VOLUME 57 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 P37
know I have to win every race
now to [win the championship],"
Shirey explained. "The way I felt
when I took off and left the bomb
[last round], I feel like I could've
done the same [then as today]—
not trying to be cocky, but the
way I was feeling, I had a good
10 minutes [then] everything went
downhill.
"Here, it was kind of the same
feeling. It was a smooth ride; I
backed it down to, like, 80 per-
cent because I noticed I had a
gap, so I was like, 'Okay, just ride
smooth and smart.' I only blew
two corners [today]; normally I
blow more than that because
normally you'd be coming in so
hot to corners. But I was taking
my time on stuff because I had
a lead so I was able to read the
terrain better."
That left the real fight in back
of him, with Kamo taking a
completely different approach to
the start and lining up on the far
left—the opposite side of most of
his opposition.
"I did that at a lot of Nationals
when I was racing against Destry
[Abbott] and all those guys," the
Kurt Caselli Foundation/Mo-
torex/Fly Racing 450 XC-F pilot
revealed. "It gives me a better
chance to ride my own race at
the very beginning—I know that I'll
get my line and I'm out of the dust
if something does happen like
if my bike doesn't start [quickly]
then I'm still pretty good. It was
definitely longer [to the bomb],
but it was actually smoother."
An estimated fifth at the bomb,
Kamo diced for a while with
Honda-mounted Evan Kelly be-
fore setting his sights on Shirey
and Beta's Joe Wasson. Surpris-
ingly, Kamo came upon Wasson
on the side of the trail trying to fix
an electrical issue, which handed
Kamo second place.
"Five minutes later, I looked
back and Argubright was right
there!" Kamo said.
Indeed, he was, though he
wasn't satisfied with his riding.
"I just wasn't [riding] that won-
derful all day," he admitted, the
Golden Tyre/Maxima/Fly Racing
KX450-mounted rider continu-
ing, "I had a third-place start and
guys passed me at the beginning
through the [sand dune] jumps
and I passed two of them back. I
was just slow.
"I tried to catch David, but I
ended up getting lost once and
could never seal the deal.
"I'm looking forward to open
desert like [the next round at]
Lovelock, [Nevada], and Lucerne
[Valley, California]." At the finish,
Argubright was just eight sec-
onds shy of Kamo.
Beta's Zane Roberts slot-
ted into a lonely fourth place
early aboard his Kenda/Enduro
Engineering/Klim-backed 430
RR and remained there all after-
noon. Johnny Campbell Racing
(JCR) Honda's Preston Campbell
claimed fifth aboard his Pro Cir-
cuit/VP Racing Fuels/Alpinestars
CRF450X followed by Wasson,
Pearson Farms KTM-mounted
Axel Pearson, Kelly, MotoXperts
Suzuki rider Bridger Steele and
Pro 250 winner Cole Conatser
aboard his 707 Suspension/Mojo
Motorsports/Motion Pro-backed
Beta 250 RR.
Mark Kariya
Cole Conatser returned
to his winning ways in
Pro 250, finishing 10th
overall in the process
and besting class
runner-up (and 11th
overall) Mcquin Hair by
44 seconds.
