“SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE REPORT: FOR A LOCAL RACE, “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” ATTRACTS A WIDE AUDIENCE

Sean Lipanovich (far right) leads the 450 Experts out of Glen Helen’s Talladega first turn.

Glen Helen is a big place. It has miles of off-road trails, an off-road truck track, that can be used for scrambles, Monster truck events and any other kind of event that wants a fenced-in compound with massive bleacher seating. It also has three distinctly different motocross race tracks. On a weekly basis Glen Helen holds four to five races every Saturday and Sunday. Because of its size, in terms of acreage and wide open spaces, it doesn’t depend on any single group of riders. Instead it relies on several different groups, from factory riders testing their outdoor bikes, to R&D departments testing next year’s production models, to local racers who congregate on the National track to more experience riders who prefer the Arroyo track located on the hill above the National track and then their arer the minicycle, PeeWee and electric bike riders who prefer the Stadiumcross track.

Sean Lipanovich (505) never got any breathing room as Hawaiian hero Brian Medeiros shadowed him in both motos, but he also never passed Sean either.

It’s not that they don’t mix together, but they tend to stay in their own private groups with their own specialized tracks. Glen Helen is one race track that is made up of  four different tracks that are all very local—be you be a minicyle racer, vintage bike enthusiast, a vet looking for an old-school style race track and, of course, the National track combines all the thrills into one layout.

So far this season we have been Brian Medeiros (934) race on as Suzuki RM-Z450, Kawasaki KX450, Yamaha YZ250F, Husqvarna FC250, Honda CRF450 and this week he was on a full-race Kawasaki KX450SR.

All the locals know each other,. They can’t help but see each other every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday. Because Gle Helen feels so local, no one expects any outsiders to come to Glen Helen—although the WORCs, NGPC, SRA, World Vet Championship, Day in the Dirt, World Two-Stroke Championship, six-, ten- and 24-Hour Glen Helen Endurance races do tend to fill the place up to the brim..

Brock Harden (38) snow plows the front wheel of his Husqvarna at the very top of this steeply banked corner early in the Over-30 Expert race.

Which is why it is always surprising to the locals when the discover that a lot of the people in the pits are not just driving out for the day, but have come a long way for the chance to race at Glen Helen.  So, when the locals showed up early in the morning this past Saturday, they were surprised by the number of motorhomesin the pits—that isn’t normal for a “Saturday at the Glen ” race because they are run on a tight schedule that tries to get all the motos over before 2:00 p.m. (this is a hold-over from the Saddleback Saturday races and previous REM races), where they wanted to make sure that the riders could get home in time to work on their bikes for Sunday.

Brock high-sides down the banking and Justin Muscutt (95) has no where to go.

This Saturday was a little different because the Old Timer’s club, now called “Vet MX,” asked if they could piggy- back three races into the normal 7 races that “Saturday at the Glen Helen” schedules The motos are designed to use multiple gates drops to help speed up the program—which even without the Old Timer’s was going to be a tight squeeze when 250 riders signed-up.

Amazingly, Justin Muscutt (95) recovered enough to go 4-2 for second overall in front of Nicholas Neys, Michael Del Fante and, of course, Brock Harden, but Jared Hicks avoided ed the crash to take an easy win. 

When you add to that turnout about ten foreign riders, visiting at the motocross vacations businesses, plus 32 riders from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and Utah—the 2:00 p.m. rules goes out the window.. All in all, it was a fun day—not as local as the regulars like, but on August 2, the “Saturday at the Glen” races will rotate back to the Arroyo Cycle Park track, which has a distinct down home flavor to it and smaller turnouts.

Jared Hick (17) took the Over-30 Expert class victory in front of Justin Muscutt, Nicolas Neys, Michael Del Fante and Brock Harden.

So enjoy Debbi Tamietti’s photos and a quick overview of who was who on this “Saturday at the Glen.”

Alison Bushnell (13) easily won the Women’s class and managed to work her way through all of the Over-60 Novices, Over-65 Novices, Over-65 Intermediates into the Over-65 Experts.

Steven Hokit (224) took the win in the Over-30 Intermediate class, but he had to eat some roost on his way to the front.

Mike Brownfield (942) swept both motos of the Over-60 Novice.

BFormer 1970s Baja star Bob Rutten (83) kept his win streak alive in the Over-65 Expert class.

John Fitz came from Farmington, New Mexico, to race against his old friends at Glen Helen…and we do mean old as John went 1-2 in the Over-70 class in front of Phil’s Cruz’s 3-1 

Luther French (21) faced a fairly tough Over-60 Expert field, but put them away in both motios to go 1-1 to Ed Guajardo’s 2-2 , Jon Ortner’s 4-3, Ron Shuler’s 3-4 and Dean Adkins’ 5-5. 

Brandon Kirkendalhl (283) finished second in the Over-40 Novice class and the 450 Novice class with a 3-2 in both clesses. He then faced an 18-hour drive home to Pasco, Washington.

Ricky Richards (45) used a 1-2 to best Jason Klements (4-1) and Michael Carter (3-3) in the Over-40 Intermediates.

Damian Collier (207), son of Sean Collier, took the win in the 450 Intermediates with a 3-1 score.

Justin Giordano (237) tied with Damian Collier in the 450 Intermediates, but his 2-2 was edged out by Damian’s win in the second moto.

Michael Del Fante (120) went 2-4 for fourth in the Over-30 Expert class.

Travis Wallace (187) laid down a 2-1 score, which was just enough to ace out John McFadden’s 1-2  for the 85 Beginner victory.

It is always nice to see former Kawasaki factory rider and two-time Japanese National Champion Jeff “Chicken” Matiasavich out spinning laps.

Nixon Meineke (96) went 2-2 in the 85 class on MXA’s Yamaha YZ85.

Brandon Kirkendall (283) had a cool day. He went 3-2 in both the 450 Novice class and the Over-40 Novice class. Then, he faced the 18-hour drive back to Pasco, Washington.

Jon Ortner was testing two-strokes for Pasha Afshar and went 4-3 for third overall in the Over-60 Expert class.

Hudson Jones (15) went 3-3 for third overall in the 65cc class.

Bill Sauro (311) swept both motos of the Over-50 Expert class.

Craig Davis (811) used to promote a lot of motocross events, but stopped promoting races and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Craig went 2-3 for second overall in the Over-50 Expert class. 

The “Dentist of the Stars” Marc Crosby finished went 2-3 for third in the Over-65 Intermediates. He tied with Scalvini exhaust importer Pete Vetrana for second overall, but Pete’s 3-2 beat Marc’s 2-3. We can’t tell who he is sponsored by.

Doug Homer (31) came down from Quincy, Washington, to have a triple header vacation by riding at three different SoCal tracks before capping his triple moto-trip by racing at “Saturday at the Glen” on his yellow Husqvarna.

Jim O’Neal (127) does a little real world testing of his motocross gear.

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. 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 ($30 for minis) 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

2025 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE SCHEDULE
Aug. 2…Arroyo Track
Aug. 9…National Track
Aug. 23…National Track
Sept. 13…Arroyo Track
Sept. 20…National Track
Oct. 4…Arroyo Track
Oct. 25…National Track
Oct. 31- Nov. 2…World Vet Motocross Championship
Nov. 15…Arroyo Track
Nov. 22…National Track
Dec. 6…National Track