“SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE REPORT: JOSH MOSIMAN SWEEPS BOTH 450 PRO MOTOS

It was Josh Mosiman’s first race back since breaking his collarbone at the Red Bud 450 National and having it plated. He took MXA’s 2025 Honda CRF450 to a 1-1 sweep of the 450 Pro class.

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI & DAN ALAMANGOS 

(Click on the images to enlarge)

Saturday at the Glen was originally scheduled to race on the Arroyo track, which is positioned above the Glen Helen National track, but as pre-entries started to come in, Glen Helen’s Lori Wilson decided to move the race down to the much larger National track, with its massive layout, big hills, long start, and longer lap times was better suited to the 240 riders who had signed up.

Richard Taylor (141) led the 450 Pro class for a while, but Mosiman was too strong in the later stages of the motos and pulled away.

They don’t have a 250 Two-Stroke class at “Saturday at the Glen” only 125 Beginner, 125 Novice, 125 Intermediate and 125 Expert, so Tristun Alavarez (1) raced the regular 250 Expert class on his KTM 250SX and went 1-1.

The downhill got so rough, from top to bottom, that while the Pee-Wees were racing on the lower portion of the track, Glen Helen sent the Cat out to knock down the bumps before the combined Beginner and Novice race went out for their second moto. 

There were lots of winners at “Saturday at the Glen.” Of the 240 racers, the most notable winners were Luther French, who took the Over-60 Expert class with a 1-1; while Val Tamietti won the Over-65 Expert class on his YZ250, but needed a 2-1 to edge out Will Harper’s 1-2; Bill Sauro has been the dominant rider in the Over-50 Experts as of late and his 1-1 bested the 4-2 of Arizona’s Ed Foedish and the 3-3 of off-road legend Paul Krause;  Dane Morales was amazing on his way to the 450 Intermediate victory — largely because he did it by battling through the meat of the 450 Pro class to get the 1-1 Intermediate win;  In the Over-40 Intermediates Ricky Richards put his trusty Suzuki RM-Z450 out to pasture to take his brand-new Husqvarna FC450 to a 1-1 day;  Mavis Alessi, daughter of Moto Concepts Honda team manager Tony Alessi,  won the PW50 class with a 1-1. The biggest class of the day was the 250 Beginners, it was won by Gavin Lee, who went 1-1 out of the 21 riders on the starting line.

Val Tamietti (31) won the Over-65 Expert class on his Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke. He also raced the Over-60 Expert class where his finished fifth overall.

Will Harper (7) won his first-ever moto on his Stark Varg when he led the Over-65 Expert field from start to finish, or was that “Stark to finish?” Unfortunately, even though he holeshot the second moto, Val Tamietti ran him down to take the overall with a 2-1 to Will’s 1-2.

Luther French (21) won both motos of the Over-60 Expert class. Here, Luther shows Ray Poltack how to get a YZ450F off the line. 

Taylor Herald (669) went 1-1 to win the Women’s class

Maddy Weber (402) went 3-2 for second overall in the Women’s class. Most of the women racers use motocross to help them with their speed for off-road and desert races.

You never know who you will line up against at Glen Helen. It could be this guy—a  four-time 250 National Motocross Champion and a World Vet winner in the Over-30, Over-40, Over-50, Over-60 and Over-70 Championship. Do you know his name?

MXA came loaded for bear at “Saturday at the Glen. They had 12 test riders racing in the Pro, Expert & Intermediate classes with even more firepower in the older Vet classes and extra riders in the mini and two-stroke classes . Of the 12 MXA test riders Josh Mosiman won the 450 Pro class, Ezra Lewis won the 125 Pro class, Justin Lee took the Open Expert class, Bode Bushnell won the 85 class and Shawn Bushnell won the Over-40 Experts. MXA provides test bikes to these test riders to get more time and opinions of how the 2025 models perform.  MXA races to test the bike because they are “race bikes.”

“Back in the saddle again, where a friend is a friend and you sleep out every night and the only law is right.” Josh Mosiman is back in the saddle again. Do you know who made that song famous?

