FXR Pro National Amateur Day draws massive entries
July 14th & 16th
By R. Otterness
A huge crowd of racers descended on the Spring Creek Park facility for the Pro National Weekend amateur events, with 932 entries for the Dunlop-sponsored Round 6 and over 700 entries for the 100%-sponsored Round 7. They were challenged with a tough, wet track on Friday as the heavens let loose with over an inch of rain on Thursday night but with optimal conditions prevailing by Sunday. Then, sandwiched between the two amateur events was the FXR Pro National for a great weekend of competition.
Round 6 featured a track layout that was somewhat modified from the latest rounds as there were modifications to the sand section with some big rollers added for the Pro race, and the configuration at the bottom of Mount Martin was reconfigured. Round 7 was the featured Pro Track Challenge, with the lower portion of Mount Martin thrown in for an extra treat.
Super Series Round 6 by Dunlop (Friday)
Ryan Willbanks got the jump on the start as the 85cc 12-15 class was released, but Kobi Mcallister was quick to pounce for the lead, joined shortly by Cash Anderson and North Dakota’s Ivan Drewlo. Anderson was on the move, though, and dispatched Mcallister shortly to take over the lead. At the flag, it was Anderson with a decent gap over Mcallister, who himself was safely ahead of Drewlo to take second. Hunter Morse and Isaac Opawlewski were battling over fourth and crossed the finish line side nearly simultaneously but the transponder data gave the placing to Morse.
Jerzee St. Croix pulled the holeshot to lead in moto two for a couple of laps, with Anderson and Mcallister dueling over second. Anderson broke free to take the lead from St. Croix on the last lap. There was yet another photo (transponder-decided?) finish with Mcallister snaring second from St. Croix right at the end of the race. Opalewski grabbed fourth over Colin Megaw to round out the top five.
Tanner Schlegel did a nice job of controlling the action in the Schoolboy 1 class as he went 1-1 for the day. Cade Groen and Brodie Boumeester ran pretty strong in both motos and ended up going 2-3 and 4-2, respectively, as they rounded out the podium spots. Dalton Caudill from Colorado and Madden Jones from Texas showed up to try out the track and did well as they took fourth and fifth overall.
Open A class displayed Josh Boaz out front most of the time in both motos, although he missed out on holeshot money as Jake Loberg took that opportunity to grab some cash and run out front for a lap in moto one. However, he had a major problem and registered a DNF for the moto. And Easton Block grabbed the start in Moto two. However, the checkered flag waved for Boaz first in both races as it has so many times before. Block took second, going 2-2 for the day, with Nick Jackson running 3-3 to finish just behind him. Luke Van Lussel and Collin Reinhart rounded out the top five.
Super Series Round 7 by 100% (Sunday)
Zaine Randall led the Open C class gang through turn one and onto the straightaway towards the sand wash as Moto One was initiated. Kyler Hagedorn had his screaming 125 in hot pursuit and took over the lead shortly, with Koby Turner also slipping by Randall before the completion of lap one. Hagedorn and Turner turned on the afterburners on their metal steeds and started to leave the pack behind while Randall found Jack Doty on his tail. Hagedorn started to edge away from Turner as the moto continued and, at the checkered, held a solid ten-second lead while Turner was about fifteen seconds clear of third-place Doty when he crossed the line. Dustin Van Oort managed his race well to take fourth over Spencer Hein.
Turner was ready for the challenge in Moto two and grabbed the lead right away. Hagedorn set up in pursuit mode and stayed close for most of the race, but Turner pulled him by a couple of seconds to put the moto in the win column for himself. Doty and Van Oort repeated their first moto performance as they ran 3-4 again, and Randall snared fifth over Hein at the flag.
