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different line in an effort to get a little more momentum. He missed his mark on the approach and fell back down the step for a five. Bell followed with a beautiful ride, unloading up the rock-face clean. Florin, who excels at large obstacles with very little approach, cleaned the step as well, while Canadian Wilson Craig, on a Gas Gas, took two dabs to get over and out. Section 10 proved to be another difficult ride. It amounted to several steep, off-camber ups and downs across an extremely large, angled slab of rock positioned near the top of one of the many hogbacks that jut out of the local mountains. The soft rear tires rolled over on the rims, as the contenders feathered brakes and clutches in a balanced attempt to tiptoe a tight line to the exit. Only Florin managed better than a three on lap one, taking a well-deserved two. At the end of lap one, Bell and Florin shared the lead with five points each. Aaron and Craig came next, each with 8, while Chaves looked promising after a nine-point lap. Lap two could be considered "the lap from hell" for Florin. The Floridian picked up a flat rear tire in section three, escaping with a two-point ride, then spun the rear tire in section four and nailed his left knee on the exit step when he didn't get the front wheel high enough. After nursing his knee for 20 minutes, Florin continued but never lived up to his first-lap promise. Chaves, on the other hand, turned it up a notch on the final two laps, logging a masterful one-point ride on section lOon his second trip through. Ryan Young was minding for Chaves in Wyoming, and Chaves responded well to the former champ's instruction. Bell continued to blitz the relatively easy sections, dropping six single dabs over the next two laps to finish the day with a total of 11. "I saw [Aaron] make a bad mistake that resulted in a five, and I knew after the first three sections that you had to be really careful today," said Bell afterward. "After the first lap, I knew all I needed to do was get rid of my silly dabs." Aaron carded a six and a four on his final two circuits for total of 18 points, giving Bell a seven-point win, his third of the year. Chaves logged seven- and nine-point final laps for a total of 18 and third place, while Peters and Craig claimed fourth and fifth, respectively, each finishing with 31 points. SUNDAY From the start, Sunday's event looked to be a grudge match between Aaron and Bell - Aaron wanting to close out 2003 with a couple of wins and Bell hoping to capitalize on Saturday's momentum. The two Gas Gas riders, Aaron with Team ERE and Bell with Gas Gas USA, needed only three single dabs each to navigate the first loop, which consisted mostly of reworked sections from Saturday's event. Nine points back came Chris Florin, who was having a much better day today. Chaves held the provisional fourth position with 19 points, while Peters rounded out the top five with 30. Bell was the first to put a wheel wrong when he failed the big step on his second ride at section eight (;ection seven on today's course). Aaron spread his points out over different parts of the loop, dropping four single dabs. Bell dropped one more to end lap two with six, compared to Aaron's four. Aaron held a two-point advantage going into the final loop of the day and looked to be in total control as he ripped off 11 straight cleans to open his third lap. However, he spun on the approach to the exit in section 12 and jammed his front tire into a rock for a 5 - his only points of the loop. By his own admission, Bell dropped a silly dab on section six and added a one on the step at seven and a one on the off-camber at 12 for a duplicate of his first lap. After completing three loops of 15 sections, Aaron and Bell were deadlocked at 12 points each. Further inspection of the cards revealed that each rider had taken the same number of cleans, 1sand 5s. Even more amazing was the fact that the two riders were tied on total time. The NATC has a little-known tie break system, used when all the usua I tie brea kers are exhausted, that awards the win to the rider who went the farthest in the