Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Clark Caunty Arenacross Holy Smokes, It's Huffmanl By JUSTIN WHARTON BATTLEGROUND, WA, DEC. 2B th this quite possibly being the last race to be held at the Clark County Fairgrounds, many peop le showed up to do w: battle. Another incent ive was the huge Pro purse be ing offered, with the winner taking home a classic cardboard check worth $700. Peo ple lined the walls to watch the combined SOcc (4-6) and ( 7- 8) mota, and t he epic ba ttl e among Polini r iders Mason Wharton and Matthew Shirl ey and KTM-mounted Samuel Mercer. The ho leshot went to Mercer, but Wharton sw ung to the outside and blasted by for the lead, and Shirley also got by Mercer. Travis Thom pson was fourth , and Ryde r Waite was fifth until he crashed and fell back to last. At the end of the first lap, Wharton had a co mforta ble lead, but Shirley was o n the move, and several laps later he was right o n Wharton's rear fender. Wha rto n turned o n the afterb urners and slowty bu ilt up a lead again. Wharton too k the victory. with Shirley sec o nd and Mercer th ird. Tho mpson finished fo urt h, and Smith was fifth. jord an Thibedeau and Waite shot through the whoo ps bar to bar at the finish, but Thibedeau edged out Waite by a mere foot . In the 4-6 portion, the order w as Mercer, Thibedeau and Waite . In the 7-8 class , the o rder was Whart on, Shirley, T ho mpso n, Smith and Jason Doane. Rya n H uffman snared t he ho le s ho t (an d the mo ne y t hat accom panied it!) in the O pen Pro main even t. Huffman , who was the heat-two winne r, had fellow form e r supercross racer Jaso n McCo rmick right behind him. Co ming off an amazing heat-o ne win (over McCormick) was the Mota O utfitte rs-backed Don "lronman" Boespflug. Huffman and McCormick were battling for that big Pro purse until Huffman slid through the banners afte r the center tabletop, and new KTM rider McCormick took over the lead! Huffman caught right back up, and within a lap he'd passed McCormick for the lead. Following in a quiet third was Boe spflug, and movi ng up fast was Ro ry Sullivan, in fourth . Huffman was unbelievable and apparently tireless, putting a huge gap between himself and McCormick. Sullivan's progress seemed to stop when he got near Boespflug, as he couldn't seem to catch the seasoned veteran, and Boes pflug just stayed steady. After fighting tooth and nail lap after lap, Phil Ehnat left the rest of the pack behind to take fifth. With only a couple of laps left, things started to get really inte re sting. as Sullivan sta rt e d to catch Boe spflug, an d j.R . Vielle ca ught u p to Ehnat . When the checkered flag came out, Huffman scored a decisive victory, and McCormick had to settle for second. Boespflug held off Sulliva n for third (and then rode two more motes, all back to back!), and Sullivan fi nished fourth. Edging out Ehnat for fifth was Vielle, and Ehnat finishe d sixt h. Seve nt h went to Dale Ainslie , eighth to james Hamilton and ninth to Joel Ard. Rounding out the top 10 was Tyson Blood. RESULTS 50 Oil-IN): I. Bre ndan Staley (KTM): 2. T imothy Meade Jr. (Yam); l . Kelse y Tob in (SU . 50 BEG: I. Dakota Wharton (Pol); 2. N ick Mancuso (Hon) ; l . Michael I) Ram ir e z (KTM ) ; ~. Kyle Fa he y ( Po l) ; 5 . Br e nda n Staley (KT M) . 5 0 (4 -6): I. Samuel Me rcer (KTM); 2. jord an Thibedeau (Cob); l . Ryder Waite (Pol). 50 (1..a): I. Mason Wharton (Pol): 2. Matthew Shirley (Pol); l . Travis Thompson IKTH ); ' . Cody Smith (KTH); 5. j""" Doane (Cob) . 50 OPEN, I. Samuel H" m .. (KTH ); 2. H""" Whanoo (Pol); 3. Hanh< w "''''''' (Pol); • . Ja>on Doane (Co b). 50 ADU LT MNY: I. Mike Storm (Hon); 2. Dan iel King (Hon); l . Trevor Krogh (Hon) . 65 B EG: I. Mason Wharton (Suz ); 2. Aust in Miller (Suz ). 6 5 (4-8): I. Devin Harriman (KTM); 2. Ryan MIranda (KTM); 3. Tim Ulrich (KTM). 65 (9- 11): I. Julian Doane ( Kaw) ; 2. Kyle Ulric h (KTM); l . C ooper Garza (KTM); ~ . D iltan ao..pflug (KTH); S. "JYt(Yam). B5 (1 - 11), I. AI« Watu (Sua ); 2. Thoma< Nd,ob (Yam); 3. RKky H;r.onda (Y am); • . Kyk> Ulrich (Soz); S. Austin Ullrich (Hon). 85 ( 11- 15) : I. Gar ed Ste inke (Kaw ); 2. Dan ny Guboor (yam); 3. Han o.AtJ

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