That’s A Wrap: Rd. 11 of 11 (Loretta Lynn’s) Team Ends 2011 Season With Authority
After some really impressive finishes at Unadilla and Redbud the entire Media Allstar Team was super excited about the season finale at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN. Each and every year racers make the trip to Loretta’s hoping to achieve glory; some succeed, some fail. This year was no different; with one of the largest racer turnouts of the season one thing was certain; nothing was going to come easy. For the first time all season Team Media Allstars had at least 90% of its roster in attendance at a single event. The return of both Bailey Howard, and Brandon Benlien from early season injuries gave the team a solid 14 riders to attack the Central Tennessee soil with. The Team got off on great note Saturday morning as Dylan Tremellen’s #940 rocketed off the line in the 16-24 class, and took the first moto win of the weekend. The rest of Dylan’s weekend wasn’t as fortunate, as he battled mechanical issues for the first time this season. Still the 2011 4-stroke B champion tested the waters in Production A at Loretta Lynn’s and produced a solid 8-3 performance (for 5th overall). Dylan showed us all that Championship #4 may occur as early as next season, as he makes the step up into the A classes on a permanent basis. Another rider that will be making a jump in 2012 is Piketon, OH’s #83 Jake McGraw ; Jake came into Loretta’s with a 10 point lead in the 4-stroke A class, and desperately needed a solid finish to clinch the Championship. In typical Jake fashion, he took matters into his own hands, and went 1-1 for 1st overall. Jake also wrapped up 2nd overall in the Open A class with a solid 5-3 for 4th place finish. After Red Bud #28 Nick Lepkoske had put himself in position to steal the Open C class championship; all he needed was a solid finish, and a little luck. Nick went 1-2 for 2nd at Loretta’s, and as fate would have it won the class Championship by a mere 2 points. #33 Calen McGinty put in some solid motos in Tennessee, where he stayed consistent by going 3-3 for 3rd overall in Production B and 2-3 for 2nd in Open B. Those finishes were good enough to give him 2nd and 3rd for the year respectively. Austin McGraw (#114) also finished the season strong in the 4-stroke B class, earning 6-3 moto scores to take 4th overall. That was also good enough to give him 4th for the year in 4-stroke B. The #52 machine of Ryan Wheeler looked impressive all weekend as he went 6-1 for 3rd in Production B, and 4-7 for 6th in 450B. Dan Hoisington (#71) had a really strong showing in the 450B class at Loretta’s, Dan took the moto 1 win on Saturday, and was leading on the final lap of Sunday’s main when he high sided and crashed. He finished up with 1-18 scores but he was half a track away from taking his 3rd straight 450B overall. Coming back from injuries is never easy but both of our aforementioned riders Bailey Howard #11, and Brandon Benlien #03 did a great job of doing so. Bailey jumped up a class and went 11-8 for 9th overall in 4-stroke B, Brandon just went out and showed everyone why he’s a Media Allstar; he took the overall in the Production B class by finishing 1-2. The Production B main was a statement race for the team, as our riders finished 1,2,3 and swept the podium for the first time all season. Josh Holley #7 continued to impress as he took the 70 Single Speed win by going 1-1 on the weekend. Matthew Holley #9 battled for a hard earned 10th place overall in the 50 Sr class. Dale #671 and Mark Batson #636 earned 8th and 12th place finishes in the stacked 30+ A/B class. Chase Cunningham #419 also clinched the 25+ class championship by taking the win at Loretta’s. Chase also went 3-4 for 3rd in the Open A class which was good enough to move him into 4th place for the year, only missing 3rd place by 2 points. The Team also kept with tradition, hosting the annual final round Team Dinner. This year nearly 100 people were fed, and at least ten times that many rolled by gawking out our enviable spread of food. New for this year’s dinner was the first annual “Inner Team Awards Banquet”, at which the following awards were presented: Mark Batson “Best Tutor” for his work with Josh Holley • Dale Batson “Team Player” for countless self-less acts since 2008 • Josh Holley “Most Feared” • Matthew Holley “Top Prospect” • Calen McGinty “Most Improved” • Ryan Wheeler “Gremlin Fighter” for his chronic mechanical gremlins this season • Austin McGraw “Crash Of The Year” • Cody Kimberlin “Team Sprit” for his embracing of the Punk Rock, DIY attitude that the team was born from • Dan Hoisington “Late Bloomer” • Bailey Howard “Shortest Season” • Brandon Benlien “Brittle Bones” • Chase Cunningham “Amazing Babysitter” • Jake McGraw “Team MVP” • Nick Lepkoske “Rookie Of The Year” • Dylan Tremellen “Mr. Consistency” • Martin Cunningham & Rick McGraw “Shirt Off His Back Award”
2011 has been a banner year for Team Media Allstars. Looking back on the season the team’s stats are staggering. With our performances at Loretta’s the future is looking brighter than ever for 2012. The year end results below speak for themselves. 2011 Year in Review 4 National Championships, 4 National 2nd Place Finishes, 10 National 3rd Place Finishes, 17 National Top Fives 8 Regional (North/South Challenge) Championships,12 Regional (North/South Challenge) Top Threes
2011 Team Stats
Loretta’s at a glance: Overall Wins: 25 Overall Wins: 4 Overall Podiums (2nd-3rd): 83 Overall Podiums: 9 Moto Wins: 67 Moto Wins: 9 Moto Podiums: 176 Moto Podiums: 22 Top Fives: 249 Top Fives: 13
For more information on the Team, please visit www.media-allstars.com or contact Jorge Cuartas @ 770-337-7248 or jorge@atvnationals.com
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