VOL. 56 ISSUE 16 APRIL 23, 2019 P29
Dunlop/Bell Powersports Kawa-
saki KX500)—with Carlen Gardner
third aboard his BWREngines.
com/Race Tech/Fly Racing Ya-
maha YZ250.
In the deciding second moto,
Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda's
Ricky Dietrich led the way aboard
his 12-year-old Lava Bonanza
Plumbing/Lava Propane/Monster
Energy Honda CR250R for a lap
before a yielding to a younger
crowd, including the eventual
podium finishers.
"I felt completely naked on
stage coming out of the second
corner [with the lead], like, 'Oh
my God, what do I do now?'"
Dietrich joked.
Wageman said, "I got an okay
start—top five or so—and I knew I
had to beat Bowers, so my main
focus was catching him and pass-
ing him."
That task got easier when Bow-
ers pulled off after the second
lap with a flat rear tire. "I tried to
limp it—like on a 450 you can kind
of limp it a little bit, but this 500,
man, when it hits, it lights up that
tire, so having a flat tire makes
it feel really slick, and when the
power would hit, I would just go
sideways—like in the middle of
straightaways, down hills. I de-
cided it was too sketch and I just
pulled off."
Though understandably dis-
appointed, he still enjoyed his
day overall, saying, "I'm a little
pissed off because, as I said, the
competitiveness [in me], but it's
supposed to be a fun race for me
so here I am."
"Once I got around [Bowers],
I was just trying to ride a smart
race," Wageman said. "I didn't
want to make mistakes. I just want-
ed to stay out front and get on the
podium, which I did, and it ended
up being a great race."
Though he came up two and a
half seconds shy of moto winner
Gardner, second place was
good enough to give
Wageman the overall
and succeed 2018
champ Zach Bell.
Bell, on the Chap-
arral Motorsports/Pre-
cision Concepts Kawasaki, was
a victim of a moto-one engine
issue in his 2007 KX270 that
Wageman leaps
off the top of Mt.
Saint Helens as
the pack pursues
him on the first lap
of the first Open
Pro moto.
Justin Hoeft (82) rode both Pro classes but had his best results in the
125s, winning both motos over eventual runner-up Chris Plouffe (far
right, orange helmet) and third-place Colton Aeck (129).
