Local motocross takes center stage

ALACHUA – Thanksgiving; the sweet smells of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and the exhaust of a couple thousand dirt bikes. This year marked the 43rd running of the Thor Winter Olympics presented by Pro Circuit. The annual motocross tradition brings together the top amateurs from around the world to battle it out in Supercross and Motocross at the infamous Gatorback Cycle Park. More commonly referred to as Mini O’s, it marks a unique time of year in amateur racing. Mini O’s is the last major national of the year, but since Loretta’s back in August, kids have signed contracts with new teams, new gear, and have graduated up to new classes. The week of Thanksgiving in Florida served up a healthy portion of what’s ahead for the upcoming 2015 season.

The week kicked off on Monday with three days of Supercross racing. In the A and Pro Sports class newcomers Alex Frye and Tristan Charboneau joined the ranks of Darian Sanayei, Cody Chisholm and veteran and hometown kid Ricky Renner. Sanayei dominated the Pro Sport classes taking home both the 250 Pro and 450 Pro titles. Charboneau grabbed the 250A title and Renner showed the young up and comers that this old dog has still got some new tricks taking the 450 A title.

A pair of Australian riders stirred up the B and C classes, beating some of America’s finest. Egan Louis Mastin put in some impressive rides to take home the Supercross title in the 250B and Schoolboy 2 (12-13) B/C classes. Reg Magyar dominated the C classes taking the checkers and the title in the 250C Limited and 450C Limited classes.

Carson Mumford, Garret Marchbanks, Jalek Swoll, and Pierce Brown proved that the future of our sport is only getting brighter, and faster. Combined these little rippers snatched up six Supercross titles.

Wednesday afternoon, after all the newly crowned Supercross champions had been served their number one plates, it was time to move to the outdoor track. After a slow start in SX, Alex Frye quickly became the man to beat on the Motocross track. Daniel Baker’s speed was impressive all week, but several mistakes held him to only one championship in the 450 A class.

This year’s Mini O’s was the eighth and final stop of the 2014 AMA Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX) series. Marissa Markelon wrapped up the series with a strong 1-1 performance.

Austin Forkner continued his success picking up three more championships in Schoolboy 2 (13-16) B/C, 250B, and 450B classes.

Jalek Swoll was nearly unstoppable. He was bested only once by Chase Fasnacht in the Mini Sr. 12-15 Main. By the final gate drop on Saturday, Swoll had four outdoor Championships. Swoll’s impressive results throughout the entire week awarded him the prestigious Platinum Pipe Award and the Fox Bronze Boot Award. That’s a lot of hardware.

Ryder, Difrancesco, Jett Reynolds, and Matthew Leblanc lead the mini riders with five championships between the three of them.

From the first gate drop on Monday, to the annual Thor Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, to the final checkered flag on Saturday it was another successful year filled with great racing, family, and friends.

For all the results of this year’s Thor Winter Olympics, visit the Unlimited Sports MX website at unlimitedsportsmx.com.

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