same, though the 57X bike had
caught up to the 1X team's dust
heading into pit four near the
halfway point. The 57X squad
had another tire come apart and
a forced wheel change (which
would happen again at pit six
shortly after), losing valuable
time in the process and allowing
the Skaggs Racing/TAS Insur
-
ance Services 22X team to close
in as well.
Despite all the issues, the
57X team was able to close to
the rear wheel of the leading 1X
bike at the finish, ending the day
just over one minute behind on
adjusted time. Meanwhile, the
22X team held strong to finish
just over two minutes behind
57X physically and one minute
behind 1X on adjusted time
heading into day two.
The close racing seen on
day one was quite remarkable
but was equally matched on
day two of racing, with the 1X
team leading the way through
the Nevada countryside early.
Through the first 70 miles, the
top three teams maintained their
gaps with no riders able to make
much time on each other. A fork
in the road saw the lead 1X bike
make a wrong turn with the 57X
and 22X bikes following shortly
after. After nearly six miles, the
trio realized they were off course
when they arrived on a construc
-
tion site. The three raced back
to the course; however, several
riders made their way past the
top Open Pro teams.
As the teams raced into pit
nine, nearly one 100 miles into
the 300-mile day, Ironman Pro
Tanner Jacobson (69M) pi
-
loted his Sanitary Septic-backed
Husqvarna in the lead with 1X
just seconds behind. A quick
pit by the Cooper Motorsports
team saw them edge out the
69M machine, putting Jacobson
between themselves and the
57X bike, which was in a heated
battle with 22X. After making
their way past the Ironman racer,
the 57X bike began experiencing
a mechanical issue halfway to
pit 10 but was able to limp it into
the next pit before ultimately
retiring from the race.
In the meantime, the 22X
Honda was on a mission with
their sights set on the 1X loom
-
ing ahead. Closing ground in
the final 100 miles, the Skaggs/
Megla duo capitalized on a
late-race crash by the Cooper
Motorsports rider to sail it into
the finish in the 1X's dust, know-
ing they had the win on adjusted
time. At the checkers, 22X took
the overall victory by a mere
eight seconds after 10 hours of
racing. The rest of the top five
was rounded out by Jacobson,
first Ironman Pro, and the top
two expert teams of Vincent
Ruiz/Piper Wells (399 Expert)
and Brett Aguilera/Mike Aguilera
(Open Expert).
Trevor Hunter
Overall
1. Cory Skaggs/Jarett Megla (Hon)
2. Danny Cooper/Sage Vincent/
Connor Eddy (Hon)
3. Tanner Jacobson (Kaw)
4. Vincent Ruiz/Piper Wells (Hon)
5. Brett Aguilera/Mike Aguilera (KTM)
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P37
Tanner Jacobson was
third overall and the Ironman
Pro-class winner.
