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

Josh Mosiman won the first 450 Pro moto on a MXAS’s Beta RX450, and swapped bikes with Jon Ortner and won the second 450 Pro moto on MXA’s 2025 Kawasaki KX450.

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI

No one can explain why “Saturday at the Glen” went from a hidden secret, little race series that averaged 110 riders every weekend and raced almost exclusively on the Arroyo Cycle Park track (which became known as the REM track) that Glen Helen Raceway is built around. Now, suddenly within the last year, “Saturday at the Glen” has grown into  a race day with 250 riders and, because of the turnout, Glen Helen moved lotsf of their 40 races to the National track (because it  is a larger track with longer lap times and more room in the lower pits).

To make his second moto a little more challenging Josh Mosiman (38 ) let the pack go in his second moto, but they almost took him out.

There are several factors involved in a beloved race going from a down home weekly race to suddenly becoming a big deal.

Polish rider Arek Kruk (79) looks like he has the lead in the Over-50/Over60 combined Expert first turn, nut it wouldn’t last for very long at Kurt Nicoll (2) will blast by him on the short straight out of this corner and disappear.

(1) Glen Helen’s “Saturday at the Glen” races are incredibly inexpensive. The entry fee is only $30 (and if you are racing  that race, the gate fee is only $10 per person). It is affordable because most of the other organizations that race at Glen Helen charge $50 or more to race .

Jon Ortner (38) and Josh Mosiman switched bikes between moto one and moto two, with Ortner on the KX450 in the first moto and the Beta RX450 in the second moto.

Jon Ortner lives in Santa Barbara and got tired of driving his gas guzzler on the 300-mile round-trip to Glen Helen every weekend, so he broke out his vintage Triumph and just races whatever bikes MXA brings to the race—this week he raced a 2026 KX450 in one moto and a Beta RC450 in moto two.

(2) When it changed from the REM races to the “Saturday at the Glen” races the started up a kid friendly minicycle program. It wasn’t designed to attract  the Lorett Lynn crowd, but instead young families who want their kids to ride on a safe track. This was achieved by adding a PW50 /XR50 class that will allowed kids with oddball trail bikes like Yamaha TTRs, Honda CRF70s and Kawasaki 110s to race. In the Pee-Wee classes they have  a “First Timer” 50cc division and special classes that don’t have to climb big hills, instead they route them around the hills on modified layouts better suited to little kids.

(3) They didn’t drive their Vet riders away with crazy doubles or meaningless sections of rolling whoops. They will even mellow out the National track for  “Saturday at the Glen” races.

Riley Morgan  (180) won the 450 intermediate class and got second in the Open Expert class. The “Open”  means that it is an extra class for riders who want to race two classes.

(4) Glen Helen streamlines their race program by using double gates to cut down on the number of races in the day. Instead for 14 races, some with only five riders in them, they typically run seven races that have as many same-speed classes mixed in as possible. By doing this the “Saturday at the Glen” race program is almost guaranteed to complete its two-moto format before 2:00 p.m (which is a big bonus  to hard-core racers who eant to get home as quickly as possible and work on their bikes before going to a Sunday race.

Josh Fout (21) won the Open Expert class and was third in 450 Expert class on MXA’s Triumph TF450-RC. He plans to race a Triumph TF450 Enduro in next weekend’s In augural Big Bear Grand Prix.

(5) Running a race and dealing with riders, parents and complaints makes for a trying day for the workers. But, Glen Helen’s signup workers are very friendly, they know most of the riders by name and the new “pre-enter online system” allows them to organize the races much quicker and no one to has to stand in a long line while riders sign-up.

Like lots of Glen Helen racers Dennis Stapleton tries to squeeze in sas many races as possible before the World Vet Championship. He also runs  a vacation business, test production for Honda and helps Fox with gear testing.

Dennis Stapleton  (far right) made the same mistake as Josh Mosiman by letting the Open Expert pack go. It took him the whole race to get up to the front.

(6) Plus, best of all, they understand that lots of their loyal riders love the Arroyo track and feel that they helped make Saturday racing what it is today. As a result, Glen Helen is aware that lots of them don’t want to race on the National track—and as a reult they try to schedule as many races as feasible on the Arroyo track.

Alison Bushnell (13) and Ricky Richards (45) head out back at speed in the Over-40 Intermediate class. Ricky went 3-4 for third and Alison went 8-7 for seventh overall.

John Caper (44) was a diehard Honda racer until one practice day he asked if he could  try Jody’s Husqvarna FC350 Heritage Edition.  He did four laps on it and bought one the next day.

(7) The “Saturday at the Glen”  raced are covered on the MXA website every week—you’re reading one right now. Any riders who’s photo appears in MXA is being seen around the world—thanks to the hard work of ace photographer Debbi Tamietti.

Scott Hyde  went 3-2 in the Over-60 Intermediate class.

This uphill climb was rutted, square-edge and rough in practice, so before the first moto started, and we mean just minutes before the first moto of the day, Jody Weisel and his buddy John Allen (in the Cat) went out and fixed it…

But after the first round of motos, with 246 racers hammering it, this section of track was back to being at least as bad as it was in practice.

Pete Murray (7) normally races the Over-50 Experts and the Over-60 Expert class, but for some reason, this week they were in the same moto so Pete raced the Over-60 Experts and the Over-40 Experts. He went 1-1 the Over-60s and 2-3 in the Over-40 Experts.

Kent Reed (491) broke his femur and his hip two years ago, but thanks to a lot of rehab he is finally back in action in the Over-65 class. He bought a brand-new 2025 KTM 450SXF to celebrate.

Ricky Richards (45) had always been a Suzuki guy, so when his Husqvarna was down for repairs, he broke his old RM-Z450 out and raced it. He loved it. A week later, he got his Husky out of the shop and raced it. That is the last we saw of the Suzuki.

For some unknown reason there is an irritatingly large contingent of racers who don’t run numbers on their bikes or, if they do have numbers they run gray numbers on black backgrounds or numbers composed in an American flag motif. The score girls are finally tired of having to look up the seven-digit transponder numbers to find out who they are. Starting next week if you don’t have legible proper numbers on all three plates, you will not be scored.

Marc Crosby (95) is the “Dentist to the Stars,” if you consider Jett Lawrence to be a star. He goes so far as to close his Dental office every Wednesday so he can go out and practice.

Dirt Bike’s Ron Lawson (40) raced the new Beta RX350 two-stroke to second overall behind 1970s 125 hero Dave Eropkin. 

Bill Sauro’s impressive win streak in the Over-50 Expert class came to an end when Kurt Nicoll showed up on Saturday. Kurt went 1-1, Bill 2-2, Craig Davis 3-3 and Arek Kruk 4-4.

Arek Kruk (79) and Dave Eropkin  are the electric vanguard in the Vet classes.

Kasey Shelton (34) went 4-2 for third in the 85cc class.

Mavis Alessi (6) won the 50cc First Timer’s class.

Cooper Console (1) was third in the 50cc First Timer’s Beginner class.

Reagan Todd’s 3-4 score was good enough to get  third in the 65cc First Timer’s Modified course 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. Glen Helen 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

UPDATED 2025 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” RACE SCHEDULE
Aug. 23…National Track
Sept. 20…National Track
Sept. 27…Arroyo Trackk
Oct. 18…National Track
Oct. 26…National Track
Nov. 15…Arroyo Track
Nov. 22…National Track
Dec. 13…National Track