All things youth moto…

Gage Linville wins the 4-6 AMA 2 title; Jackson Turpin’s tops in 7-8 AMA 1; Chase Sexton’s 3^rd in 65cc 7-11 Mod

(Photo Credit: Corey Bixby)

HILLSDALE, Mich., (Aug. 10, 2010) – The big news out of Hurricane Mills, Tenn., this past week was Cobra Motorcycles sweeping all of the 50cc titles at the 29^th running of the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships, presented by AMSOIL, at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

But possibly the biggest news for Cobra as a company was the CX65’s first-ever 65cc overall podium at Loretta’s with Illinois’ Chase Sexton bringing home a 3^rd place finish in the 7-11 Modified class, going 6^th/3^rd/5^th.

“This is the first of many to come,” said Cobra President Sean Hilbert of what was also the first-ever podium finish as well for an American-made dirt bike in the 65 class at Loretta’s.

Sexton would go on to finish a solid 6^th overall in the 65cc 10-11 stock class as well. And Missouri’s Michael Hicks (8^th) and New Mexico’s Brandon Smith (10^th) would also put the American-made Cobra CX65 in the 7-9 Stock top ten overall scoring.

On the world-famous Cobra 50cc bikes, the reigning king of all mini bikes – Cobra’s King 50 – swept the entire 7-8 AMA 2 class podium. Georgia’s Jackson Turpin would take the overall title with some consistently fast riding (3^rd/4^th/3^rd), followed by third moto winner Parker Mashburn (Texas) in 2^nd place overall and Maryland’s Jack Rogers in 3^rd.

The AMA 2 class was not without drama as Cobra’s pre-race favorites, California’s Stilez Robertson and Missouri’s “Lightning” Lance Kobush both won motos – and both had troubles that would take them out of medal contention. Robertson, who went 1^st/2^nd in the first two motos (to Kobush’s win in the second moto), was poised to take the overall when he wrecked twice in the final moto and was only able to make it back to 11^th in the third and deciding race.

In the 4-6 AMA 1 class Georgia’s Gage Linville was the (little) Man – sweeping all three motos for the overall title. Linville was joined on the podium by Nevada’s Robert Hailey in 2^nd – and the two should have been joined by Ohio’s Vance Stiers, who placed 2^nd/2^nd in the first two AMA 1 motos. But Stiers ran into trouble on the start straightaway of moto three when he found himself at the bottom of a pile-up, ending his Loretta’s podium hopes for 2010.

“Again, congrats to all the Cobra racers and their families who qualified for 2010 AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships. Cobra was proud to be there in full force with factory support and will continue to do so at all the major amateur nationals throughout the competition season,” added Hilbert. “Enjoy the rest of the summer and get after your schoolwork like you get after a motocross track. We’ll look forward to seeing you at the Mini Os in November.”

For more information on the 2010 AMA Amateur National Championships – including up-to-date scoring, link to the Loretta’s website at: http://www.mxsports.com

The race day kicked off with the 51cc 7-8 Class taking it to the track. Stilez Robertson pulled a nice holeshot followed closely by Lance Kobusch. Stilez, protecting his championship opportunity, battled with Lance for a few laps before letting him go. Lance ran away with the moto, and Stilez rode to a smart second place finish. Third place was earned by a hard-riding Grant Doolittle making his most impressive showing to-date on the national scene. Cobra mounted Jackson Turpin and Guage Keith rounded out the top five.

Overall podium points leaders for the LL 2010 50 7-8 Class Championship are 1^st Stilez Robertson (Cobra) 2^nd Jackson Turpin (Cobra) 3^rd Tied Jack Rodgers (Cobra) / Parker Mashburn (Cobra).

In the 51cc 4-6 class, Gage Linville pulled the holeshot and was challenged early on by Jaiden Taylor. At the start of Lap 3, Jaiden decided to jump to the inside of Linville for the pass, but instead he clipped Linville’s back tire and slid off the side of the track. Despite a late fall, Linville managed the moto win followed by  Vance Stiers and Robert Hailey. Going into moto three on Friday, the championship race is: 1^st Gage Linville, 2^nd Robert Hailey, and 3^rd Jaiden Taylor.

In Thursday’s 65cc 7-9 Stock Class, Cobra’s Aaden Vaezie nearly pulled the holeshot, and rode a great race until the heat got too him near mid-race. He finished a strong eleventh and was one of the highest finishing eight-year-olds in the race.

Chase Sexton once again rode an outstanding 10-11 Stock 65cc moto putting in a fourth place ride. Chase sits in a solid third place going into the final moto.

(Photo Credit: Corey Bixby of See How Big)

Cobra kicked off Loretta Lynn’s this year with an unveiling party to show off our 2011 lineup. We introduced all five bikes including the new CX50s and CX65 and our CARD King and CARD 65. Everyone loved them! Stay tuned for more details.

Racing kicked off Tuesday morning, and so far it’s looking like another successful year at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch as Stylez Robertson and Gage Linville both won their first motos in the 7-8 and 4-6 51cc stock classes. Backing Stylez and Gage up on the podium were Cobra mounted Parker Mashburn and Jackson Turpin (nephew of former MX star Keith Turpin) in the 7-8 class and Vance Stiers and Jaiden Taylor in the 4-6 class.

