Amateur Roundup: Loretta Lynn’s Preview Part 2: B Classes, Schoolboy 1&2

Welcome back to the Vurbmoto Amateur Roundup where I will be bringing you the latest in Amateur Motocross.

As with the last Amateur Roundup, I will be giving you a preview of a few select classes that will be racing at Loretta Lynn’s in a couple weeks. I will not be going through every single class simply because that is too much information for any one person to handle. VurbWes, Slaw Dog, and myself have selected a few classes that I have taken a deeper dive into.

Let’s get into it.

B Classes: 250B, 450B & B Limited

There are usually three classes that I try to keep a close eye on at Loretta’s each year. The A Class, the B Class, and Supermini. Those three are typically full of young fast riders who will be transitioning to the pro ranks in the next few years. This year, the B classes are full of talent. Across the B Mod classes and the B Limited classes, we have six prior Loretta’s champions and a handful of others with notable results that can win at the Ranch.

–Jeremy Fappani. Jeremy is one of the riders making a move to big bikes this year in the B Class. Jeremy won the Supermini 1 class last year and finished second in Supermini 2. Jeremy will be riding the Limited classes and has an opportunity to take home a number one plate from the Ranch.

-Leum Oehlhof. Leum is another rider who has moved up to big bikes this year Fappani. Leum and Jeremy battled every moto last year at the Ranch in the Supermini classes trading titles. Leum won the Supermini 2 title and finished second in Supermini 1. Leum will also be riding the Limited classes this year so I look for the battles from last year to pick up right where they left off last year in the Supermini class.

-Enzo Temmerman. One Loretta’s championship and six top 10 finishes in the past. Enzo finished ninth in 250B Limited last year at the Ranch.

-Krystian Janik. Won Supermini 2 in 2021 and has six top 10’s at Loretta’s. Krystian has showed some serious speed in races such as Mini O’s and took home the 250B title after missing Loretta’s in 2022. Krystian suffered a dislocated elbow and a broken bone that required surgery causing him to miss last year. Krystian is one of the favorites in both 250B and Schoolboy 2.

-Drew Adams. This is a name that we have been hearing for a long time now and I am glad to say Drew is still one of the top guys to this day. His past Loretta’s results are absolutely incredible to say the least. Drew has raced 14 classes at Loretta’s and has finished outside of the top 10 twice. TWICE. Along with 12 top 10 finishes, Drew also has four championships.

-Casey Cochran. Similar to Drew, the name Casey Cochran has been on people’s minds for a long time. Casey and Drew’s results are very similar. Casey has five Loretta’s titles and 12 top 10 finishes. Casey won the 125B/C and Schoolboy 1 titles last year at Loretta’s. Casey also won 250B, 450B, and Schoolboy 2 titles at Freestone. On top of that, Casey also just put on a clinic at the RedBud Moto Combine.

I believe we will see the 250B Championship come down to three riders. Between Krystian Janik, Drew Adams, and Casey Cochran, one of them will be walking away with the title. It would be in your best interest to watch every B class moto this year because I think it is going to be close. Coming off of his performance at the Moto Combine, it is hard to bet against Casey Cochran. The best part about Loretta’s is that anything can happen in one week and three motos.

As for the Limited classes, it is absolutely a toss-up between Jeremy Fappani and Leum Oehlhof. These guys performed so well at the Ranch last year and I look for that to continue. Either one of them can win and I believe the Limited Class titles will be won by one of these two riders.

Honorable Mention:

Logan Best

Landin Pepperd

Collin Allen

Jace Allred

Dilon Belcha

Ryder Malinoski

Aiden Keefer

Nicolas Isreal

Reven Gordon

Schoolboy 2

Schoolboy 2 is very similar to 250B. A lot of the riders I wrote about above in the B Classes are also riding Schoolboy 2. It is a 12-17 year-old B/C class, that allows four-strokes, which is why you will see a lot of B class riders also in Schoolboy 2. Those that were mentioned above in depth will be listed, but I want to look at a few of the other riders because this class is also stacked.

Casey Cochran, Drew Adams and Krystian Janik will all be competing in the Schoolboy class this year.

-Logan Best. Logan has raced 17 total classes at the Ranch and finished inside the top 10 15 times. Logan has not finished outside the top 10 since 2016 when he was riding 65s. While Logan has not won a title at Loretta’s, he has been super successful almost every time he has made the trip. He has finished second four times, third twice and a large number of other finishes near the top 5. Logan is a threat in both 250B and Schoolboy 2.

-Collin Allen. Third in 125B/C in 2022 with eight top 10 finishes. Similar to Logan, Collin has had a number of successful trips to the Ranch. I look for Collin to be well within the top 5 this year.

-Landin Pepperd. Landin is another rider that will be moving up to four-strokes full time this year. He won numerous motos at the Regional qualifiers as well as winning 250B Limited at Freestone.

-Jace Allred. Jace has two top 10s in 2022 at Loretta’s and had two Top 5s at Freestone back in March. Jace is someone who I got to see through footage of at World Mini that Vurbmoto brought back earlier in the year and I liked what I saw. Jace was smooth and fast all weekend and I believe he has a very good opportunity to do well at Loretta’s this year.

Schoolboy 1

Similar to how Schoolboy 2 is with the B Classes, Schoolboy 1 has a lot of riders who will also be riding the 125B/C Class. Schoolboy 1 is limited to two-stroke bikes from 86cc to 125cc with riders aged 12 to 17.

-Klark Robbins. Five top 10s at Loretta Lynns and he took second in 125 at Freestone. I put Klark on this list because he is someone who I have seen ride in the past and was very impressive. Klark also represented the USA in the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship where he raced the best in the world on a bone stock 125 while others were on FIM spec’d race bikes. Klark finished sixth in one moto which is an impressive feat.

-Kade Johnson. Kade has two Loretta’s titles as well as eight top 10s. Kade was the Mini Sr 2 champion last year at Loretta’s. Kade seemed to struggle a little bit at the early Regional Qualifiers but turned it around at the end. I look for Kade to have a good year at Loretta’s.

-Tiger Wood. Tiger has one championship and six top 10s at the Ranch. Tiger also won both 125 and Schoolboy 1 at Freestone. This is his first full year on a big bike, so there will be a lot of eyes on his performance as he transitions.

-William Canaguier. Will has one Loretta’s title and 11 top 10 finishes. He has not finished outside of the top 10 since his first ever trip to Loretta’s in 2014. On top of some impressive results in the past, he finished second in 125 at Mini O’s and second in 125 All-Star and Schoolboy 1 at Freestone.

I recently learned that Canauier broke both of his wrists while in Romania at the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship. So that really leaves the 125B/C and Schoolboy 1 class pretty wide open. Will is going to try and be ready for Loretta’s, but who knows how that will go. I think the titles will come down to Klark Robbins and Tiger Wood. Those are my picks for the title this year.

That is going to wrap up this Loretta’s preview, stay tuned for the next one as we dive into the A classes as well as 85cc.