This is the view from the tunnel directly under the finish line looking up at Mount Saint Helen. The track turned right on top of the finish line jump, dropped in on the right side of the jump and went straight up the center of the hill, and came back down the side known as the “The Falls” where it rejoined the grandstand straight.
PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI & DAN ALAMANGOS
Due to the unprecedented rainfall in the first 10 weeks of the year, “Saturday at the Glen” hasn’t raced in a month. Not only that but this week’s race was imperiled by a massive four inches of rain earlier in the week. Since Glen Helen is surrounded by 10,000-foot mountains and located at the end of a canyon, the amount of water rushing out of the canyon mouth is magnified tenfold—leaving a large swath of the Glen Helen National motocross track submerged—even the main road into the track was closed for a week when the river crested the road and left a couple of feet of sand on the pavement.
Pasha Afshar (L7) arranged with “Saturday at the Glen” to hold a 125 warm-up race (actually the displacement limit is 150cc) so that two-stroke riders could get their bikes and bodies ready for the World Two-Stroke Championship on April 8.
It looked bad for the “Saturday at the Glen” race, the Pasha 125 World Two-Stroke Championship warm-up race, and the Travis Pastrana Nitro Rallycross season finale on the truck track. But at the last second the stars aligned:
(1) The county road crews doubled their efforts to scoop the sand off the main road and trucked it away (opening the road to traffic on Friday afternoon—a relief to the residents of the adjacent housing project that was being used as the back way in—imagine a couple hundred trucks, vans and transporters coming down your street on Saturday morning).
(2) The sun came out on Friday and the temperatures rose to 70 degrees, which helped dry out the track.
This was the toughest series of corners on the track, but these riders had no issues navigating the short steep climb up to a flat and then another short steep climb to the right. It required good line choice and a steady throttle.
The corner sequence was made a lot easier after the Novices and minicycles proved they knew nothing about lines or throttle control during practice.
(3) Glen Helen had MXA’s Jody Weisel come in on Friday morning to work with the Glen Helen track crew to design a new layout that avoided all the muddy, soggy, or soft spots. Jody has built all of Glen Helen’s AMA National and Grand Prix racetracks and, since he races at Glen Helen every week, he knew the lay of the land. The change-over was done in one day, with most of the track moved to the higher and dryer elevations.
Warren Reid (left) and Jody Weisel (with his arm bandage arm from falling on a pointed rock) kicked back and let their friends grind it out. Photo: Dan Alamangos
There are moments at Glen Helen where it looks like you are going to run head-on into a giant billboard, but it is an optical illusion. The racetrack drops down quickly right before you get to the spectator bridge. Then, you go under it and straight up the very steep hill. Photo: Dan Alamangos
THE STARS OF THE DAY
Josh Mosiman’s Pasha 125 Pro winning bike looks like a mild-mannered 2023 GasGas MC125, but don’t believe it. This is a 44.5-horsepower fire breather built by Mitch Payton and tuned by Mike “Schnikey” Tomlin.
With day one of the Nitro Rallycross scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Glen Helen had to clear the “Saturday at the Glen” and Pasha 125 Open with the Rallycross organizer because they had leased the whole facility for the weekend. Luckily, Rallycross is the brainchild of former AMA National Motocross Champion Travis Pastrana, and TP199 didn’t mind having a motocross race being held in the morning, as long as it was over before the Rallycross spectators came pouring in the afternoon.
Josh Mosiman is a master of the “feet up” riding style, although Aaron Plessinger showed the downside of it a few hours later. Photo: Dan Alamangos
The biggest winner of “Saturday at the Glen” and the Pash warm-up race was MXA’s Josh Mosiman. Mitch Payton and Pro Ciruit’s Mike “Schnikey” Tomlin just finished the 2023 GasGas MC150 on Friday night (the hold-up was not Pro Circuit’s fault, but instead supply line shortages meant that there was no 150cc piston to fit Mosiman’s Power Parts kitted engine. Finally, on Thursday, a piston was found at KTM and the engine was bolted together.
Josh Mosiman also won the 450 Pro class on MXA’s stock 2023 Yamaha YZ450F. It’s only mod is a “very, very mellow” map. Josh was goofing around in practice.
Mosiman got holeshots in both motos Pasha 125 Pro motos and reeled off consistent 2:04 lap times in the first moto and 2:10s in the much rougher and rutted second moto to win by a large margin. This race was just a warm-up for the April 8th World Two-Stroke Championship and Josh Mosiman used it to test and break in his new Power Parts-kitted 150 engine and re-valved suspension (and 26 other two-stroke riders were doing the same basic thing).
PASHA 125 PRO OPEN RESULTS
1. Josh Mosiman (Gas)…1-1
2. Jeremy Mairose (Kaw)…2-2
3. Jonah Perkins (Yam)…3-3
Colton Aeck (526) kept Mosiman honest in the 450 Pro class on his WORCS series KTM 450SXF off-road bike.
