Everyone loves the story of an underdog, and no race gives them a chance like Loretta Lynn’s, aka the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship. By the time riders are ready to graduate, many already know who the next big star is. The other riders know if they can beat him, they will make a name for themselves. This also puts pressure on the favorite to prove he’s legitimate. Sometimes the lesser-known kid breaks through, sometimes the favorite holds off the challengers. That’s why they run the races.
So, if the favorite wins sometimes, and the underdog wins sometimes, do big amateur races like Loretta’s really prove anything? Well, it depends on what you’re trying to prove. Best amateur or best pro? Everyone in motocross knows the story of Mike Alessi racking up titles at Loretta’s, often at the expense of Ryan Villopoto, who was also fast but couldn’t beat Mike at the Ranch. Actually, according to Mike’s dad Tony, Ryan never beat Mike anywhere, at any race. Of course, as pros, Villopoto flipped that script and put together one of the greatest careers ever. So, does that mean the amateur results didn’t really indicate anything? Not so fast. Many believe Villopoto’s loses to Alessi built up a drive and grit that boosted him as a pro. So, even though the Loretta’s record book shows Alessi with 11 Loretta’s titles compared to Villopoto’s one, it almost, oddly, did predict the pathway in the pros, even if that path went in a completely different direction than expected.
Cooper Webb admitted this about his battles with Adam Cianciarulo. Webb was very good as an amateur, but Cianciarulo was an all-time great. At Loretta’s, Cianciarulo is tied with Alessi and James Stewart for the most youth/minicycles titles ever. Webb has four titles but has said on multiple occasions that chasing AC is what put that dog in him. In 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, it was Chase Sexton’s problem to deal with the dog in Webb!
(By the way, the mind plays tricks on us when it comes to the underdogs. Everyone will always remember a kid who went from in-the-pack to suddenly beating everyone. No one remembers the hundreds who were not winning and just….continued to not win. That’s how the mind works.)
This all leads us to the coveted Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award. It gets handed out to the rider showing the most promise when graduating, and we covered it yesterday in The List.
That story is complicated, though. See, the Horizon Award is handed to a rider in the A and Pro Sport classes. These days, if someone is really fast, they might not even bother racing A at Loretta’s. They could go from the B class straight to the pros. The list of riders who did that is quite impressive. Here are some names that never even raced A or Pro Sport at Loretta’s and thus never had a chance at the Horizon Award. And these are just names I’m pulling off the top of my head.
Cooper Webb
Adam Cianciarulo
Eli Tomac
Justin Barcia
Ryan Dungey
Austin Forkner
Haiden Deegan
Yes, big names that went on to quite a bit of pro success, eh? Of that group, Dungey was the biggest long shot, because he won one title in 2005 on a 125 in the Schoolboy class and could have raced B class in 2006, but instead Suzuki snapped him up early for the pros. That is probably the greatest scouting move of all time, as Dungey found success almost immediately. In early 2007, when he could have been racing the A class at the big amateur races in Texas, he was already winning AMA Supercross races as a pro! Like we said: greatest scouting job ever.
The rest of the riders above? Everyone already knew they were great, and they were just too damned fast to bother coming back for one last summer at Loretta’s. For example, Barcia ripped through the B class in 2008. As his riding progressed through the spring of ’09, the Factory Connection Honda team set up his debut at round one of Pro Motocross. Barcia pulled two starts, led a bunch of laps, and created a new schedule many still follow: instead of racing Loretta’s in August in the A class, turn pro in May at the Pro Moto opener! With Barcia’s success, the Factory Connection (GEICO) team decided to do the same thing with its next prospect, Eli Tomac, the following year. It was a home run. Eli raced B class at Loretta’s in 2009, turned pro at round one of 2010, and straight up WON his debut race at Hangtown.
Let me tell you this: Tomac in the B class in ’09 was just like the Beast Mode as we know it today. He was RIPPING. But you’re never gonna’ see his name on a Horizon Award list, because he never raced A class at Loretta’s and thus was never eligible.
Webb was a great B rider with titles in 2012, then made the same jump to the pros in May of 2013 at Hangtown. He got fifth in his first-ever career pro moto. He didn’t win it like Tomac, but he was damned good. Cianciarulo was supposed to debut at Hangtown in 2013, also, but he got sick and had to wait a few months. Neither Webb nor Cianciarulo raced Pro Sport or A at Loretta’s, so they were never eligible for the Horizon Award.
One other name to note here is Jeremy Martin, always viewed as an underdog because he doesn’t have any titles at Loretta’s. Well, he should. J-Mart was ripping through the amateurs in 2012 but hurt his shoulder just before Loretta’s that year. He missed the race and what could have been A class titles and a Horizon Award. Zach Bell won it instead. Bell was very fast at that time, but I think J-Mart had the stuff to win it. But, as I said, we all love the story of an underdog. J-Mart rules!
Back to the Horizon Award. If the AMA must give it to an A rider, it’s almost guaranteed to miss some big names. Some really good kids are going to graduate early. By the way, how crazy is it that Deegan didn’t even wait until round one of Pro Motocross to make his full pro debut, but instead started in Monster Energy AMA Supercross! B rider to supercross in about six months. And he finished fourth in his debut. Impressive.
Okay, so how do you catch B riders like that? The AMA has a solution via the Amateur Rider of the Year Award, which goes to B or Schoolboy riders. This helps catch the next Tomac/Barcia/Webb/Deegan before he leaves, and thus makes for a handy guide for who to watch in the pros. Not everyone is going to tune in RacerTV for five-straight days from Loretta’s. Awards are a good way to sum up who went fast.
The recent winners of this award?
Caden Dudney won it in 2024, and he was ripping. Now he’s a Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider but he got hurt and Daytona SMX Next and missed this year’s Loretta’s qualifiers. He could be back for the SMX Next – Motocross Scouting Moto Combine in a few weeks.
Jeremy Fappani won the Amateur Rider of the Year Award in 2023, but it was Casey Cochran who seemed destined for it before he crashed and hurt his shoulder. Cochran still gritted out a title but bad results in his other class opened the door for Fappani, who just edged Leum Oehlhof for the award. Remember, Cochran went straight from that Schoolboy 2 title/shoulder injury to Unadilla MX amateur day in the A class, then to the pro scene the following week at the Budds Creek National! So, another big-time name missed a shot at the Horizon award. Oehlhof is back for his final go at the Ranch and will be a rider to watch this week.
In 2022, Avery Long won the Amateur Rider of the Year Award for his strong B class rides. Why didn’t Deegan win it? In his six motos that week, Haiden had four wins, a second and a costly DNF (a handful of broken spokes in his rear wheel), which prevented him from winning two titles and the award.
The other winners of Amateur Rider of the Year (for non-A riders) are Nick Romano in 2021, Levi Kitchen in 2020, Jarrett Frye in 2019, Jalek Swoll in 2018, Garrett Marchbanks in 2017, Jordan Bailey in 2016, Austin Forkner in 2015, and Tristan Charboneau won the award when it debuted in 2014.
You’ll see some names above that “made it” and some that didn’t pan out. That’s the story, always, with amateur sports, be it predicting the next college quarterback to lead an NFL team, or the next Cooper Webb. Sometimes Tom Brady comes from sixth-round pick to the Hall of Fame, and sometimes Peyton Manning goes from first round pick to the Hall of Fame. In motocross, it gets a little more complicated because not every rider graduates at the same time. Somewhere out there is another underdog like Dungey, and another can’t-miss like Tomac. That’s why they run the races.
