The General Youth Race Report
by: Mikey Waynes
Thursday, March 25, 2021 | 4:40 PM
The General Youth Race Report
Round three of the 2021 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Specialized, an AMA National Championship, took place on March 13th and 14thth in Washington, Georgia. The Specialized General GNCC held at Aonia Pass MX turned out to be, as the kids are saying, a gnarly one! A very technical track with an old school GNCC vibe made for some exciting racing action.
On Saturday, it was the Youth ATV riders going to work. Round three would end with the third different winner in the overall as Tavin Cook aboard the Yamaha grabbed his first overall win of the season.
Tavin, “It was my birthday weekend! Got off the start second-to-last. Put my head down and never looked back. Caught first and we battled! On the two-lap card we had some close contact. Then on the last lap we got caught in some lapped traffic. Ended up coming together with another rider and hit a tree. I was able to get out faster and pulled away for the win!
Caden Spires had another solid performance finishing the day in second place. Caden hasn’t finished off the podium once this season and while he’s looking for his second win of the year, he’s in a good position heading into round four with the points lead in the YXC1 Super Mini Sr Class.
Kaden Lambruno finished with the Honda in the number three position. Make no mistake, Kaden is in the championship hunt. In three rounds he’s not finished off the box. So far things are wide open in the YXC1. Ty McGaughey finished fourth in the class. Ty seems to be finding his groove now after mechanically issues affected his performance in round one and not racing round two due to an injury suffered away from the track. Keep your eyes on Ty as the season progresses to start fighting for top threes. Rounding out the top five was Harrison Lindsey. Harrison, like Ty, got some redemption in round three after finishing 14th in round one and 16th in round two.
Quenten Gouker is finished in first place to keep the perfect streak alive in the YXC2 Super Mini Jr Class. Cody Nichols put together a solid ride and finished second on the day, while Jordon Berg finished third. Jordon’s yet to finish outside of the top three. Ryan Wilhelm had his best finish of the season with a fourth place finish and Levi Burkemper rounded out the top five.
The 250 Class saw Austin Kiger snag his second win of the year with Owen Sullivan finishing second and Camren Mulholland finishing third.
Jericho Edmondson put his Yamaha center of the box in the 125 (8-12) class with Garret Cox finishing in the number two spot. Garret carries the points lead into round number four. Jaxon Ostrich had his second third place finish of the year. Rounding out the top five was Noah Lykins in fourth and Kaidyn Meckley in fifth.
Ryder Reick put the Yamaha center of the box for the second time in a row in the 90 (8-12) Class. Bodie Buckhannon finished in second and Landon Glauda rounded out the top three.
The 90 Limited Class provided plenty of excitement as Casen Spires snagged his second win of the year putting him in the points lead after three rounds of racing. Jeffrey Callaway finished second and Ryder McCormick put together his first podium finish of the year with third.
Jackson Hancock picked up his second win of the season in the 70 CVT class while Jase Strouse took second and Bennett Dial rounded out the top three.
In the Micro Racing action Saturday morning it was Kodie Buckhannon grabbing his first overall win of the year. Bryson Dickerson took second place and keeps the points lead heading into round four. Reed Stevens rounded out the podium in third. Finishing fourth was Zander Rogers and Raelynn Dickerson rounded out the top five.
Jase Strouse snagged made it two in a row with his second win of the year in the MXC2 Class. Klaiton Sampson kept the podium streak and points lead alive with another second place finish and Beau Bothwell returned to the box for the second time this year to round out the top three.
Little JP Pickens is still perfect after three rounds of racing in the 50 Sr. Class. Trenten Berner made his first trip to the podium this season with a second place finish and Leo Craig finished in the number three spot for his first visit to the podium of the season. Casen Jennings in the 50 Jr Class keeps things rolling with his third win of the season. Kolston Wilson finish second and Cruz Steele finished in third.
Colt Moore took his first win of the season I the 90 Stock Class while Carson Berner took second and Ryder Maples took third.
On Sunday the Youth Bike went to battle. After capturing his first overall Youth Bike win a week prior in Florida, Chase Landers looked to make it two in a row. After an incredible back and forth battle with Caleb Lane he came away victorious. In his post-race interview Chase expressed his excitement for accomplishing his goal of winning back-to-back. He now has his eyes set on a third win in a row. A win, he says, will be dedicated to his friend, Lucas Grounds who will be in attendance at Camp Coker for his birthday celebration.
Caleb Lane kept the consistency rolling in round three with a second place finish. Caleb has not finished off the box, yet this season and you can bet dollars to donuts Caleb wants that elusive overall win. Regardless, Caleb’s consistent start puts him second in points heading into round four at Camp Coker. Nicholas DeFeo grabbed his second podium of the season, rounding out the top three in the YXC1 Super Mini Sr Class. Taking fourth was Jhak Walker and rounding out the top five was Thor Powell.
Andrew Segars picked up his second first place finish of the season in the YXC2 Super Mini Jr Class. While Peyton Feather took second. Peyton has not finished off the box yet this season and, while he doesn’t have a win yet, sits atop the points lead in the class. Logan Crawford found himself in the top three for the second time this season finishing third. Van Adams finished fourth on the day and Deegan Byers rounded out the top five.
The Yamaha of Ryder Sigety stayed perfect with his third win in a row in the 85 (12-13) Class. Kiefer Galiano got his first podium ride in Georgia, taking the number two spot while Brody Amos rounded out the box in third place. The 85 (7-11) Class saw Mason Raynor return to the number one spot while Brayden Baisley finished in second. Mason Tsakanikas snagged his first podium of the year with a third place finish. He’s now tied in points with Brayden Baisley while Mason Raynor is in control with 59 points on the year.
The 65 (10-11) Class has been a fun one for Caleb Wood who stayed perfect with his third win of the year. Caleb now sets his eyes on a home state win when we return to South Carolina for the Camp Coker Bullet. Hunter Porco took second on the day and Nash Peerson finally put together a solid day with a third place finish after have a couple of rough rounds. The 65 (7-9) Class saw a new winner in Trent Gaines with Hunter Hawkinberry taking second and Bentley Saxon rounding out the top three.
Bright and early on Saturday the Micro Bikes took off following the Micro ATVs. Hunter Hawkinberry found his second win of the season in the MXC1 Class with Beau Garetson finishing second and Maddux Harris rounding out the top three. Finishing fourth was Sawyer Clayton and fifth was Ryder White.
The MXC2 saw a new winner with Karson George capturing his first win of the season. Wyatt Johnson took second place on the day and that’s good enough to keep him in the number two spot for the points chase. Finishing third in the class was a very emotional Levi Rains. After taking the win in round one and two he was visibly frustrated after the third place finish. Look for this kid to bounce back quick. Just like we tell the pros, if your bad days on the track still get you on the podium at the end of the day, that’s still a solid ride and those valuable points add up.
The 50 Sr Class runs deep this season. We saw our third winner of the year in the class as Grayson Porco took his first win of the year. Colt Chaney finished second and the points leader in the class, Jace Mitchell, took third. Shawn Remington Jr to his second win in a row on the GASGAS in the 50 Jr 1 (6-7) Class, while Chase Fortune took second and Ellis Austin stayed consistent with a third place finish. In the 50 Jr 2 (4-5) it was Wesley Cunningham snagging his first win of the year while Daxton Mullins finished second and Maura Tsakanikas rounded out the top three.