Cycle News

plete opposite—you have to be smooth." Despite being sick with the flu all week, Gerston mustered up enough energy to move into second by lap two aboard his Motul/Kenda/Klim- sponsored 430 RR and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. "It was almost like a deja vu of this race last year, but—I don't know— I just stayed positive, really," he said. "At the beginning I kind of went hard because I had to get by some guys, then I was kind of in no man's land, so I set- tled in a little bit, which almost got me in trouble—they closed in on me that last lap; I pitted and they didn't. I had to lay it down on that last lap to kind of re-gap them, but I did so I'm happy about that." Gerston added a few more points to his series lead, his 2-1-2 record so far giving him 80 points with teammate Joe Wasson the closest pursuer at 67 after his fifth for the day. As for Fullerton and his Motion Pro/Rekluse/Fast House 430 RR, the podium came down to the last lap. He got the white flag just four seconds behind teammate Wasson and four seconds ahead of series visitor Kendall Norman, who was fresh off his Mint 400 win last week. All three opted to skip their optional pit stop—unlike Shirey and Gerston—since they were so close, making for a tense final lap for all three and their pit crews. "I was pretty concerned just because of the fact that I was out there with a standard tank, plus I wasn't on a quick-fill tank," Fuller- ton said. "That's why I was in the pits so long [at his first and only pit]—I was in there for a minute, a minute and a half. When my dad was filling it, I told him to just top it off. We gambled and made it. I was pretty impressed. Joe, on the last lap, was right in front of me. His bike shut off for a second; I think it burbled and ran out of gas for a second would be my guess because I came in on basically fumes." With Wasson stalled for a few moments, Norman also slipped past to secure fourth aboard his Pro Circuit/Renthal/Alpinestars CRF450R, Wasson recovering in time to salvage fifth. Beta's Zane Roberts claimed sixth overall and the Pro 250-class victory aboard his Sierra BMW & Beta/Six Five O Rac- ing/Sidi 250 RR. "This is the first time I've gotten a good start all season, including the hare and hounds, so it felt a little weird out front at the be- ginning," Roberts said. "I'm used to coming from behind. I was a little tight for a couple laps but got loosened up and just felt good. Nick [Stover] was coming; he was really moving there in the middle of the race; I think he bonked out a little there at the end because he was really going before that." Axel Pearson (Purvines Racing Yamaha) slid in for seventh overall ahead of Stover, who held on for second Pro 250, with Justin Bonita (Click Yamaha) and Devan Bolin Gray (Area KTM) rounding out the top 10. Mark Kariya OVERALL 1. Dalton Shirey (Hus) 2. Max Gerston (Bet) 3. Chance Fullerton (Bet) 4. Kendall Norman (Hon) 5. Joe Wasson (Bet) 6. Zane Roberts (Bet) 7. Axel Pearson (Yam) 8. Nick Stover (KTM) 9. Justin Bonita (Yam) 10. Devan Bolin (KTM) IN THE WIND P58 Kaitlyn Jacobs made her start of the season a winning one in Pro Women.

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