Martinez Wins Wild West Showdown
T
he last few rounds of NGPC
racing have seen a trend
starting to form, but the Hilltop-
pers MC's 26th annual Wild West
Grand Prix at the 29 Palms Mo-
torsports Complex in Twentynine
Palms, California, April 2-3, saw
some unfamiliar faces mixing it
up on the Pro podiums for round
four of the FMF AMA National
Grand Prix Championship Series.
After a round-one upset, FMF
KTM Factory Racing's Dante
Oliveira has been on a tear and
looked poised to take his third-
straight win. Oliveira got out front
early and planned on using the
dreaded dust to his favor on the
infamous high-speed circuit.
Despite his efforts, 3Bros. Hatch
Husqvarna's Dalton Shirey and
SLR Honda's Cole Martinez
were hot on his heels, passing
back and forth for second and
third while staying within a few
seconds of the KTM rider. Just
past the one-hour mark, Shirey
showed his desert-racing prow-
ess, making a gutsy move on
the rocky single-track downhill,
blitzing past Oliveira and gaining
the lead, while Martinez sat back
and watched.
Shirey capitalized on a good
start and relied on his desert
background and setup to run up
front. Clocking in at 103 mph,
Dalton said he "was able to make
up some time on the asphalt sec-
tion and actually passed Cole at
top speed. From there, [Dalton]
put a target on Dante and got him
in the desert single-track."
Surprised by Shirey's new-
found speed, Martinez, said,
IN
THE
WIND
P36
After grabbing his
first win here a
year ago, Martinez
doubled down
to win again in
Twentynine Palms.
