Round nine of the 2010 Yamaha/ITP Quadcross series was held at Glen Helen Raceway. After a Saturday filled with constant high winds, race day brought only breezes and warm sunshine. The staff at Glen Helen pulled out all the stops for the series finale and provided the longest and best prepped track layout of the season.
Production Moto 1: When the gate dropped for the first moto, I immediately spun sideways off the concrete pad. As I grabbed gears down the long start straight heading into the Talladega first turn, my #94 YFZ 450R pulled me all the way to second, just behind Beau Baron. Baron was riding strong but just after finishing the first lap he made a small mistake and pushed wide in a berm. My YFZ-R carved it perfectly and I powered by him down the next straight. Baron recovered quickly and pressured me from behind for the entire moto, never close enough to show a wheel but always right there, I could hear him. In the last two laps our battle got even closer as I suffered from a bit of arm pump and Baron pushed hard all the way to the end. In the end I held on for the win with Baron less than one second back. The battle for third crossed the line over 20 seconds behind with Justin Noss edging out Jason Dunkleberger and Ethan Thatcher.
Production Moto 2: A straight exit from the concrete and this time my #94 YFZ 450R arrived in the Talladega turn with the lead grabbing me the $250 GYTR/Yamalube Holeshot Award. Baron was second and we picked up where we left off in the first moto, I tried to ride strong mistake free laps as Baron pushed hard trying to force one. Lap after lap we ran times that were faster than the first moto, showing just how hard we were both pushing for the win. This time I could not only hear Baron but I could see his front wheels sneaking up on me in a couple corners, he was close. We raced hard all the way to the finish where coming through the last rhythm section Baron used an outside line to pull up along side of me, but as we landed from the last roller my YFZ-R pulled hard to cross the finish line just a half bike length ahead. The race for third was once again about 20 seconds back with Noss, Dunk and Thatcher taking third, fourth and fifth.
Round nine of the Yamaha/ITP Quadcross series went really well. I sat out the Open Pro class as I have been recovering from a tailbone injury and had not ridden for two weeks. We only needed to start the race to clinch the Pro Production championship but I’m a racer and when I go to the track, I want to win. I have great people behind me and I wanted to take them out on top. Looking forward to next year… hope to see you there.
Top Five Results:
1) Dustin Nelson Yam
2) Beau Baron Hon
3) Justin Noss Yam
4) Jason Dunkleberger Yam
5) Ethan Thatcher Suz