Slaw Dog
Annnnnnnnnddddddddddd we’re back at the Ranch for the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship. While most of the motos are live on RacerTV all week, we know you have jobs and such and can’t watch them all, so we’ll be spotlighting some classes each day throughout the week—Slaw included.
Here’s 6 ½ things we saw from the second day of racing.
1. If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen
Slaw is going to spit some truth on you boys: I had never, ever, ever heard of Levi Kitchen prior to this week. One thing about me, I will always be up front about my knowledge, or lack thereof, of a particular rider. I know very little about Kitchen… except for the past two days.
Well, HOLY SMOKES!!!!! I’m impressed. After an impressive first day at the Ranch, the Washington native was en fuego on Tuesday. He won the first 450 B Limited moto by 39.9 seconds. Read that again: 39.9 seconds!!!!
He was a bit off in the second 250 Limited moto, which he won by 37.7 (!!!) seconds! Let me say it again: 37.7 seconds!!! He is firmly in control of that title over Daxton Bennick with 1-1 finishes.
Is Kitchen the next big thing? No clue. But he’s been damn impressive through two days at Loretta’s.
450 B Limited Top 5 Moto 1
- Levi Kitchen
- Matthew Curler
- Daxton Bennick
- Brock Lassiter
- Luke Kalaitzian
250 B Limited Top 5 Moto 2
- Levi Kitchen
- Luca Marsalisi
- Daxton Bennick
- Tommy Rios
- Preston Buespflug
Top 5 Through 2 Motos
- Levi Kitchen 1-1
- Daxton Bennick 2-3
- Luca Marsalisi 4-3
- Tommy Rios 5-4
- Jack Chambers 3-7
2. The Guy From Friends
We talked about 450 B yesterday but it bares mentioning again. Luke “I can’t pronounce his name” (Slaw tm) Kalaitzian and Matthew “the guy from Friends” (Slaw tm) LeBlanc once again battled for the moto win.
Kalaitzian snagged the early lead in the second moto but LeBlanc put in an early charge to take the lead. Kalaitzian wasn’t going away though and fought back to retake the lead. For the next six laps, LeBlanc threw everything but the kitchen sink at Kalaitzian, but he held tight. FINALLY, on lap 8 LeBlanc took the no. 1 spot and would go on to win the moto by seven seconds. First moto winner Luca Marsalisi rounded out the podium.
The third and final moto will be a brawl between LeBlanc (3-1), Kalaitzian (2-2) and Marsalisi (1-3) as they all control their own destiny for the title.
Top 5 Moto 2
- Matthew LeBlanc
- Luke Kalaitzian
- Luca Marsalisi
- Matthew Curler
- Cole Bradford
Top 5 Through 2 Motos
- Matthew LeBlanc 3-1
- Luke Kalaitzian 2-2
- Luca Marsalisi 1-3
- Matthew Curler 4-4
- Cole Bradford 5-5
3. Ryder D The Man to Beat in Supermini?
Following his win in Supermini (12-15) 1 yesterday, Ryder DiFrancesco was again the rider to beat on Tuesday, this time in Supermini (13-16) 2. Kawaskaki teammate Gavin Towers took the holeshot, but it was Ryder D quickly to the front. Towers would hang tight for a lap, but this moto belonged to Ryder as he cruised to a 12.7 second win.
The big mover in this moto was Evan Ferry. After starting around fifth, Ferry motored through the pack, picking off Towers after the mid-way point to take second. Towers would hang on for third.
Top 5 Moto 1
- Ryder DiFrancesco
- Evan Ferry
- Gavin Towers
- Benjamin Garib
- Jayden Clough
4. The 65cc Class is Tight
The 65cc (10-11) division looks to be a three-way battle for the titles between Seth Dennis, Canyon Richards and Vincent Wey. The 65cc (10-11) class kicked things off on Wednesday and it was Richards with the holeshot, but he was quickly pushed back to around fifth. Wey took the lead with Cole Blecha moving into second.
Wey appeared to be running toward a moto win before tipping over in the corner before the 10 Commandments. Dennis took the lead from there and went on to win the moto, but drama was developing behind.
After a slow start, Richards put on a charge to come back to second. Meanwhile, Decon Denno moved into a podium spot on lap five over Blecha. Unfortunately, Denno would have bike problem late in the moto and finished 18th.
Following his early crash, Wey put on a hard charge to get Blecha for the final podium spot on the final lap.
Later in the day, in the 65cc (10-11) Limited class, it was all Seth Dennis, who led start to finish to capture the moto win over Canyon Richards by 10.7 seconds. Denno passed Wey early in the moto to take third, with Wey and Caden Dudney rounding out the top five.
65cc (10-11)
- Seth Dennis
- Canyon Richards
- Vincent Wey
- Cole Blecha
- Caden Dudney
65cc (10-11) Limited Top 5 Moto 1
- Seth Dennis
- Canyon Richards
- Deacon Denno
- Vincent Wey
- Caden Dudney
5. Stilez Styling
It was a banner day for Stilez Robertson. After finishing runner-up to Dilan Schwartz in the first 250 Pro Sport moto on Tuesday, Robertson was on the charge early in the second moto. Mason Gonzales grabbed the holeshot and led the opening two laps, but he wasn’t able to hold off the charge of Robertson, who took the lead on lap 3. Roberston went on to win the moto by 7.4 seconds.
It was an awful moto for Schwartz. After a terrible start, he worked all the way into a podium position by before crashing. He went on to finish fifth. With Robertson’s win, it’s going to be tough for Schwartz to capture the title.
Robertson continued his great day in the first Open Pro Sport class. After starting around fifth, Robertson charged to second by the second lap and took over the lead two laps later. He’d go on to win the moto by 2.4 seconds over Gonzales. Schwartz had another terrible start but was able to come back to round out the podium.
250 Pro Sport Top 5 Moto 2
- Stilez Robertson
- Mason Gonzales
- Preston Kilroy
- Jace Kessler
- Dilan Schwartz
Top 5 Through 2 Motos
- Stilez Robertson 2-1
- Mason Gonzales 3-2
- Dilan Schwartz 1-5
- Preston Kilroy 7-3
- Austin Black 5-7
Open Pro Sport Top 5 Moto 1
- Stilez Robertson
- Mason Gonzales
- Dilan Schwartz
- Preston Kilroy
- Vincent Luhovey Jr
6. Fauser vs Adams, Part II
As we told you yesterday, the 85cc (10-12) Limited class is going to come down to Luke Fauser and Drew Adams, and the duo put in arguably the best moto of the day Wednesday.
Fauser took the holeshot in the second moto, while Adams was buried after a bad start. Adams worked up to fifth by lap two, but still had a lot of work to do. By lap 7, Adams had worked to within two seconds of Fauser’s lead.
On the final three laps, Adams really began to apply to the pressure to Fauser. But everything Adams threw at him, Fauser responded. On the final lap, Adams closed to within a second and threw all he had at Fauser, but the KTM rider held on to take his second moto win the class by a mere 1.04 seconds over Adams.
Fauser is now in line for the class championship after 1-1 scores to Adams’ 3-2 finishes.
85cc (10-12) Limited Top 5 Moto 2
- Luke Fauser
- Drew Adams
- Alvin Hillan
- Landen Gordon
- Willian Canaguier III
Top 5 Through 2 Motos
- Luke Fauser 1-1
- Drew Adams 3-2
- Landen Gordon 2-4
- Alvin Hillan 6-3
- Kade Johnson 4-6
6.5. Video of the Day, That was Actually Yesterday
Mind blown, Branden Walther!
