VOL. 55 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 21, 2018 P39
Argubright/Eddy's unofficial
finishing time for the 530 miles
was eight hours, 36 minutes and
16.3 seconds with a five-minute
speed zone penalty leaving the
Honea/Neely/Wallis team at
8:43:06.9. Brown/Esposito
came from starting last Open
Pro to unofficially lead on adjust-
ed time at one point, ultimately
settling for third in 8:45:19.4.
The fourth and final round of
Best in the Desert's American
Off-road Racing Series drew a
record number of entries and
saw excellent battles throughout
the field. Storms the night before
left parts of the course unusually
soaked.
From the start, Honea/Neely/
Wallis tried to break away and
appeared to be doing so on their
Monarch Honda/Summit Fund-
ing/Fly Racing CRF450RX.
"Definitely getting the draw
for first [off the line] was a big
help in finishing as well as we
did," Honea admitted. "We had
about a five-minute lead when
Justin gave it to Ross [but] they
were coming, definitely! When
Ross gave the bike to me after
his section, we had a three-
minute gap [over second], but
that means they caught us on
[adjusted] time, but we were still
trying to get them physically."
Fourth off the line on N12 with
Eddy starting aboard the Kenda/
TBT Racing/FMF-sponsored
YZ450FX, Argubright revealed
that a clogged fuel line cost
them a little extra time at the
second pit after Eddy brought it
in holding second place, unoffi-
cially. But they found themselves
behind the N45 of Brown/Es-
posito.
"Shane Esposito started last
[in class] and caught us. I don't
know how he did that!" Argu-
bright exclaimed. "When I was
[waiting for] the bike at pit eight,
[Max] came in and then Shane
came in maybe 20 seconds after
him, then the Monarch team. It
was really close!"
Argubright took it to pit 11,
where his crew gave the bike a
new rear tire and brake pads—
items they figured they'd need at
some point—with Argubright able
to regain a couple minutes but
still second on time.
But after Eddy took another
stint from 11 to 13, they regretted
not putting on a new front tire as
well.
"We thought it would last, and
it did, but it was so worn down,"
(Above) Ross Neely
(pictured)—along with
teammates Brody Honea
and Justin Wallis—
clinched the series
championship. (Left)
Max Eddy Jr. (pictured)
partnered with Jacob
Argubright and came
away with the win at
Best In The Desert's
Vegas To Reno.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
