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2019 Seven MX Mini Major | Race Report and Galleries

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2019 Seven MX Mini Major | Race Report and Galleries

Presented by Seven MX

CLICK HERE for race results.

When we conceived the Mini Major Championship just for kids our vision was to create not only great racing for minis, but a super-fun event that could be enjoyed by the entire family. With five of them in the record books, it’s safe to say that it’s 
“mission accomplished,” as the fifth-annual Mini Major presented by Seven MX was definitely one to remember! This year we moved the race to the all-new State Fair MX Park in Perris, California, and the new venue proved to be the perfect new home for the event as it offered an excellent racecourse and plenty of room for camping and other fun nighttime activities. All told, nearly 600 racers showed up to do battle on the event-specific racetrack, and the racing action proved to be tight and exciting!

The Temescal Mountain range provides a scenic backdrop behind State Fair MX.

Competitors started to move into the campgrounds as early as Wednesday, and practice sessions were held on Thursday while all of the vendors in the massive carnival area set up. Booths from Seven MX, Stacyc, Ogio, Bell Helmets, Maxxis Tires, ODI Grips, 6D Helmets, Walters Mercedes-Benz, Matrix, Scott Sports, Split, Hinson Racing, Husqvarna, KTM, and Suzuki offered games, giveaways. and parts and services to support the racers.

Stacyc Straight Rhythm Demos

Stacyc was arguably the busiest vendor in the pits, as stability cycle demo rides were available all three days on a specially built pump track that was built in front of the Stacyc booth. All-day long, kids lines up and burned countless laps on the innovative battery powered balance bikes that are undoubtedly changing the future of our sport for the better. Who knows how many future champions of our sport are getting their two-wheeled start on a Stacyc right now? If you have a little one, these things can get them riding, sooner, and with more control and confidence. Man, how we wish we invented them!

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Thursday Night Supercross

The Mini Major is just for kids, but a 125cc Schoolboy was included in Thursday night’s SX-style race.

On Thursday night, early arrivals were offered the chance to race beneath the lights on the State Fair Vet Track, which was ramped up and converted into a Supercross-style racetrack! CLICK HERE for the previous photo gallery post, and CLICK HERE for results!

Each day, the track was groomed to perfection. Regular water breaks were complemented by several sighting laps throughout the day so that racers could keep track of the changing course conditions.

Three championship Mini Major motos were held over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the 31-race program running in its entirety all three days. Friday proved to be the lengthiest day, as the morning sighting laps were the heaviest attended, but racing was still wrapped up before 4:00 p.m. We are proud to report that though there were a few unavoidable crashes, there were no serious injuries incurred at the Mini Major, and not one ambulance ride was required over the four-days of riding.

How crazy is this photo? Connor Calnan cased a double, swapped, hit the ground hard enough to knock his goggles and visor off, and he’s adjusting his helmet before he and his bike even stop tumbling! Connor got up, finished the moto, and rode BMX that night!

ODI BMX Night

On Friday night after the first motos wrapped up, ODI Grips hosted a BMX ride night at Grand Prix BMX, which is also located in the SoCal Fairgrounds, just a few pedal stroked away from the motocross camping area. Over a hundred kids showed up on their bikes to ride the National-caliber BMX track and enjoy sandwiches, pizza, and drinks provided by ODI. What a good time!

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Supermini Championship Battles

While unexpected winds blew through the SoCal Fairgrounds on Friday afternoon, Saturday enjoyed beautiful weather all day long. As it did on Friday, the racing action on the track was intense and exciting, and championship favorites began to emerge as the second motos came to completion. The premier Supermini classes were highlighted by battles between Kawasaki Team Green’s Gavin Towers and KTM rider Benjamin Garib, with Towers emerging on top with two of the class championships to Garib’s one. Perhaps the most impressive Supermini showings, however, were turned in by 14-year old Mikayla Nielson, who finished inside top five in all three Supermini classes and also turned in a dominating performance in the Girl’s class.

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Gavin Towers and Benjamin Garib were often no further apart than this in the nine motos in which they faced off.

Suzuki Serpentine Challenge

On Saturday night, Suzuki hosted the Serpentine Challenge, which pitted riders against the clock on Suzuki DR-Z70s and DRZ125L. Over a hundred pit bike rippers (and some dads and sisters!) showed up to spin laps on the tight and windy track, and in the end it was Ryder Garcia taking home the win on the DR-Z70 and Reese Monty who was fastest on the DR-Z125L. Both were awarded a set of the awesome new Maxxis ST Tires for their minis. 

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6D Helmets Mini Major Giveaway

In celebration of the Mini Major and the overwhelming popularity that ATR-1 and ATR2 Youth helmets has enjoyed, 6D Helmets teamed up with Tagger Designs to create a very special Mini Major commemorative helmet. After watching the 50cc classes all weekend, we chose one rider who really looked to be in need of a new helmet. Emmett Najera had been racing in a TLD helmet that was over a decade old, and we chose him to recieve the sweet new 6D. Astonishingly enough, the seven-year-old could not fit into the ATR-2 Youth Helmet, even with an XL liner installed, so he opted for a new adult medium instead! What does that mean? One lucky racer in the 50cc classes will be selected at the 2020 Mini Major to take this bad boy home!

On a side note, we were very pleased to see that the majority of the competitors in the 50cc classes were all equipped with premium motocross helmets, as we didn’t spot any $100 budget buckets on the track. Good job, parents!

Race Photo Galleries

All in all, the 2019 Seven MX Mini Major was a resounding success and the turnout and industry support was overwhelming, especially considering the recent change from TransWorld Motocross to Swapmoto Live, and the move to a new venue. Here’s to looking forward to an even bigger and better race in 2020!

There are two ways to get your images from the race galleries. If you are browsing on a mobile phone or tablet, find your image in the slideshow and go through the usual routine you have to save photos found online. If you are browsing on a computer, right-click on the image you want and select “Open Image In New Tab” or “Save Image As…”

Moto 1 | PeeWee 7-8 Stock, PeeWee Open 4-6

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Donn Maeda

Donn Maeda is a 30-year veteran in moto-journalism, having worked at Cycle News and Dirt Rider before launching MXracer Magazine and TransWorld Motocross Magazine. Maeda is the Editor-In-Chief at Swapmoto Live and you can catch him on a dirt bike or in the saddle of a mountain bike on most days.

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4 Comments

  1. Jace Williams #47 November 13, 2019

    Amazing, well-organized, fun! We had a blast! Made the trip from Texas.

  2. Christina West November 13, 2019

    Amazing pictures but having problems viewing all the pages of them. For example, my son was Race 4, so I click page 4 at the bottom and it brings up his race. Great! There are 4 pages of pictures of this race, when I click on page two (in gray) or the arrow it automatically refreshes the page and takes me to Race 1 page 2, not Race 4 page 2. I’ve tried everything, even viewing his Race 8 and it has 4 pages as well of pictures but if you try to view any other pages it brings you back to Race 1 and shows you page 2 or page 3 or page 4, but only of Race 1. Help! They are awesome pictures and I would love to view them!!
    Thanks so much!

  3. Sw November 14, 2019

    Page 4 is a 65 class. There are no 65s in the photos.. well maybe 2 to 4.. the rest are 50s.

    1. Christina West November 14, 2019

      On a desktop computer there were 65’s, but on my phone your right, it says 65 beginners but it’s all 50’s. It’s just frustrating because I know someone went to a lot of time & effort to take all these photos & they are all uploaded to the website wrong. Hopefully they can fix it so we can enjoy the photos!