MX101 wrote a piece of Canadian motocross history last week, hosting the first ever Eastern Canadian Amateur National MX Championships at Sand Del Lee.

By Danny Brault

A Good time! That basically sums up the Eastern Amateur National MX Championships at Sand Del Lee. Everything rolled along pretty smoothly (except for a rain delay on Thursday); the track was prepped nightly, the racing was great, and the schedule actually ran ahead of time. I'm sure the promoters would have liked to see more rider entries, but I found the smaller crowd made for a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Plus, as MX101's Johnny Grant said at the awards ceremony, "We may not have had a lot of people, but we had the right people!" Judging by the expression of the racers and their families, we'll be seeing twice as many right people next year.

Jocelyn Killough (5) gets a wheel on Casondra Green (767) in a Ladies moto. Killough, who currently sits second in the Women's Nationals, swept the Ladies motos for her first Amateur National Championship. Greene finished second overall with a 2-2-3, and Kristen MacDonald had a breakout ride for third overall.  

An MX2 Beginner moto heads into the second corner. The results list on MX101.ca don't show numbers and I haven't been to many local races this summer, so I apologize for not knowing everyone in this picture. I do know that #789 is Roost Clothing's Kyle Carruthers because we're buddies and we drove to SDL together. Kyle had a good and bad week, finishing second in MX2 Beginner and then cart wheeling after his bike seized in a GP moto.  

Factory Connection Canada's Mike Haist checks in with one of his supported riders, Jason Benny, on the Red Bull podium. It always seemed like Benny had the speed to win Schoolboy and Supermini motos, but Richard Grey and some bad luck got in his way. He went 2-2-2 for second overall in Supermini, and was looking for a podium in Schoolboy until he crashed hard in the final moto. The little trooper is tough, however, and returned with crutches and a cast on his leg for the awards ceremony.

Nathan Bles had probably the roughest week of anyone at SDL. While he had his share of podiums and battles up front, bike troubles and crashes hurt his overall scores. His determination and raw speed didn't go unnoticed though and he was named the MTF Hard Charger Award Presented by MXForum; a week stay at MTF and $500 cheque from MXForum is attached.

I think I've been hanging around BigWave too much - or Chuck Mesley. 

Nick May borrowed a buddy's YZ125 for the 125 Open class. May showed he still has some skill on two-strokes, winning the final moto over Kevin Tyler and finishing second overall. Benny and Grey were in position for the top two spots, but Benny was hurt and Grey's bike busted in his final Schoolboy moto.  

MX101 Yamaha Canada's Bradley Dool skies it over the single-to-table. Dool finished third overall in Schoolboy and Supermini, but a crash in the final 85cc 12-16 moto left him with a bruised arm and DNF. Like Benny, Dool toughed it out and returned for his podium speech. 

I think it was an unanimous  decision on the Best Battle of the Week: Ryan Gauld and Kenny Clark. These two traded Royal Distributing Holeshot Bucks and moto wins in the Plus 25 and Vet Master classes all week. Clark won the Plus 25 championship with three points over Gauldy, and Gauldy won Vet Master with three points over Clark. Doug and Bob MacKenzie should have earned the "Best Campfire of the Week" award as well.

Man of the Hour: Dylan Kaelin brought home the gold in MX1 Intermediate, silver in MX2 Intermediate behind Danny Riverin, bronze in Youth, and earned the GPF Ironman Award for accumulating  the most points during the three-day event.  

Royal Distributing/Thor/Riverside KTM Canada's Ryan Lockhart ate sand all week and had a great time doing so. Lockhart didn't expect the competition level to be as high as it was, but used it as practice for the nationals. The "Newf" has surely built up some speed and aggressiveness after fighting to pass 450s in Youth and GP Pro/Am, where he finished second in both. He was also pretty entertaining during the awards ceremony, helping hand out trophies and work the mic with Gauldy.  

It was a pretty heartfelt moment for everyone in attendance when they handed Danny Brault his third-place trophy in Plus 25. There wasn't a dry eye in the house for the hard charging, never-say-die racer from Peterborough, Ontario. Did you see him using every HP he could to pass Kevin Tyler who was racing a clapped 125 in the second moto?

Johnny Grant and team MX101 were full of smiles on Saturday afternoon.

Ithaca, New York's Matt Eastman was also full of smiles after winning the GP Pro/Am and Youth titles.  

Richard Grey is lucky to have one of the most supportive and dedicated moto-mom's in Canada. Tracey Grey nevers misses a moto! She was at SDL to watch little Rich add two more titles (85cc 12-16 and Supermini) to his resume, and he should have had another after winning the first two Schoolboy motos, but a bike problem in the final moto dropped him back to fourth overall.

It was anyone's race in the junior classes. Eric Jeffery (33), Zach Zager, Cole Dan De Zen, Bradley Denniston, and Mazime Knitel were all capable of winning, but it was Zager and Jeffery claiming the championships. Zager won GP and MX1 and Jeffery finished 1-2-1 for first overall in MX2.

A GP/Pro Am moto blasts off late in the day. Derek Arnold (138) was a little underpowered on his RM250 two-stroke, but he managed to finish with two thirds in Plus 25 (he had third wrapped up in the middle moto but his chain broke, thus handing the podium position to Giver) and an eighth overall in Pro.  

Lockhart and Colton Facciotti helped give away awards on Saturday night. Both earned a few more fans this weekend, sticking around for the Ogio Guiatr Hero Contest and the MacKenzie Brothers' Campfire. It's always nice to see these celebs mix it up with the locals.

More Danny Brault fans.... 

Kevin Tyler capped off a great week with the 125 Open Championship. With Grey and Benny out, it was a fight between Tyler and Nick May for the final moto win. KT holeshot and left everything he had on the track in the first half, but his 120-hour work week finally got the best of him and he fell back to second behind May. Gotta give KT props, however, he was on it for those first 10 minutes!

Well, I guess that's wraps it up until next year! A big thanks goes out to Kevin Tyler for loaning me a bike and Jay Moore for giving me a place to stay while racing and covering the EANMC. It was definitely the best four days of my summer yet! See you in `09!