“SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE REPORT: INTERNATIONAL FIELD & A SHOCKING 250 DEBUT

“SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE REPORT: INTERNATIONAL FIELD & A SHOCKING 250 DEBUT

This was the shock of the day. Sean Lipanovich (505) led the combined Expert/ Intermediate class when out of no where 250 Intermediate winner Amari Arnold (42) caught and passed the 2022 World Vet Motocross Champion. Sean kept his cool and over the next ten minutes slowly reeled Amari back in. This is a photo of the 450 Expert winner and the 250 Intermediate winner early in the moto.

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI

You know that Glen Helen is getting ready for the World Vet Motocross Championship, when riders from a bundle of countries show up two weeks early to race against the regulars on the famous Arroyo Cycle Park track, located on a plateau above the Glen Helen National track (although sections of the Arroyo track will be attached to the World Vet track come November 2-3).

David O’Connor (30) was the sole racer from the Emerald Isle on Saturday. David works at KTM in the Factory Services department building race engines for the Austrian teams. You can bet that his engine is fast!

The United Nations of Motocross included Australia, Canada, England, Guam, Israel, Ireland, Kuwait, New Zealand and Poland. Next Saturday, there will be a World Vet warm-up race, which should see an even larger influx of foreign riders testing their skills on the big Glen Helen National track— although Glen Helen always saves a few surprise sections that don’t get revealed until the Friday, November 1, practice (that is reserved for World Vet riders who are officially entered).

Polish racer Arek Kruk (79) was one of two racers on Starks on Saturday. Arek went 2-2 in the Over-50 Experts, while Will Harper went 8-2 in the Over-65 Experts.

RIDERS BY BRAND
Of the 166 riders, not deterred by the 50-mph wind gusts that wreaked havoc on Friday’s “Robert Reisinger Memorial Ride Day,” 30% were KTM mounted, 20% raced Yamahas, 16% were on Husqvarnas, 11% on Hondas, 11% on Kawasakis, 9% on GasGas and 3% on miscellaneous brands (Cobra, Stark and TM).

RIDERS BY AGE
Riders over the age of 60-years-old accounted for 27% of the racers. Riders in the Over-30 and Over-40 classes added up to 20% of the racers, while rider in the Over-50 classes were 18% of the racers and riders in the mini classes (Supermini, 85cc, 65cc and Pee-Wees) added up to 15% of the racers.  The other 20% of the 166 riders were in the Women’s class, two-stroke classes and Expert/Intermediate classes.

THE WINNERSSean Lipanovich (505) went 1-1 in the 450 Expert class.

450 Expert: Sean Lipanovich (KTM) went 1-1 in the 450 Experts, but he had to chase down 250 Intermediate winner Amari Arnold (KTM), who got to the front of the Expert/Intermediate classes and forced Sean into a desperate chase which finally succeeded on the last lap.

Nathan Dean (15) checks his six on his way to the 450 Intermediate win.

450 Intermediate: Nathan Dean’s (Hon) 1-1 bested the 2-2 of Capone Spina (Suz) and 3-3 of Josh Booker (KTM).

250 Expert: Cody Brownfield (Kaw) went 1-1.

Amari Arnold (42) made his 250 debut at “Saturday and the Glen” with a sweep of the 250 Intermediate class and some impressive laps at the front of the combined Expert/Intermediate moto.

250 Intermediates: Amari Arnold (KTM) didn’t waste any time racing with the Intermediates in his first-ever 250 race as he gave the Experts a run for their money in the 15-year-olds first 250 race.

125 Expert: Landon Bartol (Gas) went 1-1 in the two-stroke class.

Over-30 Experts: Dakota Garner (Suz) went 1-1.

Dylan Bennet (319) won the Over-30 Intermediates.

Over-30 Intermediates: Dylan Bennet (Yam) took the overall with a 2-1 score.

Dennis Stapleton (184) came to “Saturday at the Glen” to test his new XPR-tuned CRF450 engine, while he was testing he finished second in the Over-40 Expert class behind fellow MXA test rider Shawn Bushnell.

Over-40 Expert: MXA test riders Shawn Bushnell (Hus) and Dennis Stapelton (Hon) engaged in an intramural battle with Bushnell going 1-1 for the win.

Alison Bushnell (35) swept both motos of the Women’s class and raced with the men in the Over-40 Intermediate class to go 3-4 for fourth.

Over-40 Intermediate: Richard Albach put together a 1-1 day in front of a top five of Caleb Rice (2-3), Justin Jordan (4-2), Alison Bushnell (3-4) and Stephan Moore (6-5). Alison Bushnell would also win the Women’s class with a 1-1.

England’s Kurt Nicoll (2) went 1-1 in the Over-50 Expert class, as well he should since he was a four-time runner-up in the FIM 500 World Motocross Championships, a  six-time Over-50 World Vet Motocross Champion and a member of the winning 1994 British MXDN team.  Here, Kurt is bracket by Over-30 runner-up Josh Fout (28) and 250 Expert winner Cody Brownfield (36).

Over-50 Expert: Kurt Nicoll (KTM) won both motos of the Over-50 Experts in front of the 2-2 of Poland’s Arek Kruk (Stark).

Over-50 Intermediate: Geno Prida’s 1-1 bested Craig Bouman’s 4-2 and Giovanni Spinali’s 3-3.

Since turning 60 years old Luther French (21) has racked up an impressive number of wins in the Over-60 Experts.

Over-60 Expert: Luther French (Yam) is back to his old form with a dominating victory in the Over-60 Experts, but Canadian Pete DeGraaf (KTM) and New Zealander Tony Cooksey (Yam) kept him in sight.

