like, 'I just got to ride it in, I have
it.' Then, of course, I dump it on
a root. I just had to sprint to the
finish. It was a close race. I was
able to grab that test win and just
barely beat Layne for the day and
the overall."
Michael, the defending series
champ, was still feeling the ef-
fects of a shoulder separation
suffered in mid-February, and
was frustrated by missing out
on Sunday's win by such a small
margin.
"Obviously it's still not 100
percent," Michael said of his
shoulder, "but I felt like I could be
competitive this weekend. Yes-
terday, I got smoked in the en-
duro test. It was super slick and
technical, and I just struggled.
So, I knew today I needed to go
out and definitely try to win the
day. We went into that last test,
and I was up by almost a couple
seconds. I had my best test all
weekend, and just unfortunately
in a simple right-hander out in
the field I just tucked the front. It
was all me. I kind of looked back
as I was picking my bike up and
Josh was just coming out of the
woods, so I knew I had a pretty
good gap. I think it would have
been close."
Despite being a Pro 2 rider,
Phoenix Racing Honda's Cody
Barnes has been pushing the Pro
riders at the last few rounds. De-
spite hitting the dirt a few times,
the Illinois rider came away with
third overall for the weekend and
first in the Pro 2 class.
"The weekend for me was a lit-
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 12 MARCH 22, 2022 P33
Defending champ
Layne Michael nearly
pulled off Sunday's
win but had to settle
for second overall.
Third overall was Pro 2
winner Cody Barnes.
