As you’ve probably heard by now, this marks the 25th anniversary of the AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Throughout the last quarter-century, this race has grown to the biggest in the world, with approximately 25,000 entries in the qualifying program and 1,386 championship finalists. Every year, the riders are different numbers—all single- or double-digit—and they wear them throughout the week. Take #25, for instance. Over the years, James Stewart, Ryan Hughes, Steve Lamson, and even AMA Sports guy Ryan Holliday rocked the two-five, but as a pro, it’s now the sole possession of Red Bull KTM rider Nathan Ramsey, who is from Tennessee but has never won here at Loretta Lynn’s.
What about #25 in this 25th year? Turns out that the number is everywhere in the results, from top to bottom. So for this week’s Shift MX Number Cruncher, I asked Tony Scavo to keep an eye out for the digit as I followed the riders wearing #25 through the results.
At the top of the list is Tom Carson, a former pro who is making his racing debut here at the ranch in the Plus 45 class, though he’s been coming here for years with Asterisk. Tom got off on the right foot by dominating his first moto aboard his Cernic's Racing KX450F.
Let’s go from one of the oldest guys racing to one of the youngest. Here we have
Spencer Winter, from nearby Waverly, TN, racing in the 51cc Oil Injection class. Spencer rode hard for a 19th-place finish in his first moto of the weekend.
Yet another blast from the past! This time it's Steven Childress, a multi-time champion of Loretta’s who came back to ride the highly competitive Plus 30 class, where he ran a very respectable sixth.
Broc Streit, from Elwood City, PA, has been putting in some performances in the 250 B classes that would make District 5 proud. Broc tallied a seventh-place finish in his first 250 B Stock moto.
Check out Hunter Hewitt from Pilot Point, TX. Hunter took his Extreme Team Green ride to an 11th and a 13th in his first two motos.
Samantha Tarnowski from Roscommon, MI, currently has the record for the number of letters in her name and hometown, but she is also running the #25. Sam took her KTM machine to 28th in her first moto of the Girls 65-105cc (9-13) class.
A lot of you may not have heard of Jared Browne, but this fast guy from Nuevo, CA, is trying to change that with his performances at Loretta’s. Jared was carrying the mail in the 250 A class, where he tallied a solid fifth in his first moto.
That's it for this week’s Shift Number Cruncher. I have to cut this one short because its about 125 degrees here, we have about 25 course workers that need water (I’m the designated water boy of Loretta’s 2006), and I have to watch moto 2 of the 250 A Pro Sport class, where the gate just dropped and they have about 25 minutes of racing ahead of them!
