The 2009 Great Lakes MX Banquet a huge hit

Story and photos by Bart Newman

Soaring Eagle Casino

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan

December 5^th 2009

The night was one of fun, prizes, family, track buddies, and a celebration of the first of many Great Lakes Motocross seasons to come. The crowd was tremendous as 620 riders, friends and family members came for dinner and another 100+ joined in for the presentation of an incredible 587 year end awards after dinner. A sold out banquet wasn’t what the Great Lakes Motocross promoters hoped for but hey, what a problem to have. Plans are underway to make sure there’s room for everyone next year as GLMX has its eye on the Entertainment Hall at the Soaring Eagle Casino.

The rumor going around the hotel before the night got started was the Great Lakes Motocross promoters had to rent a semi to carry in all the awards, jackets and giveaways. That wasn’t true - it took just three trailers a couple trucks and a packed mini van. There weren’t many riders that left with empty hands as the GLMX promoters gathered prizes all year long from our great sponsors. The night’s festivities kicked off with an outstanding video presentation put together by Mr. MichiganMotoX.com, John Thompson.

Special Awards

Devon Adair was a contender all year long in the GLMX “A” classes and was awarded a Pro Circuit “A” contract for his efforts, speed and attitude. Watch for the Pro Circuit backed #441 Kawasaki out front and flying in 2010. Vet rider Steve Kluga turned his have fun attitude, friendly manner and enjoyment of the sport of motocross into GLMX Rider of the Year honors, awarded to the rider we think makes our sport and organization better. Jacob Williamson was our GLMX Youth Rider of the Year. Williamson is a hard charging, competition seeking speedster backed by a great family, making him an easy choice for this honor. Parents of the Year were Rick & Paula Dervin, who support son Mitch as whole-heartedly in the 25 Plus class as they did back in the minibike days. Mitch said he loves having them at the races, and so do we! The GLMX also honored Michigan Motocross Pioneer and RedBud founder Gene Ritchie, for his wisdom, leadership, dedication and passion for Michigan motocross. Gene is a hero to many and a big reason why Michigan motocross is what it is today.

ATV Classes

The GLMX ATV Championship Series got underway at RedBud which is where your Quad 50cc Limited Stock and 50cc Production / CVT Champion Blair Miller, went to work gathering enough points in both classes to become the GLMX ATV Championship Series’ only mini quad double class winner. David Woodbury took home the 70cc Production title nailing six overall wins in seven tries. In the Women’s Quad class it was an always fast Brandy Miller taking the title with Paula Blanchard and Sarah Wagner in tow. In the age group classes it was Caleb Baumann taking the title in the 16-29 class, while Rick Wagoner held off Scott Blanchard in the 40+ class settling the title fight late in the season. Caleb Gatt won the Quad C class grabbing wins at six of the seven GLMX tracks topping runner up Dustin Dihle who would keep Gatt honest all season long. In Quad “B” racing it was a tight battle up front as the top five riders were all within striking distance of a championship at season’s end. Ryan Wagoner would grab another title for the Wagoner families, winning the Quad “B” class securing the GLMX ATV Championship title with a pair of big wins at his home town track, Log Road. Tim Goodwin was second, outrunning Jordan Wurmlinger, Nick Fredricks and Jason Galbraith. In Quad "A" action it was Cody Hawks outpacing Daniel Jeurink by just five points once all the racing was in the books. Matt Jones was solid in third with a good lead over Shane Curtis and Joe Scarrow who would round out the top five.

