all day, and it's clear that after
struggling a bit in a few races
during last year's run to the
championship that the Con-
necticut rider learned a few
things from the experience and
is putting the insight to good use
in 2022.
"I've been around for a few
years now so I'm getting a little
smarter," said Kelley. "Jordan
was riding a good pace up front.
It was super dusty, so a lot of it
you had to just ride five seconds
behind him. I tried to make a
few passes in the first lap, but
I wasn't aggressive enough. I
was kind of just playing it cool
because I know how gnarly this
race is. About the halfway point
I got in the lead and I had some
clear track. I just kept going,
jumping the whoops, wheel-tap-
ping them and just having fun."
Like Ashburn, Garcia was
quick off the line and tucked in
behind the Husqvarna rider to
exit the first turn in second. The
Spaniard was passed by Kelley
on the opening lap but held his
ground with the front-runners and
started putting heavy pressure
on Ashburn on the final lap of the
race.
"I had some fun today," said
Garcia. "I want to be in front. I
had a good start but then Ben
passed me so strong. In the third
lap, I hit my hand in one tree and
I hurt it a little bit, so I suffer a lot
in the race."
Known more as a rock and
mud rider, Ashburn launched
into the lead at the start and look
strong while leading the first half
of the race, as well as the last
half when he ran second. Had
he not tipped over it would have
been a good fight to the finish
with Garcia.
"I got the holeshot and got
out front, which is exactly what
I wanted to do," said Ashburn.
"Ben was all over me earlier on. I
knew I wasn't the fastest guy out
there, but I just tried to ride the
fast lines. We pitted on different
times and he got around me and
then he just pulled all day. Josep
was just all over me all day. Just
tried to ride mistake-free. The
last lap I was just so pumped up
and tired and fell over here, and
that was it."
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
Factory Racing's Craig DeLong
turned in the best finish of his
rookie season in the XC1 class
by charging from the back of the
pack to finish fourth overall.
Mike Witkowski parlayed an
excellent jump out of the gate
into his second win of the season
in the XC-2 250 Pro division. The
AmPro Yamaha rider was running
in the top four on adjusted time at
one point in the race and eventu-
ally finished fifth overall.
"I led most of the race until I
had a crash with a lapper and
Jack Edmondson was right there
to capitalize," said Witkowski. "I
expended a lot of energy when I
crashed, so that took a lot out of
the sails, but I caught him maybe
a couple miles later and then
passed him later that lap."
Phoenix Racing Honda's Cody
Barnes was second in the XC-2
250 Pro class with a sixth overall.
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 10 MARCH 8, 2022 P39
Spain's Josep Garcia
was second overall.
