ight years ago at Loretta Lynn’s I was standing in the grass near the impound area, just off the far outside of the start stretch. I was giving a tour of the event and the race to KTM North America’s Jon-Erik Burleson and John Hinz along with some of the KTM brass who had flown over from Europe to check out the world’s biggest amateur race. They wanted to see for themselves what they were up against as they prepared to retool their amateur support program—at the time, they weren’t in a good place as far as U.S. market share went.
@DAVIDPINGREE101
@DAVIDPINGREE101
dam Cianciarulo just wrapped up his first professional title, and I haven’t met one person who isn’t happy for him. He’s been nicknamed “Baby Jesus” by those who worked with him as an amateur, to give you some idea of how good he’s always been and the pressure that has been on his shoulders to succeed. Sacrilege aside, Adam was poised to win as he moved up to big bikes and went straight to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki—the most successful team in the business.
By JASON WEIGANDT 
@JASONWEIGANDT
By JASON WEIGANDT @JASONWEIGANDT
ith Adam Cianciarulo securing the 250 Class Pro Motocross Championship, it not only puts Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team back on top, but also Kawasaki’s bottom-up system of talent development with Team Green.
The squad is undoubtedly the most consistently successful amateur team in the business, but things have gotten tougher lately. Following the world economic crash, Kawasaki kept the budget flowing at the top end, paying Ryan Villopoto handsomely—and RV, a Team Green product, kept winning Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Championships. But when Villopoto retired, Kawasaki, for the first time, didn’t have a ready replacement in the pipeline. Teams like GEICO Honda and Star Racing Yamaha had made a stronger push for amateurs, signing many of the top prospects. By 2015, Villopoto was off to an unsuccessful foray into MXGP racing, and Kawasaki tried a Davi Millsaps-Wil Hahn team that barely got going. Reid Nordin, the longtime Team Green head who had moved into a senior role with Kawasaki Racing, moved on.
PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN MUNOZ
AT PRECISELY 7:00 A.M. ON TUESDAY, July 30, 2019, country music icon Loretta Lynn’s autobiographical ballad “Coal Miner’s Daughter” blared across the loudspeakers of her central Tennessee ranch and campground. Below the speakers, people were beginning to gather around the motocross track that sits in the middle of the property, waiting for the first of 108 motos that would make up the 2019 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.
After some drive-time banter between the announcers, the staging area behind the starting gate began to fill up with the 42 riders who made up the Vet 30+ Sportsman class. They would draw chips from a bucket for gate picks, line up accordingly, and then take their sighting lap. Once they were all back on the starting gate, the motors were shut down, Kevin Cozadd of MXers for Jesus gave a morning prayer, our national anthem was sung, and then the 42 bikes fired back up. At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the starting gate dropped and the races were underway. Two minutes later, #2 Taylor Painter, a Kawasaki KX450 rider from Cleburne, Texas, crossed the finish line to record the first competitive lap of 2019. Over the course of the next five days, 47,047 more laps would follow.
PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN MUNOZ
After some drive-time banter between the announcers, the staging area behind the starting gate began to fill up with the 42 riders who made up the Vet 30+ Sportsman class. They would draw chips from a bucket for gate picks, line up accordingly, and then take their sighting lap. Once they were all back on the starting gate, the motors were shut down, Kevin Cozadd of MXers for Jesus gave a morning prayer, our national anthem was sung, and then the 42 bikes fired back up. At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the starting gate dropped and the races were underway. Two minutes later, #2 Taylor Painter, a Kawasaki KX450 rider from Cleburne, Texas, crossed the finish line to record the first competitive lap of 2019. Over the course of the next five days, 47,047 more laps would follow.
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD & JEFF KARDAS
“Yeah, we had a contest, and anyone who wins gets to race one of the bikes,” Hunter Lawrence quips.
“Pull a fan out of the ticket line and gave him a bike,” Chase Sexton adds.
Seriously, this team has a lot of riders right now.
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD & JEFF KARDAS
“Yeah, we had a contest, and anyone who wins gets to race one of the bikes,” Hunter Lawrence quips.
“Pull a fan out of the ticket line and gave him a bike,” Chase Sexton adds.
Seriously, this team has a lot of riders right now.
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD, JEFF KARDAS, & SIMON CUDBY
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD, JEFF KARDAS, & SIMON CUDBY
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
BIKE BUILD BY PRO SX MX TECH 
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SGB RACINGStage III Anodized Upper Forks, Titanium Nitride Lower Forks, Hard Coated Lugs, Stage III Anodized Shock Body, Titanium Nitride Shock Shaft
sgb-racing.com
RIDE ENGINEERING22mm Clamp Set, Rubber Mounted with One-Piece Oversized Bar Mount and Poly Cones, Direct Route Front Brake Line with Mounting Bracket, Perch Mounted Kill Button, Billet Front Brake Caliper
ride-engineering.com
PIVOT WORKSBearing Kits for Wheels, Linkage, Swingarm, Lower and Upper Shock, Steering Stem
www.pivotworks.com
