, but said from the very beginning that he would not come back for the third moto on Sunday. His 2-2-DNF was still good enough for 12th overall.

Jon Ortner (10) pulled back from motocross to race the National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) off-road series this year, but made sure to be at World Vet. He finished second in the Over-60 Expert class behind Pete Murray—which is exactly how he finished last year.

Jeremy McGrath didn’t win, but he led most of the motos and he got a third in the Over-40 Pro class (and since Jeremy is 50-years old, he could have raced with the guys his age instead). Plus, he led the Pasha Over-50 125 two-stroke class to the last lap until Doug Dubach ran him down, but Jeremy was happy and had a great day.

South African Alan Jullien (7) is too big for a 125, but don’t tell him. Alan, shown here on his YZ450F, raced his GasGas MC150 to third overall in the Over-50 Pasha 125 Pro race with a 4-3. The only people in front of him were Dubach and McGrath and there were 24 riders behind him…way behind him.

The Over-60 Pros come out of Talladega and head for the three-lane uphill turn. (From right of left) Pete Murray (7), Ed Guajardo (27), Robert Reisinger (96) and Jon Ortner (10). You can also spot Michel Clement (255), Andy Jefferson (36) and Doug Frankos (710).

Canadian Julien Cerny (117) was second in the Over-50 World Championship.

The fan favorites at this year’s World Vet Championship were Mike Brown (above) and Jeremy McGrath (below). Both 50-year-olds have nothing to prove to anybody. And the fans understand that and love them for it

Jeremy.

Dirt Bike’s Mark Tilley (95) was fifth in the Over-40 Pro class with a 5-5.

The flag at Glen Helen was at half mast because Bud Feldkamp’s wife Pam succumbed to cancer the day before the World Vet Championship commenced. All of the Glen Helen regulars and the MXA wrecking crew send Bud and his family our kindest wishes.

JON ORTNER’S WORLD VET PHOTO GALLERY

Have you every wondered how bumpy Glen Helen gets? This is Mike Brown with a massive lead threading the needle down Mt. Saint Helen.

The Glen Helen track crew worked all night to make sure that the track was ready when the sun came up on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Andrew Hopson (23) raced his Honda CR500 for Team Australia in the World Cup of Nations.

British Grand Prix star and author Rob Andrews (left) hanging out with Jody Weisel and Josh Mosiman.

Jeremy McGrath and his mom Ann share a moment at the races.

Alan Olson and Doug Dubach have been a team for 20 years. They survived when Doug was on Team Yamaha and Alan wasn’t and when Alan was on Team Yamaha and Doug wasn’t. The mechanic rider relationship is enduring. 

The MXA gang was 11-strong at the World Vet, and even camped out and told old war stories around the camp fire. Josh Fout has heard them all.

Benny Breck and his family on their favorite mode of transportation. Benny made the top ten in the Over-30 Pro class.

Isaac Uribe drove over from Las Vegas for the World Vet and wore a special T-shirt which meant almost nothing to anybody but Jody. It is an obscure reference to a Jody’s Box column. If you’re curious, Click Here.

This is the back of Isaac’s “Eight Bam” T-shirt.

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