Obviously, it’s impossible to go through all 278 of the rest of their titles, so we’re going to focus on some of the biggest hitters, both as amateurs and pros. We’ll start with Apple Valley’s Mike Alessi, the minicycle prodigy who won 11 titles growing up racing at Loretta Lynn’s. He and his brother Jeff (who sadly passed last year) were almost always at the front, though incredibly little brother Jeff didn’t actually win a title here. Mike’s professional career was a long and successful one, but he hasn’t had nearly the success he had here as one of the fastest amateurs ever.

Next, there’s the Bakersfield Boys: Jett Reynolds, Stilez Robertson, Ryder DiFrancesco. These three riders all grew up relatively close together in both location and age. Reynolds won nine titles here, all on minicycles. Robertson added seven, including 250 and Open Pro Sports classes in 2020. DiFrancesco added eight more, including a sweep of Supermini titles in 2020. The 24 combined titles that these three won as kids puts Bakersfield, California, in close proximity to its East Coast equivalent, Cairo, Georgia.

We brought this up before when we reviewed by Missouri and Florida: Some riders moved through the course of their racing careers and thus the hometown attributed to each title comes from their most recent address. That’s why Missouri-born Jeff Emig’s nine LLMX titles and Florida-born Kevin Foley’s ten titles all go in the California total, because Jeff has long lived in Riverside, California, and Kevin in Orange, California.

One rider who is a true California with a catalog of titles is Tustin’s Doug Dubach, who came to Loretta Lynn’s for the first time in 2006, long after his professional career was over. He ended up winning nine times in the various vet classes. There’s also one of the all-time WMX legends Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig of Arleta has taken five titles here. And Surfside’s Matt Tedder won four vet class titles while also raising five boys who all raced!

Speaking of families, the Vohlands of Sacramento have eighth total titles: five for Maximus, one for his father Tallon, and two for uncle Tyson.

Two of the best motorcycle riders of all-time are Californians who won a C class title here at Loretta Lynn’s on their way to different kinds of greatness. Sun City’s Jeremy McGrath’s one and only LLMX win came in 1987 in 250 C. He then became the all-time King of Supercross! And Encinitas’ Axell Hodges took his one-and-only title in 250 C in 2012. He’s now widely regarded as the best free-rider in the dirt bike world.

Other Californians who won here as amateurs and then went on to more were Pollock Pines’ Steve Lamson (two AMA 125 Pro Motocross titles), Valencia’s Willie Surratt (125 SX Champion), Saugus’ Damon Huffman (two 125 SX titles), La Habra Heights’ Jeff Matiasevich (two-time 125 SX Champion), Grand Terrace’s Blake Baggett (AMA 250 Pro Motocross Champion), Ontario’s Buddy Antunez (all-time Arenacross Champion), Hesperia’s Ty Davis (off-road legend and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer, and also a 125 SX Champion), El Dorado Hills’ Spud Walters (AMA Four-Stroke Champion), and Quail Valley’s Mike Metzger (multi-time X Games FMX Gold Medalist).

And the new SuperMotocross World Champion in the 250 class, and current frontrunner in AMA 250 Pro Motocross Championship, is Temecula’s Haiden Deegan, who won seven titles at Loretta Lynn’s. Hard to believe his most recent amateur title—Schoolboy 2 (B/C)—came just two years ago! All told, Dangerboy won seven times at LLMX.

If you need any more proof besides the raw number of titles, there’s the AMA’s State Championship Trophy, which goes to the state with the best overall finishes each year. Well, California is on quite a winning streak, taking the State Trophy every year since 2007!

Just last year California was well-represented in the winner’s circle, as Murrieta’s Vincent Wey (Mini Sr. 13-15), Berry Creek’s Jaydin Smart (65cc 7-9 Limited), Oak Hills’ Leum Oehlhof (450 B Limited), Atascadero’s Landen Gordon (Supermini 2), Fairfield’s Nolan Ford (85cc 10-12 Limited), and Riverside’s Jeff Emig (Senior +40, Masters +50).

So that’s the story of California at Loretta Lynn’s—an ongoing success. And thanks for following along with the Scott Sports Countdown to the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship. We will live you with the final overall tally for every state—and we will be adding to many this week! Remember, you can watch motos every day, Tuesday through Saturday, live and free on RacerTV.com.

Loretta Lynn’s Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships since 1982

Loretta Lynn's Titles By State

(North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine have yet to win an AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch)