PHOTOS BY MARK RIKER, JON ORTNER & DEBBI TAMIETTI

Jayven Ashley (116) leads the 450 Novices into the second turn with Justin Smith (838) and Brent Stevens (131) filling in the pack . The eventual winner was Denver Ethridge (417) who is somewhere in the back.

Chris Cole (45) took eight years off from racing following a severe head injury back in 2018, but he chose this Saturday to make his comeback. Chris spent his morning talking to all of his friends and then took it easy in the Over-50 Intermediate class going 10-10 for tenth.

Gary Jones (53) came out on his Honda CRF250 to spin some laps. He doesn’t really care how well he does since he won the 250 National Championship four times back in the 1970s, and is the only racer to have won the Over-30 Expert (1987), Over-40 Expert (1992-1993), Over-50 Expert (2002-2003), Over-60 Expert (2012-2013) and Over-70 Expert classes (2022- 2023) at the World Vet Championships (He has won World Vet titles in 11 different years). On Saturday, August 15, he got a third in the first moto of the Over-70 class, but elected to sit out the second moto. 

Clothing magnate Jim O’Neal races in the Over-70 class to test products for his company. Jim was also the Over-70 World Vet Champion back in 2016.

The Over-70 Expert class was packed with former World Vet winners. Here, Bob Rutten (83), the current Over-70 World Vet Champion, would take the victory and finished second in the Over-65 Expert class.

Jim Latendresse (564) is another “Saturday at the Glen” regular who also switched to off-road racing, but made his comeback this past Saturday to go 2-2 behind Bob Rutten in the Over-70 Expert class.

Gordon Ward (744) used to be the dominant Pro at Glen Helen before he switched to off-road and Grand Prix racing, but Gordon was back this Saturday for the first time in distant memory, but he was memorable in the Over-50 Expert class this Saturday as he went 1-1 in front of Kurt Nicoll (3-2), Bill Sauro (2-3), Ricky Richards (5-4), Arek Kruk (6-5) and Richard Ellis (4-7).

Ricky Richards (39) was running fourth in the Over-50 Expert class behind Gordon Ward, Kurt Nicoll and Bill Sauro, but it wasn’t meant to be.

With a couple laps to go, Ricky felt something wrong and looked down to see that he had a flat rear tire. He kept going and finished fourth in the Over-50 Experts. Then, he swapped to his spare rear wheel and went 2-2 in the Over-40 Expert class.

Kurt Nicoll (2) is a multi-time British National Champion, a four-time runner-up in the 500cc World Championships and seven-time Over-40 World Vet Champion (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022). Kurt is the current Over-60 World Vet Champion (2025). On Saturday Kurt went 3-2 for second overall in the Over-50 Experts (behind Gordon Ward).

MXA’s Josh Fout (192) raced a Honda CRF250 instead of his normal Yamaha YZ450F and finished second overall in the Over-30 Expert class. Glen Helen’s big hills and decomposed granite soil, which is basically crushed rock, favors 450s over 250s and, of course, Mt. Saint Helen is 22-stories tall and is all about horsepower.

Val Tamietti suffered a devastating injury on New Year’s Eve of 2024. broke his pelvis in three places. The first hospital he went to after getting back in the city looked him over and sent him to  the Trauma Center at Pomona Valley Hospital’s Medical center, he suffered a punctured bladder and had a brain bleed. Val underwent three surgeries and suffered from some brain trauma. His Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Christopher Hayes monitored Val over his long recovery.

After a year of hard work Val came to Glen Helen on an open practice days and started riding again. He claims that the pain has not been bad since his return to racing. Val says that his plan is to race the 2026 World Vet Championship in November in the Over-70 class.

Val and his wife Debbi met with the doctors and nurses that took care of him during his long hard recovery. The hospital staff never believed it Val when he told them he was going straight back to racing. The doubted that anyone with the inuries he suffered could ever race again. So, the hospital staff staff was thrilled to hear that he had returned to the racetrack and did a four-page story about him in the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center magazine. Val went 4-4 in the Over-65 Expert class on Saturday.

Val is a former CMC number One from his Maico days at Saddleback and a two-time REM Glen Helen number one in 2017 and 2028.

Jax Krahenbuhl (125) used a 3-1 to win the Open Intermediate class.

RACE SCHEDULE: WHAT’S IN STORE FOR “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” IN 2026

If you are looking for a racing organization that offers long motos, low cost entry fees and  a very consistent race schedule—this is it. “Saturday at the Glen” motocross will race  again on the National track on July 18.

Pre-entry is only $30 ($25 for minis). Post entry is $40 ($30 for minis) on the day of the race. The Gate fee is $10 (per person). You can sign up for the next “Saturday at the Glen” motocross as late as the Friday before the next race (or just show up in person on race day). For more info go to www.glenhelen.com

2026 “SATURDAY THE GLEN” SCHEDULE
Jan. 17…National track
Jan. 24…National track
Jan. 31….National track
Feb. 7…Arroyo track
Feb. 21….National track
Feb 28…NGPC Prairie Dogs
Mar. 14….National track
Mar. 28…Arroyo track
April 3… World Two-Stroke practice
April 4…. World Two-Stroke Championship
April 18….National track
May 2….National track
May 14-17 Glen Helen MotoFest
May 30…National track
June 27….National track
July 18…National track
Aug. 1….National track
Aug. 8….National track
Aug. 15…National track
Aug. 22….Arroyo track
Aug. 29…Arroyo track
Oct.10…24 Hours of Glen Helen
Oct. 24….National track
Oct. 30-Nov. 2… World Vet Championship
Nov. 15…National track
Nov. 26…Day in the Dirt
Dec. 5… Arroyo track
Dec. 6… 2026 Kurt Caselli Ride Day