VOL. 55 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 9, 2018 P37
line in second. Bell's day quickly
took a turn for the worse when
he was issued a two-minute pen-
alty for not stopping at the end of
pit row, which dropped him from
second to fourth in the overall.
The penalty worked to Blayne
Thompson's advantage, the
Chaparral Motorsports/Preci-
sion Concepts Kawasaki rider
bumped up to second on the
day after crossing the line third.
Thompson was happy to make a
return to the podium, though his
day wasn't without its difficulties.
"I got a good start and I ended
up crashing on the street around
the second or third lap and that's
when I lost the gap between
me and Trevor [Stewart] and
Zach [Bell] got around me," said
Thompson. "Then I pitted and
Dalton [Shirey] got around me
and I decided to pick up the
pace from there and actually
gained back on the leaders in
the last couple laps."
Rounding out the podium was
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Dalton Shirey, who was only
informed that he'd made the
podium after leaving the race.
The Husqvarna rider dueled
back and forth with Thompson,
but ultimately came home third.
Bell collected fourth ahead of
Chaparral Motorsports/Preci-
sion Concepts Kawasaki rider
Justin Seeds, who rounded out
the top-five.
In the Pro II division, Clay
Hengeveld and Mitch Anderson
put on quite a show, keeping
their battle tight, riding mere
seconds apart for the duration of
the race, with Anderson holding
the advantage most of the way.
On the final lap, Hengeveld was
gifted the lead when Anderson's
clutch faded, causing him to
blow a turn and allow the North-
land Motor/Precision Concepts
Kawasaki to sneak by. Anderson
(CST/Precision Concepts KTM)
had to settle for a disappointing
second. Beta's Chance Fullerton
rounded out the Pro II podium.
The Women Pro class was full
of excitement as well, but also
some misfortune for top rider
Brandy Richards. The ever domi-
nant Richards quickly moved
into the lead and began to build
a gap over second-place Tarah
Gieger (JCR Honda), but was
forced to retire early with a me-
chanical issue. With that, Gieger
inherited the lead and held it to
the finish over Factory KTM's
Kacy Martinez Coy. It marked
Gieger's first-ever Big 6 GP win
in only her third attempt.
Blayne Thompson
(pictured) ended
the day second
overall after
battling with
Dalton Shirey.
