With the coveted 250 Pro Sport title already in hand, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Enzo Temmerman entered Saturday’s Open Pro Sport finale with a chance to become champion of arguably the two most high-profile divisions at Loretta Lynn’s. However, he was going to have to do it by beating out his fellow Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green rider, Landen Gordon, who came into Moto 3 tied with Temmerman.
With everything on the line, Temmerman grabbed his best start of the week to put his Kawasaki at the head of the pack to begin the moto. Gordon, who is typically a stellar out the gate, endured through one of his worst starts, mired in seventh. The clear track became a crucial advantage for Temmerman, who was able to control the pace up front over Altus Motorsports BLU CRU Yamaha’s Kade Johnson in second.
A determined Gordon made an impressive climb up to third after just one lap to keep himself in the hunt. As Temmerman logged consistent laps and managed a lead hovering around three seconds over Johnson, Gordon had a quicker pace and began to chip away at the deficit. Unfortunately, Gordon’s title hopes were dashed when he went down and dropped all the way to eighth place.
Back up front, Temmerman pulled away from Johnson in the closing laps to take the moto win by 11.8 seconds. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Landon Gibson finished third, followed by Munn Racing Husqvarna’s Diesel Thomas in fourth and MotoBros KTM’s Cole Forbes in fifth. Gordon ended up ninth.
Temmerman’s second AMA National Championship of the week came on the heels of four points from 1-2-1 moto finishes. The Californian failed to win just a single moto in six starts and put the finishing touch on a breakthrough week at the Ranch. Johnson’s consistency earned him a runner-up finish with nine points coming from 4-3-2 results. Thomas rounded out the overall podium with 12 points and 3-5-4 finishes, which he earned via tiebreaker to Gordon’s 2-1-9 effort that dropped the Kawasaki rider to fourth.
