The Dirt Track
Kern County Raceway Park

Bakersfield, California

AMA Speedway National Under 21 Championship
KCRP Bakersfield - October 14, 2023
by Steve Evans - Photo by Dale Miller

(L-R Sebastian Palmese, Slater Lightcap, Alex Martin, outsideTimmy Dion)

PALMESE BACK IN THE BIG TIME WITH AMA UNDER 21 WIN

Former Junior National Champion Sebastian Palmese made a triumphant return to Speedway by winning his biggest title yet, the 2023 AMA National Under 21 Championship at Kern County Raceway, Bakersfield on October 14th. Palmese had only ridden once before in the past year (at the 2022 U210 with a the combination of a racing injury and then a work opportunity as crew for a Pro Motocross team putting on hold his very promising speedway career. After a practice session the week before, Palmese, previously the man under high expectations and pressure, flew under the radar to stun his opponents and take victory.

12 riders were signed up for the event with four heats each and one race from each starting spot. After the 4 rounds the top 2 in points would go straight to the final with riders placed 3rd-6th going to a Last Chance semifinal. There was no seeded race format to keep the big guns apart with heat 1 being a blockbuster between the last two champions. 2021 champion Slater Lightcap, the pre-event favorite after what was truly a breakout season in 2023 got the start and kept his cool to beat defending champion Alex Martin. Heat two saw Greg Moore take the win with a fantastic outside move around Justin Almon. Palmese showed no rust to round out round 1 with victory over rising NorCal star Timmy Dion.

Palmese made it two for two with an outside gate and deep dirt line first turn blast to head Wilbur Hancock home n heat 4. Justin Almon continued his strong start to the meeting with victory over New York based visitor Jonny Oakden in heat 5. Incredibly, the draw (and the Swedish 12-man format being used) put Lightcap and Martin into an heat 6 early rematch. Lightcap got the start, but Martin went down in a tight first and second corner with the referee’s call being all four back. In the restart it was Martin who made the most of his second chance, charging to his first win of the night.

Heat 7 saw Palmese maintain his record as the only unbeaten rider with victory over Charlie Trana. Lightcap got back to winning ways with victory over Greg Moore in the next race. Martin led home Dion in heat 9.

The final round of heats had a lot to play for with the qualifying system meaning that no one could coast into semi finals without a good haul of points. In their heat 10 showdown Martin inflicted the first defeat on Palmese, putting them both on 11 points. Lightcap then led home Dion to join the 11-point club in heat 11. Hancock got his first win of the night in heat 12 over Oakden but his 6-point haul agonizingly made him miss out on the semifinal by one place.

With three riders tied on 11 points the tie breaker rules as published in event regulations came into play to see which of the three riders would be seeded to the final. Martin won out in the tie breaker system but there was no way to split Lightcap and Palmese, so a runoff was in order. Four points behind on 7 were Dion, Moore and Almon who all would go to the semifinal.

In the runoff Palmese made the best start but the referee put the red lights on immediately and called both back and issued Palmese a warning for the jump. This would mean that for the rest of the event another jump start would mean an exclusion for Palmese. Whether he was careful or rattled, Palmese did not make the best start in the rerun which went to Lightcap.

The semi final however saw Palmese make amends and get back to winning ways. He was joined in the final by Dion with Almon and Moore both eliminated but surely pleased after equally impressive performances.

So, it all came down to the Final to see who the 2023 Champion would be and take home the prestigious John Schroeder Cup, awarded as a memorial to a much-loved member of the speedway family who passed away last year. Schroeder had a track at his home where he helped develop young talent and indeed many of the contenders on the program in his honor. The award, in its second season, is very fitting for the Under 21 Championship given the dedication to rider development from Schroeder and his family. With Martin undefeated after his first race, he was perhaps the favorite going into the big final, but the truth was it was much too close to call. Palmese made the best start and immediately got into the dirt line, holding off an initial charge for Lightcap. Dion meantime was at the back but got into the deeper traction on turn 3 and passed Martin for third. From that point Palmese did not put a foot wrong and wrapped up an incredible night with a popular win when he was, for once, the underdog.

Outside of the U21 Championship there were several other divisions racing. Division 1 had an ‘Over 21’ class with Rees Todd winning two heats and rounding out top on points. Jordan Vanderham took 2 heat wins also with Brad Sauer taking the other. In Support Speedway local rider ‘The Bearded Bandit’ Isaiah Canales took two heat wins and the Main. Veteran Dan Waller won the other heat with Antonio Coffman taking the Last Chance. Nick Hohlbein, fresh from SGP2 World Championship action overseas was faultless in the 250cc Junior Class. National Champion Ryder Schultz went equally perfect in 150cc Mini Speedway Class. The Rookie Sidecar team of brothers Emil Ovrid / Theodore Ovrid won four of the five Sidecar races including some impressive outside dive in the deep dirt at the popular banked track. Robert Curry and Jason Fritze took the other heat.

With the hot summer weather cooling off it is all systems go at KCRP. The track gave great racing all night long and was still in tip top condition at the end of the night, quite incredible as the speedway program was run two hours after a full afternoon of Flat Track Racing. The action returns to the Bakersfield track on November 4th with the AMA National Pairs Championship. The event will likely have a 1pm daytime start pending streaming to allow fans world over to watch the event.

AMA UNDER 21 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE JOHN Schroeder CUP

FINAL
18 Sebastian Palmese
28 Slater Lightcap
23 Timmy Dion
30 Alex Martin

SEMI FINAL
18 Sebastian Palmese
23 Timmy Dion
137 Justin Almon
251 Greg Moore

Heat Points
Martin 11, Lightcap 11, Palmese 11, G Moore 7, Dion 7, Almon 7, Hancock 6, Trana 4, Oakden 2, Aidan McNutt 2, Caleb Stewart 2, Catherine Moore 0.

DIVISION 1 OVER 21
173 Rees Todd 10
123 Jordan Vanderham 7
21 Brad Sauer 7
17 Robbie Sauer 6

SUPPORT MAIN
106 Isaiah Canales
240 Dan Waller
146 Antonio Coffman
177 Mark Hitchcock

Last Chance
146 Antonio Coffman
177 Mark Hitchcock
113 Tony Rutledge

250cc Junior
29 Nick Hohlbein
23 Darren Armbruster
17 Brady Landon
119 Caden Cavrikas

150cc Mini
22 Ryder Schultz
50 Wesley Rearick
8 Gavin Evans Seeley
05 Riley Rearick (fell non start in rerun

Sidecar
13 Emil Ovrid / Theodore Ovrid 13 points
31 Robert Curry / Jason Fritze 11 points
07 Ace Kale / Brent Smith 5 points
357 Kevin Kale / Jennifer Hernandez 1 point