Open Pro Sport
If there’s been a statement race at Loretta’s this week you’d have to go with Levi Kitchen's (Yamaha) effort in today's second (of three) Open Pro Sport moto. The big dog of all the classes was utterly dominated by Kitchen this afternoon. The Washougal, Washington, native overcame a mediocre (8th place) start, getting to the lead by lap seven and put an 11-second gap between him and fellow Monster Energy racer Chance Hymas (Kawasaki).
More impressive than that was the fact that Kitchen topped moto one winner Preston Kilroy (Suzuki) by 32 seconds! Kitchen’s fastest lap was a blistering 1:52.365. That was this week’s quickest on the rutted Loretta’s course.
Back to Hymas, with the 2-2 finish in the first two Open Pro Sport motos, the Idahoan is in 2nd place overall – also ahead of Kilroy. Kansas’ Kaeden Amerine (Yamaha) would place 6th on the day and is in 4th place overall in the class (4-6).
250 B
Two 250 B class motos, two perfect podium sweeps for Monster Energy racers! Led by New York’s Nick Romano, who piloted his Yamaha again to the No. 1 position, but not without a serious fight from 2nd place Gage Linville (Georgia). The two would battle early, with Linville putting up the fastest lap in the moto (1:55.40) to keep within a half-second of Romano through lap four. Romano would increase his lead gradually over the next six laps, running virtually mistake-free to the 3.7-second victory. Rounding out 250 B opening moto podium sweep for Monster Energy was Kawasaki-mounted Gavin Towers (Pennsylvania). Romano (1-1), Linville (2-2), and Towers (3-3) comprise the overall top three in 250 B racing.
It was all Gage Linville in the 250 B Limited class as the hyper-quick Georgian showed why his opening 8th place moto finish wasn’t what he’s about. Linville took over the overall lead from Moto 1 winner Jayden Clough (Minnesota), dominating the contest by 9 seconds over Clough at the finish. With the win, Linville moved into 3rd place in the overall standings (8-1) with one moto remaining.
Supermini 1 (12-15)
One thing’s for sure at Loretta’s, don’t piss off Haiden Deegan. The Californian aboard the KTM came back from a Supermini 2 crash (not his fault) yesterday in rip roarin’ fashion, dominating the second Supermini 1 moto from gate to checkers and winning by 16 seconds over 2nd place Krystian Janik (Monster Energy/Kawasaki). Deegan’s top lap time of 1:58.724 was nearly a full two seconds faster than Janik’s top time. Deegan leads the Supermini 1 class with matching 1-1 wins, followed in 2nd place by Janik (4-2).
450 B Limited
Monster Energy’s Larry Reyes Jr. continues to run well, scoring another 2nd place finish in 450 B Limited and moving into first place in the overall class standings. The Yamaha pilot from Texas started in 10th place, moved up to 2nd by lap three – even led the race for two laps (6 & 7) – before settling for 2nd.
Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C
There are some ultra-fast kids in this class. But none raced faster on Thursday than Monster Energy’s Nick Romano. The New York native spooled up his Yamaha and let ‘er snap-in Loretta’s horse pasture, leading the entire way and topping factory-backed efforts from Kaxton Bennick (KTM) and Talon Hawkins (Husqvarna). Romano’s eight-second victory over Bennick was highlighted by a class-best 1:55.451 lap time. Through three motos (two in 250 B and this Schoolboy 2 moto) Romano is a perfect 3-0!