three points—and hold onto third
in points.
Meanwhile, Oliveira had recov-
ered from his botched start and
followed Martinez to chase Wal-
ton. When Walton had his issues,
Oliveira was able to pass both
to assume the lead on his Red
Bull/Renthal/Thor 450 XC-F.
"I got lucky, honestly," Oliveira
admitted. "Walton just checked
out, but he had some mishaps of
his own, so I was able to capital-
ize on that around the 50-minute
mark, 45-minute mark. Also
Trevor [Stewart]—he went down
as well so that was two passes
right there just handed to me, so
that made it a little easier."
He added, "This track was so
squirrelly. It was just throwing
you around, bouncing the whole
time so I was just trying to ride
smooth but also charge because
Cole was hammering down."
With Martinez having a prob-
lem on the final lap and ending
up 12th Pro, he and his Monster
Energy/Lava Propane/Skech-
ers CRF450RX lost ground to
Oliveira in points, the difference
now 210-172 with Walton third at
146.
3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing/
Jet World Husqvarna's Justin
Hoeft enjoyed his best round yet.
Always a good starter, he ran in
the lead group all afternoon and
nabbed second—his best finish
to date.
"I got off to a good start and I
rode my own race; I just kept try-
ing to plug away laps," he said.
"It was a long race today; it was
hot and I had luck on my side so
I'm super-excited to come away
with second place. I was talking
to myself the whole time. After
the pit, I was getting pretty tired
because I was pushing pretty
hard in the beginning. I just kept
telling myself, 'Don't give up!'"
Johnny Campbell Racing
(JCR) Honda's Ryan Surratt only
had a few days before round
seven to get used to his Kenda/
VP Racing Fuels/Fly Racing
CRF450RX. The familiariza-
tion continued right up to round
eight's race day with new sus-
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 4, 2022 P33
Mateo Oliveira,
here passing early
front-runner Clayton
Roberts, won Pro II
for the seventh time
this season.
