“SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE REPORT: A TRIPLE DIGIT DAY WITH 208 RACERS BRAVING THE HEAT

Brian Medeiros (934) has a very trick 2025 Kawasaki KX450 Proven by his recent win streak..

PHOTOS BY MARK RIKER

Gavin Sorenson (467) was third overall in the 450 Expert class behind Hawaaian hero Brian Medeiors  and Hayden Robinson. 

A lot of the “Saturday at the Glen regulars went to the cooler climate of Big Bear for the first-ever Big Bear Grand Prix cross-country race at the Bear Mountain Ski Resort—including Josh Fout ,Josh Mosiman and 695 of their friends. They thought that they were escaping  the 100-degree temps by going up to 8000 feet.

But something wonderful happened down at Glen Helen’s 2000 foot elevation. Just as practice was about to start, the riders noticed large rain drops falling. Not a lot of rain drops, but enough to signal that something was about to happen. Suddenly, the horizon of the San Bernardino Mountains put on a light show of lightning. Everybody thought that the race would have to be stopped out of respect for the lightning, but cooler heads prevailed and pointed out out that although those mountain looked close to the track, they were actually 15 miles away. (and so was the lightning.

The rolling whoops coming out to the Velodrome have a unique rhythm to them and it starts with clearing the first set, which Brian Medeiros (934) is doing, while early leader Hayden Robinson, (461) lands on the face of number two. Brian Medeiros would sweep both motos of the 450 Expert class and both motos of the Open Expert class.

With the lightning scare eliminated, at least for the lower elevations, it suddenly turned cool. The temps dropped like a rock from 104 degrees to 82 degrees. The big rain drops continued to fall from the dark clouds, but the rain never came down hard enough to make anybody wet—just enough to mess with the rider’s goggles.

Dilan Alcantara (251) went 5-4 in the 450 Expert class for  fourth overall, but when he tried his hand in the Open Expert class he went 6-6.

The best thing about a cloudy day at Glen Helen is that the race track doesn’t dry out as soon as it does when the sun hits it. No one has to water the track, the Catr operator doesn’t have to go out and fix anything and the riders are quick to declare this to be the best track prep in months—courtesy of Mother Nature. But we all knew that as soon as the clouds rolled on by and the sun burned through the lower layer, that the temperature would start to climb and eventually it did edge itself up near the century mark, but by that time all the racers were home cleaning their bikes for the next day of riding. And they all had a tale to tell their friends that went to Big Bear to beat the heat—about the Hot August Summer Day when  the temperatures dropped 20-degrees  right before pratice started (which at Glen Helen in 7:30 in the morning in an effort to beat the heat).

Dennis Stapleton (184) came out to play at “Saturday at the Glen” in the 450 Expert class.

Damian Collier (207) won the 450 Intermediate class and got second in the Open Intermediate class.

The riders  were thrilled that the Glen Helen track crew had mellowed out the $100,000 MotoFest jumps, rolling whoops and super big downhills to make the layout much safer for the regular guys. The track crew watered the track at regular intervals throughout the day to keep the dirt in primo condition.

Riley Morgan (180) was second overall  in the 450 Intermediate class, but won the Open Intermediate class.

Traison Payne (33) went 1-1 in the 250 Intermediate class.

Tyler Nicolls (55) lost the front end and missed the rut in the 450 Intermediate class. That is 450 Expert Dilan Alcantara (251) coming up behind to make an easy pass..

Ty Strouss (124) was third in the 450 Intermediate class on a Beta two-stroke. 

Cody Knauss (313) won the Over-40 Intermediates and went 2-2 in the Open Novice class (which is open to all skill levels as long as they are on 450s).

Thomas Haddad (813) swept both motos of the Over-30 Intermediate  in front of Ricky Richards, Caleb Rice,  Wayne Ashby, Stephen Moore, Mike Conner and Geno Prida.

Ricky Richards (45) went 2-2 in the Over-40 Intermediate class. Unfortunately for Ricky, Cody Knasuss went 1-1.

Three week ago, Jon Ortner raced MXA’s 2025 KTM 450SXF, the next week he raced MXA’s 2026 Kawasaki KX450. Last week he race the 2026 KX450 in the first moto and a 2025 Beta 450RX in the second moto. This week he was back on the KTM 450SXF again—and, when Luther French’s Yamaha blew-up, Jon’s 4-1 was good enough for the win Over-60 Expert win.

Luther French (21) won the first moto of the Over-60 Experts with ease, but in the second moto Luther’s YZ450F started puffing smoke and eventually the puffing turned into a smoke screen. He had gone far enough to get a seventh place in moto two before his engine quit, but a 1-7 didn’t make the podium.

Phil Dowell’s 2-3 lost second place in the Over-60 Expert class to Ron Shuler’s 3-2. 

Bob Rutten (83) struggled in the Over-65 Expert class on what most riders thought was a perfectly prepped track. His 3-4 score was only good enough for fourth behind Doug Frankos, David Fontes and Arnie Davis. 

Pete Vetrano’s 3-3 edged out Marc Crosby’s 2-4 for third overall in the Over-65 Intermediate class. Pete also went 4-4  in the Over-50 Novice class to earned a fourth overall. 

Marc Crosby (95) went 2-4 for fourth in the Over-65 Expert class on MXA’s KTM 350SXF.

Bryan Friday (43) was second overall in the Over-50 Novice class with a 2-2.

Cooper Wommack (548) finished second in the 450 Novice class with a 3-2 score behind Sean Stafford’s  1-1.

Jax Krahenbuhl (125) took the win in the 250 Novice class.

Kyle Knauss (313) was third in the 250 Novice class with a 4-3.

Hunter Dieterle (228 was second in the the Open Novice class with a 2-2. 

Catherine Roome (111) won both motos of the Women’s class.

Raul Prieto (22) went 3-3 in the 85 Beginner class.

Ryder Paul (411) used a 2-2 to take second in the 65cc class.

Hudson Evensen (64) went 3-3 in the 4-to-6 year old Pee-Wee class and had time to style for a while over this jump.

Konner Wolfe (86) was fifth in the 85cc minicycle class with a 2-5 score

Christian Granados (147) swept both moto of the 85cc class.

Reed Conner (922) went 4-4 for fourth overall in the 65cc class.

2025 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” SCHEDULE

If you are looking for a racing organization that offers long motos, low cost and a very consistent race schedule—this is it. “Saturday at the Glen” motocross will race again on September20 and September 27. Glen Helen’s wants every rider to pre-register on the internet to speed up the program. Pre-entry is only $30 ($25 for minis). Post entry is $40 on the day of the race. The Gate fee is $10 (per person). You can sign up for the next “Saturday at the Glen” motocross as late as the Friday before the next race (or just show up in person on race day). For more info go to www.glenhelen.com