2020 Mini O’s Amateur Coverage

The machines of 2020 (and the 2021 models, to be exact) were capable of spectacular feats, on all tracks housed under the Gatorback banner. Whether it was surging into fifth gear on the outdoor national track, or launching some seventy-feet on the SX circuit, the pilots of the 450 A division were blasting their respective throttle mechanisms to the highest degree. Lucrative combinations were being crafted, landing in an assortment of ruts before flowing through a lush Florida berm. Time and time again these competitors would travel, hurling both bike and body forward to clench the highest of honors at the finish line. Before the green flag would fly though, to indicate “all systems were a go,” pre-race rituals would be cast from behind the starting gate. A series of prayers, punches, and track rehearsals were enacted; all in hopes to amplify their senses before the battle began. Emerging from the chaotic first few turns would be named like Thrasher and Levi Kitchen. Yamaha housed a promising effort in the professional ranks, and the mantra was no different for this particular instance in time as well. Roost would be flung some hundreds of feet off the track, with the power output of these chassis presenting a rather astounding velocity. Nate Thrasher, hailing from Tennessee, would return to the amateur ranks with explosiveness that was hard to be duplicated. Swiftly sprinting for this initial segment, many behind him (Slade Smith, and Cullin Park) weren’t able to disrupt the flow of the ninety-one machine. Thrasher would obliterate the course on the white flag lap, casting a sense of fear into all others on the line, eager for the main event. Immediately dipping into the fifty-eight-second category, the tandem of Thrasher and Kitchen would be dueling throughout the infield. Truly riding on the edge, it was as though the two Yamaha combatants were riding on the brink of disaster, yet somehow staying upright and providing a display of utter velocity for the fans. Kitchen wasted no time in pushing past Thrasher, diving to the inside on lap number three and never looking back. The 147 machine would continue to be hounded throughout the twelve-lap brigade, yet his fortitude cast resiliency and the inability to demise. Leading ten of twelve laps in the process, Kitchen would again add a championship to his prolonged list of accolades, while Thrasher and LeBlanc, were just behind.