VOL. 56 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 12, 2019 P37
line on his Acerbis/Galfer/Fly
Racing-backed CRF450RX. "Me
and Zach were about the same
coming out of the first turn and
he just drove it around the out-
side of the second turn to pass
me."
Rain seeping into his tear-offs
ended up obscuring Stewart's
vision, though he wasn't the only
one to deal with that issue as a
light rain and cold wind affected
much of the race's 90 minutes.
By the time Stewart got fresh
goggles, Bell had checked out,
leaving the JCR rider to maintain
his firm grip on second, though
that would be enough for him to
take the series points lead. That's
because round-one winner Justin
Seeds got tangled in a pile-up
off the start, leaving the Purvines
Racing Yamaha rider with a
nearly impossible task of catch-
up, though he sliced through
the pack to salvage eighth at the
finish.
As for Thompson, he candidly
confessed the team had only
gotten the setup for his Mika/
Rekluse/Sidi KX450 dialed after
an educated guess after Satur-
day's combined Heavyweight/
Lightweight race where he got
third behind Bell and Seeds. "It's
a big step forward and we still
have some more stuff to do, but
all in all, it was a good weekend—
a good place to start with the
suspension setup so we're go-
ing to keep on messing with it
through the weeks and come out
to the next one and try to get a
win," he said.
Dalton Shirey (3 Bros./SRT
Husqvarna) had a poor start and
came back to finish fourth, a
minute behind Thompson, with
Dante Oliveira (FMF/Maxxis/
RPM Racing KTM) fifth.
Derek Kelley (Slam Life Rac-
ing Honda), Ryan Surratt (HTW
Motorsports Kawasaki), Seeds,
Ryan Reina (TBT Racing Kawasa-
ki), who was runner-up in the Vet
race on Saturday behind Colton
Udall, and Justin Hoeft (Simi Val-
ley Cycles Yamaha) rounded out
the top 10.
Pro II winner Naran finished
12th overall on his 3 Bros./SRT
Husqvarna FC 250 after chas-
ing Serpa (FMF/Maxxis/RPM
Racing KTM) for the first half, the
pro MX/SX racer learning the
off-road game quickly in only his
second GP. "It's a great learning
experience and I'm having a lot of
fun," he said.
Reigning class champ Hen-
geveld passed Serpa a few turns
from the finish for the runner-up
spot as they earned 13th and 14th
overall, respectively.
Mark Kariya
OVERALL
1. Zach Bell (Kaw)
2. Trevor Stewart (Hon)
3. Blayne Thompson (Kaw)
4. Dalton Shirey (Hus)
5. Dante Oliveira (KTM)
6. Derek Kelley (Hon)
7. Ryan Surratt (Kaw)
8. Justin Seeds (Yam)
9. Ryan Reina (Kaw)
10. Justin Hoeft (Yam)
Talon Hawkins enjoyed a great
weekend at Taft with three
wins: Mini Intermediate, Super
Mini and 200cc Expert.
