Newton battled from the start,
Hunter's DirtBikeTest/1-800-
Dent-Doc KX450X struggled to
start in the freezing 31-degree
morning, leaving him in the dust
early on.
From the start, Shirey checked
out and showed why he's one of,
if not the fastest, desert racers
in the nation, putting minutes on
the field in the first half of the
race. Meanwhile, the Hintz/New-
ton/Hunter trio were seemingly
tied to a tree for nearly 60 miles,
swapping positions back and
forth as they fought dust, lost rib-
bon, and made outright passes
with the championship in loom.
Newton was the first to make
a move, passing Hintz who was
struggling with a mechanical
issue from early on. After com-
ing up from a dead last start,
Hunter also capitalized on his
teammates' issues, passing the
N1 KTM with his sights set on
championship rival Newton. A
few miles later, Newton missed a
turn and allowed both Hunter and
Hintz by, only for Hunter to make
a wrong turn less than a mile
later and reset the rider order
with Hintz leading Newton and
Hunter again. Through pit one
at mile 55, the trio all dumped
gas nearly in sync with Shirey up
ahead and a comfortable gap to
the rest of the pack.
Leaving the first pit through
the town of Goldfield, the three
Open Pro contenders duked
it out in the tight single-track
trees, mountain roads and sand
washes. Again, Newton and
Hunter capitalized on continued
mechanical issues from Hintz to
embark on a one-on-one duel for
the championship (with Hunter
being allowed to score team
points at this race). Over the
next 15 miles, the N2 (Newton)
and N24 (Hunter) bikes battled
it out, each making their share
of mistakes and missing course
as they pushed the pace in the
dust-free mountains. With both
riders getting momentarily lost at
the same point, they both found
the course at the same time and
raced wheel-to-wheel for a few
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 8, 2022 P43
The Trevor Hunter/
Hayden Hintz duo
wrapped up the
BITD American Off-
Road Racing Series
Championship for the
third year in a row.