The GLMX ATV Challenge series saw Derick Granberg win both the 50cc Limited Stock and the 50cc Production/CVT, and adding GLMX ATV Rider of the Year to his list of 2009 accomplishments. Not a bad year for the young lad from Portage, Indiana. Woodbury continued his dominance of the 70cc Production class winning over 90% of the races he entered. It was a battle of brothers in the 90cc Production class and in the end it was Anthony Lesniak leading brother Austin home. Ian Gibson won the Schoolboy class winning events at five of the seven GLMX tracks. Tom Sherwood was the man to beat in the GLMX Quad Vet class and no one was up to the task. Caleb Baumann took the Quad "A" title beating out Austin Shrock and second generation ATV pilot Jacob Klitchman. The Quad “B” class was won by Brent Shaw coming on strong after starting the season in the “C” class. Caleb Gatt was two for two taking the GLMX ATV Challenge Series Championship to go with his GLMX Championship title and will be battling in the “B” class next season. Not far back was runner up Dustin Dihle, Lee Wright, Travis Staggs and Nick Miller rounding out the top five.

There is no doubt that there are some changes needed for the 2010 GLMX ATV series and your concerns and commenta have been heard and put in place, making what we hope to be an outstanding GLMX ATV second season.

50cc and Trail Blazer classes

The 50cc guys got the night underway awards wise, as first up was the 50cc Trail class. Tucker Zacharda and Nick Boyd took top honors in the Michigan Mafia Championship and Mideast Championship. In the 50ss 4-8 class it was no surprise that Kaden Parmley would take the title in both series as this kid was on fire all season long and should be a contender at the next level as well. In the 50cc Jr. class Jace Kessler backed up his National number 6 with a GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship, while Jaiden Taylor was the leader of the pack in the GLMX Mideast Championship dragging the grand prize back to the capital city. Thomas Neumann defeated all, grabbing GLMX Championships in both series in the 50cc Sr. class as the friendly flyer took home 30 overall wins throughout the 2010 GLMX seasons. In Trail Blazer Jr. action it was Eathan Wright from Rockford, Michigan out front in the Mafia series when all the races were totaled up. Twin Lake, Michigan's Zack Payne took top honors in the Mideast series, as he dominated the Trailblazer Jr. class with a lucky 13 overall wins. In the Trail Blazer Sr. class it was Damon Manning turning ten overalls into a GLMX Mideast Championship win.

Age Group Classes

The Vet guys were lead on stage by the senior members of the group as John Korte was at the top of the 60+ list in both GLMX series, followed by Bill Stevenson in each series. It is very cool and inspirational to see these guys at the track and still motoing. In the Vet Sport class it was eastsider Kipp Rammler winning the Michigan Mafia Championship grabbing the top spots at many of the Freelin and Baja events, but in season two it was Victor Plath that had Rammler on the run. Plath called Big Air his home turf and was solid there all fall winning 4 overalls on his way to the GLMX Mideast Vet Sport Championship.

In the 50+ class it was neat to see long time Michigan racer Gordy Baird nail down a championship in the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship, beating out top 50+ competitor Gene Morrison by one point after 82 motos. What a battle! In the GLMX Mideast Championship Morrison took the runner up spot again, as Michigan MX champ Scott Currie turned 50 in July and added his first 50+ GLMX Championship to his already impressive resume. Speaking of Currie, he dropped down two age groups to nail down another 40+ championship in the GLMX Michigan Mafia series ahead of Mark Herington and Mark Duncan. Joe Subart took top honors in the GLMX Mideast Championship, just 14 points ahead of Duncan who landed on the podium in both GLMX series.

As he prepared for Loretta Lynn’s, Derek Rose took control of the 25+ class in the Michigan Mafia Series gaining him the championship, however an injury at the dude ranch stopped Rose’s charge for the rest of the year. Then it was the most decorated GLMX vet rider of 2010, Joe Subart winning 25+ in the Mideast Championship. Subart wasn’t done grabbing trophies just yet and also took top honors in the 35+ class in both 2009 GLMX series. With five championships in seven tries Subart’s year could be called nothing less than a success. Chad Leonard carried a big lead into the last month of the GLMX Michigan Mafia series and didn’t let it go taking the 30+ title by just short of a hundred points when all the races were on the books, over runner up Abraham Porter. Joe Subart went after another title in the GLMX Mideast Championship and pulled it off topping Abraham Porter by a mere nine points. Todd Stewart added another motocross title to the Stewart family collection topping the 45+ class in GLMX Michigan Mafia action. Stewart put his KTM on the top step of the podium seventeen times en route to his championship, outgunning runners up Scott Currie and Mark Hetherington. In the GLMX Mideast Championship it was Currie on top with an always consistent Mark Duncan second, eleven points better than third place finisher Steve Kluga.