Val Tamietti (31) fell down on the second-to-last lap of the second moto while passing Will Harper, who had moved over to let him by. Dave Eropkin passed the fallen Tamietti and was on his way to the overall victory, except that Val got sup out of the dirt and caught Eropkin in the last corner of the last lap for the Over-65 Expert victory.

Over-65 Expert: Val Tamietti (Yam) had to make a last lap, last corner pass on Dave Eropkin (KTM) to get the overall win with a 1-3.

“Dentist of the Star” Marc Crosby (95) took the win in the Over-65 Intermediates by winning the second moto in a very tight battle.

Over-65 Intermediate: Marc Crosby won the Over-65 Intermediate class in a knock-down drag-out battle between a top three of Crosby (2-1), Tim Hoole (1-3) and Jim Hanson (3-2).

Dave Eropkin (811) had the Over-65 Expert class in the bag when Val Tamietti fell, but somehow, some way, Tamietti took the win away from Dave in the last corner.

Races of the day: First moto winner Val Tamietti was running third in moto two of the Over-65 Experts with two laps to go. He caught up to second place rider Will Harper, who in the spirit of good sportsmanship moved over to let Tamietti pass him (since Will had finished 8th in the first moto). But, Val pushed the front end of his YZ250 two-stroke in the corner and went down, allowing Dave Eropkin to pass him. Val remounted and started the last lap in fifth place (he need to finish 3rd to get the win away from Eropkin who had been second in the first moto). In a desperate charge Val repassed Will Harper again and didn’t look like he had any chance of catching and passing Eropkin, but he closed the gap and with the checkered flag in sight Val squeezed by Eropkin for the win.

Over-40 Expert winner Shawn Bushnell (25) did something that is rarely done at Glen Helen, he passed Over-50 Expert Kurt Nicoll.

The second best race of the day was between Shawn Bushnell and Kurt Nicoll. Kurt was the odds-on favorite to win the Over-50 Expert class as he cruised to a big lead. But, the race promoters had put the Open Expert class in the same race — the “Open” classes have nothing to do with engine displacements, they are just extra classes (Novice, Intermediate and Expert) for racers who are looking for another race to ride. Midway through the first moto Over-40 Expert winner Shawn Bushnell caught up to Kurt Nicoll and passed him. The spectators were shocked because no one ever passes Kurt Nicoll. Kurt wasn’t happy about it and started to put pressure on Bushnell, who refused to crack. They yo-yo’ed back and forth, but Bushnell always held the lead— this wasn’t for the win, as they weren’t being scored in the same class, it was for pride. When they came down the big Mt. Whitney downhill on the last lap Kurt closed the gap, but Bushnell kept the lead as they rocketed towards a wide 180-degree hairpin. Bushnell hugged the inside line to keep Kurt from getting under him with only three turns left in the race, but Kurt didn’t hesitate, he went around the outside of Shawn, who still held the best line. There were lappers up ahead and as Kurt tried to close the gap on Shawn, Bushnell’s inside line nudged the lappers over into Kurt’s outside line. From there, Shawn Bushnell took the rarest of all wins over Kurt Nicoll—even if it was just one moto.

RANDOM RACERS FROM SATURDAYDan Alamangos (95) wished that fellow Australian Andrew Hopkins (Hoppo) could be at the races with him, but  Hoppo is recovering from a big first turn get-off a couple weeks ago, but is healing up nicely.

Canadian Pete DeGraaf (16) is in SoCal to get ready for the 2024 World Vet Championship. Pete won the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Over-50 World Vet Championships and followed that up with three-straight Over-60 World Vet Championships (2016-2018). 

Josh Fout (28) was second in the Over-30 Experts  and second in the Open Expert class. 

Bob Pocius (153) flies by the big downhill in the background on his way to a 9-7 day in the Over-60 class.

New Zealander Tony Cooksey (2 ) was third in the Over-60 Experts behind Luther French and Pete DeGraaf and third in the Over-65 Experts behind Val Tamietti and Dave Eropkin.

Eric Rizzo (274) won the first moto of the Over-30 Intermediates, but DNFed the second moto. 

Bode Bushnell (699) won both the 85cc class and the Supermini class on Saturday.

Brandon Howard (981) went 4-1 in the 450 Novice class—that was good enough for second overall behind Riley Owensby (1-2).

Tatum Juhnke (365) was third in the Womens class with a 3-3 score.

Giovanni Spinali (45) was a consistent 3-3 behind Geno Prida (1-1) and Craig Bouman (4-2).

This is the first turn on the Arroyo track. The top five in this land rush are Kurt Nicoll (2), Cody Brownfield (36), Shawn Bushnell (25), Arek Kruk, (79) and  Alan Jullien (70).

As the always say, “Remember this name,” so go ahead and remember Amari Arnold.

2024 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE SCHEDULE

If you are looking for a racing organization that offers long motos, low cost and very consistent race schedule—this is it. “Saturday at the Glen” motocross will race again on October 26 on the National track (as preview race of most of the 2024 World Vet track). 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

UPDATED 2024 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” SCHEDULE
Jan. 13…National track
Jan. 20…Arroyo track
Feb. 3…Arroyo track
Feb. 24…Arroyo track
Mar. 16…National track
Mar. 23…Arroyo track
Apr. 13..Arroyo track
May 4…National track
May 11…Arroyo track
June 1…Arroyo track
June 15…National track
July 6…Arroyo track
July 27…Arroyo track
Aug. 3…National track
Aug. 24…Arroyo track
Aug. 31…National track
Sept.14…National track
Oct. 5…Arroyo track
Oct. 19…Arroyo track
Oct. 26…National track (World Vet Warm-up race)
Nov. 16…Arroyo track
Nov. 23…Arroyo track
Dec. 7…Arroyo track
Dec. 21…National track