Obviously, Josh Mosiman was the big winner on Saturday as he raced MXA’s 2025 Honda CRF450 to a two-moto sweep of the 450 Pro class—equally impressive were the rides of MXA staffer Justin Lee who went 1-1  and Shawn Bushnell, who went 3-3 in Open Expert class and then the two riders went straight to the starting line to race back-to-back in the Pro race. Shawn Bushnell also won the Over-40 Expert class. Back-to-back races on a 95-degree day at Glen Helen is a grueling test of determination. A couple MXA test riders were missing: Brian Medeiros had gone to Washougal to race the Top Gun event; and Josh Fout decided to spend  Labor Day weekend floating on his sailboat in Oceanside Harbor; while Dennis Stapleton raced in a couple motos, without getting scored,  to start getting in shape for the World Vet in November.

When Justin Lee (28) isn’t busy managing MXA’s Fantasy app, which he wrote the code for, he works with Jody, Josh and Trevor to get the MXA website, YouTube channel and print magazine done. He is also very fast and swept both motos of the Open Expert class at “Saturday at the Glen.” In this artsy Debbi Tamietti photo it looks like he ate a lot of roost, but actually he led both motos from start to finish.

MXA’s Ezra Lewis has been helping two-stroke legend Pasha Afshar develop the Fantic 125XX.  It is still a 125, but will be turned into a 135 in the coming weeks—Both the World Vet and World Two-Stroke Championship classes allow a displacement of 150cc.

Dennis Stapleton (184) has flown the  MXA flag in over 40 countries during his career as a Pro racer.

To help get more suspension set-up data on the Yamaha YZ250F, Shawn Bushnell was asked to race it in the Over-40 Experts. He went 1-1. Off-road racer Paul Krause was second behind Shawn . 

MXA’s Bode Bushnell (699) swept both motos of the 85cc minicycle class. 

MXA’s Jet Bushnell raced his Husqvarna TC125 to a 2-3 score for second overall in the 125 Novice class.

MXA’s Enzo Posca (246) went 2-3 in the 65cc class, while his brother Crue (98) went 3-1. Brothers always look good racing against each other.

Jaden Masillo (319) went over the berm in the 180-degree Museum Corner. Once his right-hand let go of the bars, he was doomed.

Jaden never stood a chance of saving it in the deep sand berm and rode it into the ground. He remounted and got going again, but ended his day in the 250 Beginner class with a 19-18 day.

REM founder Frank Thomason, who retired from promoting races to become a racer again, went 3-3 for second overall in the tightly contested Over-65 Novice class.

ASV levers founder Bob Morales (278) went 3-2 for second overall in the Over-60 Intermediates. His son Dane won the 450 Intermediates.  

Polish racer Arek Kruk (79) was second behind Bill Sauro in the first moto of the Over-50 Experts, but DNFed moto two.

Dylan Hyde (522) went 6-7 in the 250 Novice class. His choice of numbers refers back to a former AMA National Champion. Do you know who?

The scorekeepers could easily read Bryan Statham’s 252 number, but Gregory Martin’s American flag numbers, which were stuck on over his old numbers, left the scorekeepers puzzled. Yes, they do score by transponder, but they also score by hand just in case there is a computer or transponder glitch. Great flag! Terrible execution of a number. Can you read his number?

This will probably go on the mantel of the Bushnell home as Alison Bushnell (35) leads her husband Shawn Bushnell to the checkers. It is a little misleading because Shawn is on his way to the Over-40 Expert win, while Alison is about to be lapped as she was fourth in the Over-40 Intermediates.

MXA’s Jody Weisel, in the shade of a big tree, signals Shawn Bushnell that he will be starting the last lap when he goes by the finish line. The signal is to hold up one finger of your left hand and then rapidly circle one finger on your right hand around it. “We don’t need no stinkin’ pit board!” Photo: Dan Alamangos

ON A SIDE NOTE!

Race photographer Debbi Tamietti asked Over-50 Expert winner Bill Sauro about the unique gear he has been wearing. It is different and very interesting. Bill said that a friend of his does some apparel (hats, t-shirts, etc.) and that his 6-year-old son,  Rene Van Dyck, wanted to design motocross gear. The kid asked Bill if he would race in the gear he designed. Bill told him that he’d be honored.

Bill Sauro (311) has a tidy little win streak going in his Snott Rockett gear. Every pant and jersey is a one-off design. The kid calls his motocross gear “Snott Rockett Gear.” So, in honor of an enterprising 6-year-old, here are Debbi Tamietti photos of both the front and back of the gear that Bill wore this past Saturday.

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 September 14 on the National 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
Nov. 16…Arroyo track
Nov. 23…Arroyo track
Dec. 7…Arroyo track
Dec. 21…National track