Later in the day, Cobra’s Chase Sexton had an impressive come-back in the 65cc 7-11 mod class where he recovered from three tip-overs to charge through for a strong sixth.

(Photo Credits: Corey Bixby of See How Big)

Cobra kids have a shot at more than 80 GRAND in ‘Cobra Bucks’ – redeemable at Cobra HQ -for bike/ATV parts, plus Cobra gear

HILLSDALE, Mich., (June 15, 2010) – American-made Cobra, designers and builders of the world’s most successful competition mini bikes and ATVs, is proud to announce another generous contingency program offering in up the popular “Cobra Bucks” to kids competing on both the CX line of 50cc and 65cc mini cycles, as well as the ECX line of ATVs.

Up more than $10,000 from 2009’s ambitious Cobra contingency program, the 2010 effort features a number of new races and series – with the pot swelling to more than $80,000 in posted awards.

“Like everyone, Cobra’s feeling the pinch in these tough times. But that doesn’t diminish the importance of a strong contingency program at Cobra – something our world class racers expect when lining up to race on their CX bikes and ECX ATVs,” said Cobra President Sean Hilbert. “The Cobra contingency program, featuring Cobra Bucks, is again in place to assist our top racers with everything they need to help keep their Cobras in top racing shape throughout the 2010 competition season.”

Hilbert added that, new for 2010, is the addition of the popular Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) for both Cobra bikes and ATVs. Cobra also added the CMC Golden State Series run by legendary promoter Stu Peters.

Redeemable at Cobra HQ, Cobra Bucks were earned at events ranging from the amateur MX Nationals openers in Texas (Lake Whitney and Oak Hill) all the way through the major NMA events, Loretta qualifiers and Loretta’s and into Thanksgiving at the Mini Os – 10 major races and four overall series payouts for the CX 50cc and 65cc bikes is a contingency record for Cobra.

Cobra mini cycle contingency races and series include:

· Grand National Cross Country Series
· Lake Whitney
· Oak Hill
· Vegas World Mini GP
· Sweeney Cycle Park Pro/Am
· Loretta Lynn’s Regional Qualifiers
· Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championships
· Ponca City
· Baja Brawl
· Branson
· Mini Os
· American Bluegrass Championship Series
· Texas Winter Series
· Unlimited Sports Winter Am Series
· California Gold Cup
· CMC Golden State Series

And the ATV contingency – including for the first time the Grand National Cross Country Series’ youth classes – includes:

· South ATV MX Challenge Series
· ATVA Motocross Nationals Series
· Grand National Cross Country Series

To sign up, click HERE

Led by California’s Robertson, Georgia’s Linville and Missouri’s Forkner, Cobra’s again the top mini factory @ NMA GP event

Photos of Gage Linville (#402) & Brandon Smith (#117) courtesy of Motoplayground

HILLSDALE, Mich., (April 19, 2010) – In sweeping both the 50cc PW Through 6 and PW 7-8 stock and modified podiums, along with placing a rider on the podium in the 9-11 Jr. Cycle (65cc) modified and Open Through 11 classes and atop the podium in the 6-9 Super Pee Wee class, the American-made Cobra Motorcycles again laid claim to the top mini cycle manufacturer at the NMA’s Mini World Grand Prix held this past weekend in Mesquite, Nev. (formerly the Vegas Mini GPs).

Led by California’s Stilez Robertson with championships in the PW 7-8 classes (stock & modified) and 6-9 Super Pee Wee class, along with Georgia’s Gage Linville winning both the PW Through 6 classes, Cobra-mounted racers swept not only every 50cc championship trophy at the long-running event, but also captured all the podium spots in the aforementioned classes.

Here’s a fun interview with Gage earlier this year: http://www.motoplayground.com/main/mpg-todays-everyone-lake-whitney/thursday-3-11/51-4-6-stk

“The NMA’s Mini GPs was another opportunity for Cobra racers to make a statement versus our competition on a national stage – and our kids did just that,” said Sean Hilbert, President of Cobra Motorcycles. “We’re all really proud of Stilez, Gage and the rest of the gang in the 50cc classes, along with Austin (Forkner) and Brandon (Smith) on the Cobra CX65s. Great going guys!”

As Hilbert mentioned, both Missouri’s Forkner and New Mexico’s Smith were again solid on their CX65s with Forkner locking down a 2^nd place finish in the Open Through 11 class and a 3^rd place podium finish in the 9-11 Jr. Cycle modified class. Smith, only a nine-year-old in the 9-11 Jr. Cycle class, scored top ten finishes in all three classes (stock, modified and Open). Note: Smith was the highest-placing nine-year-old in the class.

Joining Robertson and Linville on the box in the 50cc classes were:

PW Through 6 stock                                        PW Through 6 modified

2 – Robert Hailey III, Nev.                                2 – Hailey

3 – Tyler Nicholson, Calif.                              3 – Luke Kalaitzian, Calif.

PW 7-8 stock                                                      PW 7-8 modified

2 – Carson Mumford, Calif.                              2 – Mumford

3 – Chris Nunes, Calif.                                    3 – Pierce Brown, Utah

Next up on the amateur national level for Cobra is the July 26-31 Ponca City (Okla.) MX National.