At the third Northeast area qualifier for the Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, it was a race that usually gets a heavy turnout thanks to the Spring weather just around the corner for New Englanders who have been either stuck under snow just literally get their heads above water after some severe floods plagued some areas.  Also, Oakhill was finishing up it’s amateur national racing action in Texas this past weekend so some of the top riders that could have possibly made it to Raceway Park were still working their way back home or finishing up their week in Texas (except for Nick Desiderio who drove straight through into Sunday morning!).  With Elizabeth City and Tomahawk qualifiers in the books, it was time to see who were the top Loretta Lynn regional-bound riders coming out of Raceway Park.  Let’s take a look at those riders below:

Photos by Scott Lukaitis – Lukaitis Photo
Check out his photos from Raceway Park here!

David Milana

New Yorker David Milana has been a regular face on the amateur national scene lately and at Raceway Park, Milana was clearly unstoppable winning  a total of 5 classes on both days (85 9-11 Stock and Modified/65 7-11 Modified/65 10-11 Stock/Junior Mini 9-13).  When a rider clearly shows this amount of dominance at an area qualifier, chances are they are already focused on Loretta Lynn’s at this point and not so worried about the regional qualifier(s).  But you never know what will happen in this crazy sport (Example: Jacksonville SX last weekend).  But besides that, Milana has been stepping it up once again this season and is clearly the 85 9-11 and 65 10-11 rider that the best in the nation will be keeping a close eye on.

Nick Desiderio

New Jersey’s own Nick Desiderio has been stalled in the B class for almost 4 years due to illness and just bad luck but for 2011, the old Nick Desiderio is back and ready to roll.  Desiderio just got back after a full 2 weeks on the road between Daytona for the RC Amateur SX, Mill Creek Spring Classic in Alabama, and the GNC Motocross National at Oakhill in Texas.  Actually, Desiderio arrived at Raceway Park late for practice as he just got back from Oakhill and besides missing practice, he was able to string together 2 overall wins in 250 B Modified and 450 B Modified at his home track with a substantial lead in each of his motos.  Could this be Nick’s year in the B class finally?

Dakota Kessler

Kessler Pro Suspension’s own Dakota Kessler was at Raceway Park for the LL area qualifier to shake some of the cobwebs off and get started on the 2011 season.  After appearing at a number of Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship rounds in the Northeast last season, Kessler is focused on 2011 and it showed with a dominant overall win in Saturday’s 250 A class.

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy Smith is a rider that quietly made strong finishes at the local level last year in the 85 12-15 classes and at Raceway Park, he was the rider to beat in the 85 12-14 and Supermini classes.  Smith won 3 classes on the weekend in the 85 12-14 Stock class and a full sweep in the Supermini 1 and 2 classes on his Honda CRF150.  While there was heavy competition in the 85 12-14 classes with Justin Cooper, Miguel Correia, Coty Schock, and Jared Jennings, Smith handled his fast Honda CRF150 to very dominant wins against the gang of Yamaha 85s behind him.  He may be quiet but never count him out at the regional!

Justin Cooper

New Yorker Justin Cooper has been an Arenacross specialist ever since he was 50s and his technical, smooth style is still noticed on the outdoor tracks as his riding has been seen as the smoothest and most calculated amongst the other 85 12-14 riders he was up against at Raceway Park.  Cooper was the only rider to top the fast Jeremy Smith all weekend long with an overall win in the 85 12-14 Modified class on Sunday.  For the 85 12-14 Stock class on Saturday, Cooper was second behind Smith.  Despite his small stature, Cooper rides extremely well and should be a favorite coming into the regionals in a couple of months.

Coty Schock

The other small competitor in the 85 12-14 classes was Delaware’s Coty Schock.  With Cooper showing a clean, smooth style all over the track, Schock is the complete opposite bringing a Barcia-like “wild child” style to the 85 12-14 class.  At Raceway Park, Schock was the rider the people were watching the most as he made passes wherever he could in some already intense battles.  Add in some amazing close calls and one unreal flip in the braking bumps and ruts after Raceway Park’s “Plunge” tabletop in one moto on Sunday, Schock was the most interesting and exciting rider to watch in an already talent packed 85 12-14 class.  Schock finished up with a 3rd place finish in 85 12-14 Stock and two 4th place finishes in Super Mini 1 and 85 12-14 Modified.  Also, Coty has also been riding and training with Delaware pro Tyler Wozney on a regular basis.  Schock has been to the ranch at Loretta’s already and is looking forward to going back there in 2011 if all things go well for him this season.

Jesse Pierce

New Jersey native Jesse Pierce has been a regular at Raceway Park the past number of years and also has made the top step of the podium at Loretta Lynn’s with a 250 C Modified championship back in 2009.  Last year, Pierce made a strong run aboard his Suzukis but never made it to the ranch in the Schoolboy classes.  This year, he hopes to be back there and get back to that podium in Tennessee in the B classes.  After a strong showing at the Elizabeth City qualifier back in February, Pierce, along with his brother Keith, are stepping up their games this year and looked very solid at Raceway Park.  Jesse finished up with 2 overall wins in the 250 and 450 B Stock classes on Saturday and a couple of top 3 finishes in 250 and 450 B Modified classes on Sunday behind Desiderio and two stroke specialist Larry McVay.  Pierce also threw down some of the biggest leads over 2nd on the weekend in his motos that were well over 20-30 seconds.

Zach Lang

New Yorker Zach lang has stepped it up a lot for 2011 and it showed at Raceway Park last weekend.  Dominating overall wins in the Open 4 Stroke (non-LL qualifying class) and College B/C 17-24 classes on the weekend made it all look too easy for the #22.  Ever since Zach started riding his Suzuki RMZ450, he has noticeably been faster thanks to some riding during the off season at Club MX and other tracks.

Joey Peters

Rock River/Yamaha rider Joey Peters has had a rough year already for 2011 ever since his two Yamaha race bikes (250f and 450) were stolen in Atlanta during supercross weekend last month.  Since then, the Peters family and their supporters have been trying everything that they can to get their bikes back.  But during this time, they have been fortunate to get some bikes to ride as their search continues.  At Raceway Park, Joey was aboard his old Yamaha YZ125, which he sold to friend Luke Palonicola last year, in the 250 A class.  With no big purse and all the focus on finishing top 8,  Joey did what he can with bad starts in both motos and overall, just being underpowered all day for Saturday’s 250 A motos.  He did, however, have a Rock River supplied Yamaha YZ450 to contest in the Open A and Open A/Pro Sport classes, in which he finished 2nd behind AMA Pro National riders Dakota Kessler and Bryan Wallace in both classes.  Peters plans to do the whole Loretta Lynn’s deal one more time and contest in the last 4 outdoor pro nationals this year.

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