Loretta Lynn's Titles For Masterpool, Dement, Bogard, Wharton, Dudney, and More From Texas

Hurricane Mills, TN Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship (Loretta Lynn's)Amateur National Motocross Championship

Welcome back to the Scott Sports Countdown as we get closer and closer to the 43rd Annual Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Each day we’ve been adding up the titles of each of the 50 states in the union, and we are now up to the fourth highest total over the first 42 years, with a total of 82 AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at the ranch. That puts Texas just off of the all-time podium!

Let’s start with the first amateur star from Texas, San Antonio’s Danny Storbeck. A Yamaha support rider in the early 1980s, he won two titles the very first year of the race, which was 1982 (85cc 12-15 Stock and Mod). What he did the following year literally changed the whole event. Storbeck moved up to 125s and ended up winning three titles—yes, the first two years you could ride up to four classes in the finals. But after Storbeck won the 125 Schoolboy Stock and Mod classes, as well as 125 A Modified, the AMA decided to limit riders to two classes at the final. (In case you’re wondering, Storbeck also raced 125 Stock but suffered a breakdown in one moto and only finished 27th overall.)

Danny Storbeck being interviewed by Larry Maiers.

The Texan with the most titles at LLMX is Ty Masterpool, who hails from Paradise and totaled six wins between 2013 and 2018, going from 65cc to 125cc. Masterpool is now a member of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team and just helped Mitch Payton to his 300th career win in AMA SX/MX as team owner. But here’s the thing: In winning the High Point 250 National back in June, Masterpool became the first Texan since 1983 (Kent Howerton) to win a Pro Motocross national—more than 40 years! And if you’re wondering about Ty’s older brothers Jesse and Jake, they were listed as being from Nevada when they won their respective titles at Loretta Lynn’s.

Some Texans showed immense promise growing up but never quite reached their full potential on bike bikes. Nacogdoches’ Jeff Dement and Grand Prairie’s Charley Bogard come to mind. Dement won four titles in the late eighties and early nineties, while Bogard took two in the mid-nineties. He was also one of the primary rivals of a kid from Florida named Ricky Carmichael. Both Jeff and Charley suffered injuries fairly early in their pro careers and just never had to a chance to find the right fit on a professional team.

Texas has produced some very fast girl riders as well. Willis’ Kristy Shealey won four titles in the 1990s. And Mesquite’s Taylor Higgins has a couple titles from a dozen years ago.

Among the top Texans to go pro after success at Loretta Lynn’s there’s our contributor Blake Wharton of Pilot Point, who won three titles in the mid-‘00s and then went onto win several 250 Supercross main events (and his brother Tyler was no slouch with two titles himself), and Weatherford’s Matt Bisceglia, who took five titles at the ranch before going pro. And back in the days Lufkin’s Billy Whitley and Avinger’s Dennis Hawthorne came back after their pro days to win vet titles at the ranch. Pilot Point’s Matt Lemoine, Kemp’s Kyle Regal, Houston’s Vann Martin, and Ovilla’s Sean Hackley all won titles at LLMX on their way to professional SX/MX careers.

More recent standouts include Chandlers’ Caden Dudney, who has four titles going into the 2024 race, and Rowlett’s Kannon Zabojnik, two titles in the last three years. And just last year Baytown’s Jadon Cooper got himself the 450 B title.

Texas is a huge state with a lot of moto history, and with 82 total titles, they are in solid contention to one day get on the overall podium here. In fact, tomorrow we will show you the state they are right behind. Stay tuned!

Loretta Lynn's Countdown: The Lone Star State at Loretta Lynn’s

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