5 Takeaway from Monday at 2024 Mini O's

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Championship Monday, is there a better feeling? On Monday, champions were getting crowned at the THOR Mini O’s and we got to see some top notch racing. Were some of the fan favorites able to bring home the title or did we see new faces rise to the top? I’m about to give you a breakdown on some key takeaways.

250 Pro Sport

Man, the new guys in this class brought the heat and showed everyone they are ready to take control of this class. Caden Dudney aboard his new Star Yamaha bike snagged the holeshot and ran away with it. All I can say is if this kid gets the holeshot, good luck. His speed when he is out front is top notch and will be hard for anyone to run with him. Alongside Dudney a few new faces of the pro sport class—Landen Gordon and Klark Robbins—were able to put themselves in the top 5. In the top 10 alone, there were six kids who we saw in B class last year at this same event. The vets in this class better get ready. Talking about veterans, Krystian Janik was able to put his new blue machine in the top 3 with a super solid ride making passes coming through the pack. Avery Long was charging through the pack but unfortunately would catch the back wheel of Gibson and would tip over and fall back outside the top 10.

85cc 9-11

The last race of the day was hands down my favorite. The 85cc (9-11) was an absolute dog fight. Carter Gray was able to get out front quickly with Vicari and Sawyer Gieck right on his tail. With a couple lap fight, Gieck was able to get around Gray and seemed to be slowly pulling away. Then out of nowhere, Eidan Steinbrecher makes a charge from somewhere in the pack and was battling for the lead. Gieck and Steinbrecher would go back and forth with Gieck taking the win and his second title on the supercross portion. This could be a contender for best race of the week.

Wyatt Thurman

Wyatt made the move to big bikes and let me tell you he is looking comfy on that 250. His battle with Vincent Wey in the 450B limited was all time. Wyatt had this sneaky line he was taking, jumping the inside after the quad and was making up quick time on Wey. The race came down to the final corner with Wey holding Thurman off, but man I think these boys are in trouble with Wyatt in the future.

Landon Hartz

Landon is making what I believe to be his final run in the B class before moving up to the Pro Sport class and man he’s snapping. Hartz is 4 for 4 so far at Mini O’s and doesn’t plan on stopping. “We’ve been working hard and we’re ready to show what I’ve got at Mini O’s.” said Landon on Instagram. Well, the work is showing and all eyes are on him. With the way he’s been riding, we could see a clean sweep with two races to go on the SX portion of the week.

Lorenzo Rickey

I had no clue who this kid was, but today he made sure we knew. Lorenzo is a 65 rider who was able to put a Brazilian on the top step for the first time at Mini O’s. This kid was flat out ripping and will be someone I make sure to watch for at every amateur national. It was so cool to see him on the podium celebrating waving his country’s flag. Congrats to Lorenzo and his whole squad!

Main image: Jason Friberg