Page 39 - MPG-ISSUE-MARCH18

KADE JOHNSON
It’s safe to say that Kade Johnson had a breakout year in 2017. The young Texan put himself on the
map with unwavering results from
the beginning of the season until
the end, dominating the 65cc class aboard his Husqvarna machine. He won the first Loretta Lynn’s National Championship of his career, taking the overall in the 65cc (7-9) class. In addition to his success at the Ranch, he also found the top step of the podium at Millcreek, Oak Hill, the JS7 Freestone Spring Championship, the California Classic, Mammoth Moun- tain Motocross, the Baja Brawl, The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City, and Mini O’s. It’s quite an impressive list of accomplishments -- in fact, it’s so impressive it landed him a spot on the Monster Energy Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha squad as well as the Team Dunlop Elite program for 2018.
CARTER MALCOLM
Carter Malcolm really made some significant strides in a positive direction throughout the 2017 rac- ing season, improving heaps and bounds from the beginning of the year to the end. The Colorado native only recorded one top ten finish at the Daytona RCSX after an unlucky weekend in Florida, but he didn’t
let that dampen his spirits. Malcolm moved onto the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championship at the beginning of August, earning the first two top ten finishes at the Ranch of his young career. Something clicked within the young rider after challenging some of the big names
in Hurricane Mills and his results began to skyrocket towards the end of the season. Malcolm landed on
the podium in the 65cc (7-11) class at The Motoplayground Race in Ponca City with a third place finish, gather- ing some serious momentum heading into Mini O’s. He was arguably one
of the most impressive riders in the 65cc class during the few days of supercross racing at the Thor Winter Olympics, finishing in second posi- tion in two of his three classes. The Colorado native landed inside the top five in all of his classes but one at the Thor Winter Olympics, setting him up for success in 2018 as he jumps up to the 85cc ranks.
WWW.MOTOPLAYGROUND.COM
39
R
G
Y
A
L
U
N
P
D
O
O
R
O
E
P
H
T
R
4
O
T
R
T
U
N
E
DE
E
1
O
S
P
E
M
0
N
2
T
S
N
RIDERS TO WATCH IN 2014
100
THE
DIRTY
W
W
M
W
O
.
C
.
M
D
N
O
U
O
R
G
T
O
P
L
A
S
Y