HILLSDALE, Mich., – There appears to be a movement underway in the central California town of Bakersfield not unlike that in El Cajon back in the 1970s and 80s. A group of talented young motocross racers aboard Cobra Motorcycles – and led by Stilez Robertson – are putting Bakersfield on the map as, quite possibly, the new “El Cajon Zone.”

This past week/weekend in Mesquite, Nevada, at the NMA U.S. Mini GPs, Cobra’s Robertson, Jett Reynolds, Brock Bennett and Ryder Di Francesco all but channeled the names  of Glover, RJ, Lechien, Burnworth and Smith in dominating the 50cc classes at the 40^th running of the Mini GPs – an event that pretty much put mini bike racing on the map in the United States.

“El Cajon moves north to Bakersfield,” semi-joked Sean Hilbert, President of Cobra Motorcycles, noting that Cobra kids from Bakersfield swept every 50cc class at the Mini GPs.

In the 50cc thru 6 classes, Bennett would take top honors on his Cobra CX50JR in the Modified class and place second to Reynolds in the Stock class, while Di Francesco would podium twice (3^rd). Pennsylvania’s Callin Kauffman would break up the complete Bakersfield sweep of the class with a 2^nd place finish in the Modified class – giving the East Coast at least a glimmer of hope in the sport’s future (ha, ha).

Mini GPs 50cc Thru 6 results

Stock Modified

1^st – Jett Reynolds, Cobra                              1^st – Brock Bennett, Cobra

2^nd – Brock Bennett, Cobra                            2^nd – Callin Kauffman, Cobra

3^rd – Ryder Di Francesco, Cobra                    3^rd – Ryder Di Francesco, Cobra

In the 50cc 7-8 classes Robertson, as expected, put on a show – sweeping 1^st place in all four Stock and Modified classes on his Cobra CX50SR, aka the “King Cobra.” From there Cobra racers Dilan Schwartz (Calif.) and Pierce Brown (Utah) would go on to capture three of the four remaining 50cc 7-8 Stock and Modified podium spots.

Mini GPs 50cc 7-8 results

Stock Modified

1^st – Stilez Robertson, Cobra                          1^st – Stilez Robertson, Cobra

2^nd – Dilan Schwartz, Cobra                           2^nd – Pierce Brown, Cobra

4^th – Pierce Brown, Cobra                              3^rd – Dilan Schwartz, Cobra

Brining all the little fast guys back to the starting gate one last time for the 6-9 Super Pee Wee class finals it was again Robertson leading the way in an all-Cobra podium, followed by Schwartz (2^nd) and Wyoming’s Braden Bruce (3^rd). Noteworthy: Brown handed Robertson his only 50cc class defeat of the week, winning the second Super Pee Wee moto after crashing out in the first moto. Cobra’s Max Miller (Oregon) was also looking great – 2^nd in the first moto – before crashing in the second Super Pee Wee moto.

On the 65s Cobra was led at the Mini GPs by Brown (3^rd, 6-8 Stock) and Bruce (3^rd, 6-8 Modified), each of whom scored podium finishes on their CX65s. Las Vegas local Robert Hailey III also had two solid races, finishing 7^th in the 6-8 Modified class and 10^th in the Stock class.

Mini GPs 65cc 7-8 results

Stock Modified

3^rd – Pierce Brown, Cobra                              3^rd – Braden Bruce, Cobra

6^th – Braden Bruce, Cobra                              7^th – Robert Hailey III, Cobra

10^th – Robert Hailey III, Cobra                      8^th – Pierce Brown, Cobra

Added Hilbert: “Congrats to the NMA’s Ron Hendrickson on his 40^th year of organizing mini bike racing here in the States. Cobra was pleased to be on hand to provide support for our factory riders and assist wherever needed with all the kids racing Cobras. We’ll see you in July at Ponca City. And don’t forget to enter the “Kids Just Want To Ride” video contest for a chance to win a trip to Washington D.C. to help Congress exempt youth-model motorcycles and ATVs from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008!”

Contest link: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/KidsJustWantToRide.aspx