Josh Mosiman came back one race later to race the 450 Pro class on MXA’s completely stock 2023 Yamaha YZ450F and win both classes. Colton Aeck stuck with Mosiman in both motos, but Josh’s best lap in moto one corresponded with Colton’s worst lap at a 2:01 to a 2:07. In the second moto Aeck had the fastest overall lap time, but late in the moto Mosiman reeled off a 2 second faster lap in traffic to secure a two-moto sweep with Aeck second overall, Richard Taylor third, Ezra Lewis fourth and Ford Heit rounding out the top five.
Richard Taylor (141) has been racing a Kawasaki KX450 in 450 Supercross, but plans to switch to a YZ450F for the AMA 450 Nationals starting in May. The 2023 Yamaha YZ450Fs are hard to find, so he’s doing his National prep on a 2022 YZ450.
450 PRO CLASS RESULTS
1. Josh Mosiman (Yam)…1-1
2. Colton Aeck (KTM)…2-2
3. Richard Taylor (Yam)…3-3
Surprisingly, there were several other double class winners, mostly combining a Pasha 125 Open class win with equal success in their regular class.
South African Allan Jullien (70) is a big boy to be racing 125 two-strokes, but he is very good at it.
Alan Jullien won the Over-50 125 Pro class with a 2-1 when first moto winner Nick Mairose suffered a setback in the second moto to end up with a 1-4 day—still good enough for second overall as the top five was made up of Arek Kruk (3-3), Kevin Barda (5-2) and Bill Sauro (4-7).
PASHA OVER-50 125 PRO RESULTS
1. Alan Jullien (Gas)…2-1
2. Nick Mairose (KTM)…1-4
3. Arek Kruk (Yam)…3-3
Allan Jullien (70) won two classes at “Saturday and the Glen” and had a barn burner of a battle with Polish rider Arek Kruk (79) in the Over-50 Expert class.
Jullien also won the Over-50 Expert class in what was a United Nations-style class. South African Alan Jullien went 1-1 in front of Poland’s Arek Kruk (2-2), Canada’s Pete DeGraaf (3-4) and America’s Pete Murray (6-5). Jon Ortner was running in the top three in the first moto, when his throttle suck in the sand whoops, sending him over the bars—which bent the bars, ripped the throttle off, shredded the seat and tweaked the plastic on his Yamaha YZ250X and didn’t do Jon any good either.
Jon Ortner (N1R) and Pete Murray line up to go over the Saddleback humps. Ortner worked his way up to third place in the Over-50 Experts before going over the bars in the sand section. He was bruised and battered, but mostly he complained that his boots hit the ground so hard that his toes hurt.
Canadian Pete DeGraff (16) was third in the Over-50 Experts. You may not recognize the name, but he is a six-time World Vet Champion in the Over-50 and Over-60 Expert classes.
OVER-50 EXPERT RESULTS
1. Alan Jullien (Gas)…1-1
2. Arek Kruk (Hus)…2-2
3. Pete DeGraaf (KTM)…3-4
Brett Stralo (225) won two classes on Saturday.
Brett Stralo won the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro class with a 1-1 and then took the Over-30 Expert class victory with a 2-1 over Josh Alexander’s 1-2. Thomas Caldwell, from Klamath Falls, Oregon, was third. Johnny Cash Webb won the 125 Intermediates and the 250 Intermediates.
OVER-30 EXPERT RESULTS
1. Brett Stralo (KTM)…2-1
2. Josh Alexander (Hus)…1-2
3. Thomas Caldwell (Gas)…3-3
Robert Resinger leads a pack of Over-60 Experts over the Log Cabin. With the exception of Pete Murray, who is long gone, these four riders represent second through fifth.
Pete Murray won the Over-60 Expert class by a wide margin.
Ed Guajardo’s 3-2 beat out Robert Reisinger’s 2-3 for second in the Over-60 Experts.
OVER-60 EXPERT RESULTS
1. Pete Murray (Yam)…1-1
2. Ed Guajardo (Yam)…3-2
3. Robert Reisinger (Hus)…2-3
Luc DeLey was fifth in the Over-60 Experts on a KTM 300SX fuel-injected two-stroke with a 4-6 day.
Shawn Wynne (9) didn’t even make it through the first moto before he landed on a lapper and went home to Lompoc battered and bruised.
ON THE AGENDA FOR NEXT WEEK
The rain washes a lot of sand off the hills and even though the track had been muddy two days earlier, it was sandy on Saturday. A couple hours after the race ended, it started raining again.. Photo: Dan Alamangos
“Saturday at the Glen” will be back next Saturday, March 25, on Glen Helen’s upper Arroyo track, but do you know what else coming next week? You guessed it! Rain is forecast forMonday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Glen Helen already has 30.3 inches of rain this year, which is double the yearly average of 15 inches. However, it will be sunny on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
WINNERS OF SELECTED CLASSES
Randel Fout (21) was flying on MXA’s 2023-1/2 Husqvarna FC450 Rockstar Edition.