The 14-24 class is a mixed bag of “A”, “B” and even “C” riders, and in the Mafia series it was Colt Thompson who came out on top with Brian Nelson and Eric Senk in the hunt all summer long. In the GLMX Mideast series it was Chris Elko that took the 14-24 title logging six overalls on his way to defeating Shane Larsen and Noah Markel. The Schoolboy 1 and 2 classes are fun classes to watch as the kids jump off their minis and hit the track on the big bikes. Dillon Finley took both class titles in the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship, which wasn’t easy as each and every weekend there were at least five kids on the line that could take an overall. In Schoolboy 1 action Finley beat out the likes of runner up Seth Green and podium finisher Jacob Grzebinski with Nick Velie and Eddie Morris rounding out the top five. In the Mideast Championship it was Lucas Lowe taking the title in the Schoolboy 1 class as Morris and Bailey Haefner made up the balance of the podium. Finley was out front in Schoolboy 2 action during the Michigan Mafia Series, but during the Mideast Championship Jarett Pesci pinned it grabbing nine overalls and gapping runner up Jarred Williams by 33 points.

“B” Classes

In the “B” ranks it was Eric Senk out front and in control of the 250B from the get go. The Owosso native loaded up weekend after weekend and took the competition on head to head with a ton of success. Senk also nailed down the Open “B” class championship in the GLMX Mideast series grabbing three out of four B class championships. Chris Morrison was the other “B” class champion winning the Open B Michigan Mafia Championship by putting himself on the podium in 15 of 16 tries on his way to the top spot.

65cc Classes

The 65cc Jr. class was one of the most contested classes throughout the 2009 GLMX season. Tait Morrissey didn’t care how many riders lined up to do battle, he had one goal in mind and that was to win. Morrissey won 81% of the races he entered and was on the podium 96% of the time as well. That was one heck of season Mr. Morrissey, congrats. It wasn’t an easy year by any means because hot on Morrisey’s heels all year long was Mason Schaendorf who put together a season that would see him claim the runner up spot in both GLMX series. In the 65cc Sr. ranks it was a year of close points battles as both seasons were decided by less than 10 points. In The Michigan Mafia Championship it was Coldwave rider Ashton Hayes leading the way with 12 overall wins to outpace runner up Jordon Schaendorf by a slim margin. In the GLMX Mideast Championships it was a battle of Mathews as Matt Carpenter squeaked out the championship by two points over runner up Matt Gross, both riders having lots of success throughout the year.

Bike specific classes

Two-strokes rule the 125B/C class and so did Brian Nelson as the well mannered and speedy lad from Wyoming topped the field of young guns capturing 19 overall wins along the road to his first two GLMX championships. In the GLMX Michigan Mafia series it was Alex Schoenherr in the runner up spot with Lucas Buck third. While in the Mideast Championship it was Buck that would follow Nelson with Jordon Oliver just one point back in third. The Non-Current class is an old school class so it is only fitting that an old school guy came out on top. Monty Cravens took top honors in both GLMX Non-Current title fights. Cravens was also a podium challenger in the 50+ class finishing both series in the top five for his efforts. Jarred Williams carded a Supermini championship in the GLMX Michigan Mafia series with a ton of great rides nailing down wins at Grattan, Big Air and Dutch Sport Park. Keenan Mokma was just seven points back with Matt Klann in third and coming on fast. In the GLMX Mideast Championship it was Klann who would prove to be king of the Supermini class, locking up the title with wins at four of the seven GLMX tracks outgunning Travis Baker by eight points.

