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KENNYDAY Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Champion
The last time that Kenny Day competed at the famed Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch was back in 2013, logging a solid top fifteen finish in the always competitive Junior (25+) division. Five years have passed since then and the Floridian chose to return to Hurricane Mills in the Vet (30+) class as well as Junior (25+) for the 37th annual Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championship. Although Day scored a strong top ten finish in the Junior (25+) division, his main focus was on the Vet class as he had the speed and skills to win the number one plate. The Yamaha rider wasn’t the fastest in the class throughout the week,
but he rode smart and consistent motos which put him in position to fight for
the title all the way down to the wire. He got the most challenging moto out of the way on the very first day of racing, starting well outside of the top ten in the opening Vet (30+) moto. Day struggled to make any progress throughout the first two laps as he crossed the finish line stripe in twelfth position, but it wasn’t long until he found his rhythm and dropped the hammer. The Floridian scythed his way through the field throughout the remainder of the race, passing a total
of six riders on the third lap as he jumped from twelfth to sixth place in a matter of minutes. At that point, he took a somewhat steady approach to the remainder of the race, picking off the competition one-by-one as he inched himself closer and closer to the podium. Day made the pass for third position with a handful of laps to spare and took time out of the leaders in the late stages of the race, but it was too little too late and he was forced to settle for the final spot on the box. It was the same story in the second race as he found himself well outside of the top ten on the start, but by the halfway point of the race he had worked his way all the way back to fourth position. It was a little bit more of a challenge this time around, but the Yamaha rider found a way onto the box yet again, passing into third position with only a couple of laps remaining. In the third and final moto, Day was finally able to time the gate to perfection and jump out to a top three start, making things easy on himself as he quickly worked his way into second position and buckled down. It wasn’t necessary to challenge for the lead in order to secure the title, therefore he was content with a comfortable second place finish that earned him the first Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Cham- pionship of his career.
2018
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