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RYDER DIFRANCESCO
One of the many hot shot prospects to come out of Bakersfield, California, Ryder DiFrancesco has backed up the hype since penning a high profile sponsorship with Jimmy Johns a few years back. The Team Dunlop Elite rider has accumulated four Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Cham- pionships throughout his time on minicycles, as recently as last year
in the 85cc (9-11) Limited class. Fol- lowing his title at the Ranch last year, DiFrancesco bagged two more num- ber one plates at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City, continuing to
pad his burgeoning trophy collection. The Team Green Kawasaki sensation began the 2018 season with a couple of appearances at Monster Energy Amateur Supercross, earning four overall victories that will undoubtedly improve his stock heading into spring nationals.
CARTER HALPAIN
After winning four titles at the 2016 Thor Winter Olympics, it was clear that Carter Halpain was shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with in the B class. The Texas native continued to show improvement throughout the 2017 season, winning two champion- ships between the Daytona RCSX and the JS7 Freestone Spring Cham- pionship. Halpain said farewell to the B class with a runner-up result at Lo- retta Lynn’s in 2017, narrowly missing out on the number one plate by just one point. Nonetheless, the Yamaha rider didn’t miss a beat moving into the A class as he immediately found the podium at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City, looking at home in his new partnership with the Cycle- Trader | Rock River | Yamaha team. Some may have thought it wasn’t possible to best his performance at Mini O’s from 2016, but Halpain took that as a challenge, winning a num- ber one plate in the 250 A class and earning himself the Dunlop Silver Tire Award as the most successful rider in the expert division. He picked up right where he left off in 2018, earning a couple of podium finishes in the AX Lites East class and a pair of main event victories at the Monster Energy Amateur Supercross in Tampa, mak- ing him one of the favorites in the A class throughout spring nationals.
22 MPG • MARCH • 2018
the dirty