PASHA OVER-30 125 PRO
1. Brett Stralo (KM)…1-1
2. Michael Brown (Gas)…2-2
3. Phil Valdez (Kaw)…3-3
450 INTERMEDIATES
1. Shawn Bushnell (Hus)…3-1
2. Tyson Taylor (Gas)…2-2
3. Mark Tilley (KTM)…1-4
Irishman David O’Connor got an early birthday present when he won the Over-40 Intermediate class one day before his 43st birthday.
OVER-40 INTERMEDIATES
1. David O’Connor (KTM)…2-1
2. Craig Bouman (Hus)…1-2
3. Alison Bushnell (Hus)…3-3
Alison Bushnell (13) was third in the Over-40 intermediates. She is a contender for the win
OVER-50 INTERMEDIATES
1. Brad Toms (Hus)…2-1
2. Wayne Ashby (Hus)…102
3. David Alexander (Hus)…3-3
OVER-60 EXPERTS
1. Pete Murray (Yam)…1-1
2. Ed Guajardo (Yam)…3-2
3. Robert Reisinger (Hus)…2-3
OVER-60 INTERMEDIATES
1. Robot Rodgers (Hus)…1-1
2. Robert Pocius (KTM)…2-2
3. George Andrews (KTM)…3-3
Bob Rutten (83) and Val Tamietti (31) dueled in both motos for the Over-65 Expert class win. Tamietti managed to beat Bob in both motos.
Will Harper rode MXA’s GasGas MC366F project bike to fourth in the Over-65 Experts.
OVER 65 EXPERTS
1. Val Tamietti (Yam)…1-1
2. Bob Rutten (KTM)…2-2
3. Steve Chandler (KTM)…4-3
Jacob Tilley won the Supermini class.
SUPERMINI CLASS
1. Jacob Tilley (Yam) 1-1
2. Conner Dejarnet (KTM)…2-2
3. Patrick Miranda (Hus)…3-3
Marc Crosby swept both motos of the Over-65 Intermediates on a 2023 KTM 350SXF.
OVER-65 INTERMEDIATES
1. Marc Crosby (KTM)…1-1
2. Jim Hanson (Hon)…3-2
3. Pete Vetrano (Gas))…2-3
Bryson Rowney (99) displayed a lot of talent in his sweep of the Pee-Wee class.
PEE-WEE (7-8 YEARS OLD)
1. Bryson Rowney (KTM)…1-1
2. Tate Andersoen (Cob)…2-2
3. Matthew Yarnell (KTM)…4-3
PEE-WEE (4-6 YEARS OLD)
1. Benjamin Borjorquez (Cob)…2-1
2. Levi Harrison (Yam)…1-3
3. Connor Berglin (KTM)..3-2
Axell Middleton (135) was perfect in the PW50 class.
Henry Gardiner (94) styled his Honda CRF50 on the inside line for fourth in the PW50/Honda XR class. Matthew Yarnell (157) blasts by on the outside line of the dual-lane corner.
However, a little farther up the track Henry Gardiner got stuck in the mud and dad had to go fish the bike out. Good thing Junior wasn’t racing a 450.
PEE-WEE (PW50/XR)
1. Axell Middleton (Yam)…1-1
2. Wyatt Snowden (Yam)…4-2
3. Madison Yarnell (Yam)…3-3
2023 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” SCHEDULE
“Saturday at the Glen” motocross will race again next Saturday, March 25 on Glen Helen’s upper Arroyo track. Pre-entry is only $30 ($25 for minis). Post entry is $40 ($30 for minis) on the day of the race. The Gate fee is $10 (per person). You can sign up for the next “Saturday at the Glen” motocross as late as the Friday before the next race (or just show up in person on race day). For more info go to www.glenhelen.com
Jan. 14…Winter Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Jan. 21…Winter Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 4…Winter Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 11…Winter Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 25…Winter Series #5 (National track)
Mar. 18…Spring Series #1 & Pasha 125 Open (National track)
Mar. 25…Spring Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Apr. 8…World Two-Stroke Championship (National track)
Apr. 15…Spring Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Apr. 22…Spring Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
May 13…Spring Series #5 (National track)
June 3…Summer Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
June 17…Summer Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
June 24…Summer Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
July 15…Summer Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
July 29….Summer Series #5 (National track)
Aug. 19…Fall Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Aug. 26…Fall Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 16…Fall Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 23…Fall Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 30…Fall Series #5 (National track)
Oct. 21…Winter Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Oct. 28…Winter Series #2 (National track)
Nov.3-5…World Vet Championship (National track)
Nov. 18..Winter Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Dec. 9…Winter Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Dec. 16..Winter Series #5 (National track)
SATURDAY AT THE GLEN RACE REPORT: JOSH MOSIMAN GOES 4-FOR-4 Motocross Action Magazine.
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