85cc Classes

The 85cc Sr. class is full of talent and always a good one to watch and this season was no different as Jarred Williams took an early lead in the GLMX Michigan Mafia series and fought hard to take the title by a slim two point margin over Jacob Behringer with Brody Bell not far behind in third. Matt Klann missed the podium by just two points in the summer series and came out swinging when the GLMX Mideast Championship got underway. Klann took home the championship by scoring 85cc Sr. overall wins at five different GLMX tracks. The 85cc Jr. class was full of fast kids and close battles. In fact a tie in points happened in the GLMX Michigan Mafia Series but once the dust cleared it was Jacob Williamson who came out on top over Mitchell Harrison after all the tie breakers came in to play. Williamson used that momentum to keep the ball rolling,also taking the top spot in the GLMX Mideast Championship as well. In 85cc “C” action it was Alex Lantz stealing the top spot in the GLMX Michigan Mafia series, outgunning Travis Winter by just six points with Hunter Morgan another six points back in third. Winter would get his revenge in the GLMX Mideast Championship nailing down the top step with 13 overalls to his credit. Jacob Williamson added two more GLMX championships to his resume by sweeping the 85cc 9-13 class in both the Mafia and Mideast Championships. Jared Williams held off Mitchell Harrison for the runner up spot in the Mafia series, while in the Mideast series it was Jordon Schaendorf grabbing the bridesmaid spot with Koby Conrad taking the last podium spot.

Women’s Classes

Women’s MX has strong roots within the GLMX promoters group and that tradition continues as a solid group of fast ladies lined the awards stage. In the Women’s Jr. class it was Alyssa Benedict grabbing the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship beating out Mikayla Inman and Katie Haefner in a close battle. In the GLMX Mideast Championship, Inman wicked it up and grabbed 17 moto wins on her way to the Women’s Jr. Championship, out running Danielle Thompson and Haefner. In the Women’s Sr. class Kelsi Wathen took the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship while it was Cady VanCura that would take the top spot in the GLMX Mideast Championship. VanCura was also the only lady to grab an award in the big bike classes, taking home hardware in the 250 C class.

“C” Classes

Scott Moreen lead the way in the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship in the 250 “C” class taking the title with nearly a 100 point cushion over runner up Austin Morris and podium finisher Dylan Lorenz. In the GLMX Mideast Championship it was Trent Faber who would come out on top of the point standings, winning nine overalls in thirteen tries and leading the way over runner up Thomas Legeiter and third place rider Zac Alfreid. Moreen was not done collecting awards just yet as the Twin Lake, Michigan rider owned the Open “C” class in the GLMX Michigan Mafia series, winning 93% of the motos he entered and never finishing off the podium. Moreen had to be strong because Tim McPherson was on the gas all season, claiming second ahead of Tyler Grewe, Mitchell Highbaugh and Kipp Rammler respectively. McPherson put his head down in the GLMX Mideast series and went to work winning a championship for his efforts. Grewe was second just one point back with Troy White, Matt Swetland and Shane Tossava rounding out the top five.

The GLMX organization kicked off in 2009 in uncertain times as the lead story on every newscast was doom and gloom. No matter how uncertain the economy, we knew in our hearts that we had the best riders and facilities in the Midwest, and it was time to step things up in a big way. Mediocrity was not an option. With the dedication of the promoters, the support and trust of the Great Lakes participating dealers and some industry heavy hitters, the banquet capped off a season of giving back to the riders. Who knows what 2010 will bring economically, but it’s clear that this region is full of racers unwilling to give up their passion even in tough times, and as long as you are willing and able to make it to the racetrack, we are committed to giving you our very best. We can’t wait for the 2010 season, as it has all the makings to be bigger and better than year one.

Banquet prizes provided by: