Page 25 - MPG MAY 2018

NICHOLAS ROMANO
Nicholas Romano has been winning races on a national level since he was in the 51cc division and has continued to do so as he progressed through
the ranks. It wasn’t long until he was recruited by the Team Green Kawasaki program and the two have paired up in recent years to find a lot of success. In addition to his involvement with Team Green, Romano is also a member of the coveted Team Dunlop Elite program. He has only finished outside the top five
at the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Champion- ship two different times in his career and he has one Amateur National Championship to his name. The New Yorker ended the 2017 season with a trio of championships at Mini Os and started the new season with the same tone, picking up victories left and right. He found the top step of the podium on multiple occasions throughout the Florida Winter Ams and completely swept his classes at the Monster Energy Amateur Supercross in Tampa Bay, Florida at the end of February. Romano continued to find the podium
at the Daytona RCSX and the JS7 Freestone Spring Championship, collecting two second place overalls and a third place overall between the two events. Ro- mano is a clearcut favorite to challenge for the podium at any race that he attends and it’s likely that he’ll be back on the top step before the end of the season.
JORDAN BAILEY
Jordan Bailey is one of the few riders in the A class that took their last gate drops as ama- teurs at the beginning of the 2018 season. The Rockstar Husqvarna rider will make his professional debut at the 2018 AMA Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season opener at Hangtown, fulfilling a storied amateur career dating back to his time in the 51cc ranks. The Florida na- tive found his first major success on a motor- cycle back in 2007 aboard a Cobra, winning the 51cc (4-6) class at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Throughout his time spent at the Ranch, Bai- ley racked up seven number one plates and
a handful of podium finishes to boot. Amaz- ingly, he only finished outside of the top five on four occasions across a total of seventeen appearances. The Husqvarna rider recorded
a second place overall in 250 A last year and brought that momentum into Mini O’s where he snagged a number one plate on the moto- cross track. Although Bailey wasn’t able to put his hands on a number one plate throughout the beginning of the 2018 season, his speed was clearly where it needs to be heading into the pros. The Rockstar Husqvarna backed rider finished on the podium or in the top five in both 250 A and Open Pro Sport at both the Daytona RCSX and the JS7 Freestone Spring Championship, putting him in the right mindset for the gate drop at Hangtown.
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