The only thing better than waking up and stepping outside into fresh, fall morning air is opening your eyes to the sound of crispy 125 2-stroke warming up in the distance. Venture outside and the enticing aroma of freshly burnt C12 and Castor 927 fills your nostrils and peaks your senses. This was the setting early Saturday morning at Glen Helen Raceway on October 3rd, 2020, at the Wiseco 2-Stroke MX World Championships hosted by Fasthouse.
Originally slotted for April, this highly anticipated race was rescheduled twice thanks to you-know-what before finally sticking with the early-October weekend. Despite the hardships people have experienced and the slew of event cancellations from March through, well, now, it seems as if this year’s 2-Stroke Championships actually benefitted from the extra time. The need of riders and fans to go racing escalated over the months of couch riding, and once the date was confirmed, everyone started prepping their premix-burning machines.
Over 700 riders of all ages and skill levels entered classes and lined up with machines ranging from 50cc – 500cc displacements. The young rippers were supported by Zip Ty Racing with a specially designed track combining the REM and peewee circuits, providing them an equally awesome experience at the 2-stroke races.
The national track received some special treatment for this year’s event as well, throwing in the famous triple step-up (just a more mellow version) that took riders back toward the REM track and then had them drop back in from the other side, much like the setup you would see at a Pro Motocross race.
in traditional Glen Helen fashion.
In standard 2-Stroke Championships fashion, the most anticipated action was bred from the Open Pro and 125 Pro classes. Tony Pasha, Hollywood actor and 1-2-5 racing fanatic, put up big support for the Pasha 125 Pro, 125 30+ Pro, and 125 50+ Pro classes, bringing the total Pro purse over $15,000 in combination with the Open Pro prize moola. Naturally, this is icing on the cake for some big-name racers to come out and have some 2-stroke fun, and possibly make a profit doing it.
All eyes were on Mike Alessi for Saturday’s festivities, who was piloting a pair of Varner Motorsports-built, Wiseco-powered Yamaha YZ 2-strokes. His Open Pro bike was an eye-catching YZ325 utilizing an Eddie Sanders Racing (ESR) 325 kit, with a matching YZ125 under the tent for his Pasha 30+ 125 Pro steed, both of which housed a forged Wiseco piston at the heart of the engine. Yes, they both sounded as crispy as they come.
Bike photos: Motocross Action
Open Pro moto 1 brought a bit of a surprise when a rider by the name of Dare Demartile caught and passed the number 800 to take the moto 1 victory. Several people asked us, “Hey, do you know who that was that won moto 1?” Not necessarily, but we do know he was going fast. Other names you might recognize on the insanely stacked Open Pro gate (45 riders) are Josh Grant, Carson Brown, Justin Hoeft, Carlen Gardner, our own Dennis Stapleton, Mike Sleeter, Josh Mosiman, and last year’s Champ, Robbie Wageman.
Photo: Motocross Action
Alessi came back and walked away in moto 2, taking home the 2020 Wiseco 2-Stroke Championship honors. Top 5 in Open Pro results are as follows:
- Mike Alessi – 2-1 moto scores
- Dare Demartile – 1-5 moto scores
- Carson Brown – 5-2 moto scores
- Justin Hoeft – 4-3 moto scores
- Josh Grant – 3-4 moto scores
While gallons of premix were being burnt on the track, the Wiseco crew was talking pistons, performance, and all things dirt bikes at the Wiseco booth on vendor row. Exclusive Wiseco premix koozies were handed out to house beverages, Wiseco golf umbrellas shaded riders and fans from the 100-degree heat, and two-stroke apparel was available to help fans express their dedication to old-school meets new-school performance. Wiseco happily partnered with the rad folks at Fasthouse on a limited edition Fasthouse x Wiseco flying piston tee. Designed and manufactured by Fasthouse themselves, you know this tee is as high-quality as the Wiseco piston on the back of it.
Our latest project bike was on sneak-peek display at the booth as well, a 2003 KX327 with a powerplant built by Tom Morgan Racing housing Wiseco and ProX Racing Parts engine internals. Keep your eye out for upcoming complete coverage of this machine from Dirt Bike Magazine.
The Wiseco 2-Stroke Top End Challenge attracted amateur and veteran wrenchers alike to see if they could set the fastest top end assembly time of our CR250R engine for their chance to win a free Wiseco piston kit.
Back on the track, the 125 Pro races did not disappoint, with Colton Aeck, Broc Shoemaker, and Justin Starling filling up the podium in the standard 125 Pro class. Mike Alessi again showed everyone what him and his Wiseco-powered YZ were capable of in the 125 30+ Pro Class, but motocross legend Kurt Nicoll proved that age doesn’t have to be a factor, clinching 2nd place with a solid 3-2 performance. Rounding out the podium in this 30+ class was Sean Lipanovich aboard his number 505 KTM.
The Women’s class gate saw a solid lineup of racers as well, with Viviana Contreras dominating in 1-1 fashion. Rayana Mueller, Katelynn Ridgely, and Wiseco-rider Tiana Falls rounded out the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots, all taking home an awesome day of racing and friendly competition.
The vintage warriors showed up again this year to pay tribute to the history of our sport and the legacy of the 2-stroke machine. These riders are next level gnarly in our book, showing that they can tackle the treacherous Glen Helen track on equipment that truly defines the ‘when men were men’ era of motocross racing.
to say the least.
All-in-all, the 2020 Wiseco 2-Stroke MX World Championships was another one for the record books. We’ll keep making the best in 2-stroke performance so y’all can keep mixin’ gas and makin’ memories.
More 2-Stroke Championships Snapshots