event before taking a dab. Since Bell took his first point of the day in section five of the first loop and Aaron took his in section 10, Aaron was awarded to win. "It was a dead-easy section, and I cleaned it on the second and third loops," said Bell of the point that cost him the tie break and the win. "Nobody would have known at the end of the day that that would have determined the win." Aaron always seems to get the upper hand in the really tight ones, but Bell was somewhat philosophical about the loss. "It's a bit heartbreaking to have to keep finishing second like this; that's twice now if you include the indoor, but that's what trials is all about." Florin and Chaves continued their year-long, see-saw battle over fourth in the series standings with the two riders reversing their finishing order from Saturday, Florin in third and Chaves in fourth this time. Peters rounded out the top five, while sixth place went to Craig, who maintained the third overall spot in the championship standings after the weekend. eN Mosteller Ranch Casper, Wyoming Results: August 2-3, 2003 [Rounds 11·121 Saturday CHAMP: 1. Ryan Bell (1 I); 2. Geoff Aaron (16); 3. David Chaves (25); 4. Ray Peters (31): 5. Wilson Craig (31): 6. Chris Florin (41); 7. Keith Wineland (60); 6. Andy Johnson (61); g. Travis Fox (70); 10. Will Dugan (100). EX: I. Chad White (32); 2. Jason Carpenter (37); 3. Sean Bird (42); 4. Brad Villand (44); 5. Yuki Watanabe (47). EX-SPTSMN: 1. Jake Wieland (17); 2. Bill Ibsen (24); 3. David Cole (24); 4. Jim Gawne (26); 5. Dan Larson (27). SPTSMN: L Jeremy Mason (13); 2. William Burgener (14.5); 3. Donald Ramer (16); 4.·Aaron Thais (23); 5. Ryan Sandoval (98). HS: 1. Miles Morgan (5); 2. Stevie Darrow (9); 3. Daniel Allen (12); 4. Dan O'Neill (17); 5. Glen Roblin (24). WMN: 1. Kerry Williams (6); 2. Christy Williams (7); 3. Maria Conway (I I); 4. Nicole Bradford (17); 5. Andrea Davis (20). SR 30: 1. Michael Leonard (24); 2. Dion Pisek (55). SR 35: I. Nick Jones (15); 2. Ronald Ringuette (16); 3. T.R. Sackett (47); 4. Ron Lee (126). SR 40: I. David Rohrschneider (4); 2. Kenny Mosteller (5); 3. Ken Pedersen (6); 4. Tony Herald (12); 5. Mike Wehling (16). SR 45: I. Ray Reser (4); 2. Dale Higginbotham (9); 3. John Isherwood ([0); 4. Howard Galbreath (I I); 5. Jay Terry (12). SR 50: 1. Keith Adams (4); 2. Garry Hoover (6); 3. Marvin Edgington (1 I); 4. Steve Forsley (15); 5. Gary Lawver (20). SR 55; I. Dale Malasek (4): 2. Mike Buchholz (32); 3. Curtis Mann (41); 4. Gary Pisek (55.5): 5. Jim Watson (63). SR 60: I. Carl Swanson (54). SR 65: 1. Bill Thompson (35). Sunday CHAMP: J. Geoff Aaron (12); 2. Ryan Bell (12); 3. Chris Florin (34); 4. David Chaves (43); 5. Ray Peters (50); 6. Wilson Craig (58): 7. Travis Fox (58); 8. Keith Wineland (71); 9. Andy Johnson (71); 10. Will Duggan (107). EX: I. Chad White (23); 2. Jason Carpenter (24); 3. Brad VilJand (25); 4. Yuki Watanabe (28): 5. Sean Bird (30). EX·SPTSMN: I. Jake Wieland (4); 2. David Cole (6); 3. Max Malsbary (13); 4. Will Ibsen (17); 5. Jeremy Cox ( 17). SPTSMN: 1. Donald Ramer (13); 2. Jeremy Mason (15); 3. William Burgener (33); 4. Ed Taft (46); 5. Aaron Thais (52). HS: 1. Stevie Darrow (7); 2. Miles Morgan (12); 3. Daniel Allen (20); 4. Ron Commo III (23); 5. Dan O'Neill (25). WMN: l. Maria Conway (4); 2. Christy Williams (14); 3. Kerry Williams (24); 4. Nicole Bradford (29): 5. Louise Forsley (41). SR 30: 1. Michael Leonard (38); 2. Dion Pisek (56). SR 35: I. Ronald Ringuette (37); 2. Nick Jones (43): 3. T.R. Sackett (54). SR 40: 1. Kenny Mosteller (6): 2. David Rohrschneider (7); 3. Thomas Hedwall (25); 4. Mike Wehling (27): 5. Wayne Sholder (33). SR 45: I. Howard Galbreath (I); 2. Jay Terry (8): 3. Dale Higginbotham (12); 4. John Isherwood (14); 5. Ray Reser (30). SR 50: 1. Keith Adams (15); 2. Marvin Edginglon (19); 3. Gary Lawver (23); 4. Garry Hoover (26); 5. Steve Forsley (44.5). SR 55: 1. Mike Buchholz (31); 2. Gary Pisek (53); 3. Curtis Mann (67). SR 60: I. Carl Swanson (94). SR 65: 1. Bill Thompson (50). Chris Florin joined Aaron and Bell on the podium Sunday. Ray Peters put in some good rides, going 4-5 on the weekend. cue I e n e VV s AUGUST 20,2003 45