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OFF-ROAD 2018 AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 / AUGUST 25, 2018 PRESCOTT VALLEY EVENT CENTER / PRESCOTT VALLEY, ARIZONA P84 a full-on crash that handed the lead back to Haaker on the 13th of what would be a 19-lap race. Then Haaker looked in control, but he too started having troubles of his own. The two-time FIM World Super Enduro Champion got held up by lapped riders and, like Webb, eventually crashed in a tricky uphill rock section, which allowed Webb to take the lead back. This time, however, Webb was able to hold the point position to the finish and take the win. Haaker ended up taking second. "The opening round was awesome," Webb said at the end of the night. "This was the coolest, most fun race yet. Colton and I were going back and forth. The course was so nasty, and this was what EnduroCross is supposed to be. People were crashing everywhere, including Colton and me, and the crowd was so into it. This was a great way to get the season started." Haaker said, "The track was really slippery tonight with a lot of water getting dragged around the whole course, so we lapped a lot of riders and Cody lost out on some lappers and I got into the lead, then I lost out on some lappers again. And it ended with me in sec- ond. It was a brutal one. I am looking forward to Costa Mesa [the next round] and an outdoor arena and maybe a little more room." Third on the night went to Trystan Hart (SRT Husqvar- na) who didn't give up after getting off to a less-than- stellar, ninth-place start in the 14-rider field. Instead of panicking, Hart stayed calm and got down to business of picking off riders one at a time until he got into third where he would finish out the race. "I had a good start and then got shuffled back in the rocks on the first lap," Hart said. "When I got into third I took the Joker lane and knew that I was in third. I saw the halfway mark and thought it should have been just about over, so it was a tough race. But in the end, I got third, so it was a good day." Hart's SRT Husqvarna teammate Kyle Redmond also had a solid night and finished just off the podium in fourth, ahead of Ty Cullins (Beta). The day's racing got underway with the afternoon's hot laps, which determine the starting positions for the evening's heat races. Webb was the quickest, followed ENDUROCROSS GETS ELECTRICITY Ty Tremaine became the first pro-class Endu- roCross rider to compete on the Alta electric- power motorcycle. Tremaine finished the 2016 and 2017 seasons in third place and also won three Junior Class championships for pro-class riders 21 and under. Tremaine set the ninth- fastest hot-lap time in the afternoon, finished third in his heat race to move on to the bracket races and then ran as high as fifth in the main before dropping back to seventh. POWER VERSUS WEIGHT Kacy Martinez raced a KTM 150 XCW two- stroke in 2017 but chose to use a 250 four- stroke for 2018. Martinez felt that it would be easier to get good starts on the 250 but the trade off is some extra weight. GOOD START FOR CULLINS Ty Cullins finished fifth in the main event on a Beta 300RR two-stroke. The young Californian was a factory-backed Beta rider for the past two seasons but was replaced on the team by Arizona's Mason Ottersberg (who joined long- time Beta factory rider Max Gerston). This was Cullins' first top-five finish since a fourth place at the final 2016 round, his rookie season as a pro. FIRSTS This was a weekend of firsts for both Colton Haaker and Cody Webb. For Haaker, this was his first race since becoming a father in June. And for Webb, this was first EnduroCross (and second race) since getting married in July. HERE IS HERRERA Benjamin Herrera, from Chile, made a first- time trip to the U.S. to compete in the Ten- nessee Knockout the weekend before the EnduroCross opener and competed in his first EnduroCross in Prescott Valley. The Red Bull- backed Beta rider qualified for the main event and finished 10th. Briefly...