VOLUME 57 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2020 P41
cast, so many racers were not
prepared.
With a one-hour delay, the
main event featured approxi-
mately 140 racers, including 15
Pro and AA riders. For many, the
first race of the season is sort of
a testing ground, in that some of
the racers are aboard new bikes
and on new teams and are get-
ting their first opportunity to race
their new machines.
Luckily for the main event with
the Pros and AA riders, the rain
had stopped, but not before
drenching the red clay with an
inch of water.
Beta's Thorn Devlin, new to
the team for 2020, would grab
the holeshot and take the early
lead. Unfortunately, he relin-
quished the lead during the first
lap after hitting the ground sev-
eral times. In one of the crashes,
he lost his gloves. In another, he
lost his number plate. After all
was said and done, he'd finish
out the first lap in nearly last
place, but his day was not yet
over.
Meanwhile, upfront, Sherco's
Grant Baylor battled back and
forth with New Zealander Dylan
Yearbury aboard a Husqvarna.
Yearbury held the point after
the first lap with Baylor close
behind. Baylor, however, had
the lead after lap two but began
having a motor issue and was
forced to pull out of the race dur-
ing the fourth lap, handing the
lead back to Yearbury.
Meanwhile, AA racer Michael
Delosa, on a KTM, would make
his way to the front and cause
quite a stir. He began his race
30 seconds back of the Pros but
managed to shimmy up into the
front of the pack.
Devlin, however, began pick-
ing off his Pro competitors, as
well as the AA riders, who all
got around him when he had
his troubles during the first lap.
When Devlin saw that Baylor was
out of the race, he knew he still
had a shot at the win and put the
hammer down. He made it to
second place, and by lap four,
he and had his sights on the
New Zealander, Yearbury.
In one of the last sections,
Yearbury got stuck in one of
the three-foot ruts and had to
muscle his way out. Before he
could, however, Devlin made the
pass for the lead and took the
checkered flag for the overall
win.
Yearbury managed to extract
his Husqvarna from the ruts and
finish out the race in second
place in the Pro class, a little
over a minute behind Devlin.
Third overall went to the top
AA-Expert rider Michael Delosa
(KTM), who took the checkered
flag approximately 30 seconds
behind Yearbury.
Fourth overall went to the
third-place Pro rider Brody
Johnson (Honda), while Taylor
Johnson (Yamaha) rounded out
the top five overall as the runner-
up in the AA division.
Dustin Simpson, Andrew Cof-
fey, Max Rust, Daniel Clark and
Nathan Dulaney completed the
top 10 overall.
Kenneth Held
OVERALL
1. Thorn Devlin (Bet)
2. Dylan Yearbury (Hus)
3. Michael Delosa (KTM)
4. Brody Johnson (Hon)
5. Taylor Johnson (Yam)
6. Dustin Simpson (Yam)
7. Andrew Coffey (Yam)
8. Max Rust (Hus)
9. Daniel Clark (Hus)
10. Nathan Dulaney (Yam)
Devlin had a tough first lap but
held on to take the win.
