come up with a new setting that
he felt more comfortable with,
Walton reported, "I stayed solid
through the whole race. Finally
to get on the podium taking
second place, I'm super-happy
about that. I felt awesome out
there. The track was gnarly! I
was able to work my way into
second place and stay solid
there."
Surratt and his Pro Circuit/
Pirelli/Fly Racing CRF450RX
was denied the podium when
Chaparral Motorsports/Preci
-
sion Concepts Kawasaki's Tyler
Lynn snuck past on the final lap.
Coming off his win at the AMA
Hare & Hound National the week
before and about an hour north
of Bunker Hill, his third place in
1:32:24 was the latest in a string
of strong recent performances
on his Team Green/Maxima/Le
-
att KX450X.
"I knew this weekend was
a good weekend," he said. "It
was a hometown race; we had
a good supportive crowd and I
was just stoked to go racing and
ended up on the podium! I think
I was seventh to the 30-minute
mark, then my arms started free
-
ing up a little bit, and I just put
on a charge and just kept plug-
ging away until the very last lap
where I passed for a podium."
Surratt settled for fourth
ahead of Purvines Racing Yama
-
ha-mounted Justin Hoeft and
Pro II winner Kade Tinkler-Walk-
er. That makes it three victories
for the Slam Life Racing (SLR)
Honda rider and, unofficially,
moves him to a minuscule five
points behind Purvines Racing's
Jack Simpson, 161-156. (Simp
-
son had an off day, finishing sev-
enth in class and 16th overall.)
Walker noted, "I got a medio-
cre start—I was seventh [250]—
but I like the sand and I figured
if I could drop the hammer right
away and try to pass everybody,
and capitalize maybe on some
people who weren't quite as ag
-
gressive on the first couple laps,
that I could get into the lead. I
got into the lead right before the
pits. After that, I kind of rode
my own race. I really didn't push
very hard the whole moto, just
because this [course] reminds
me a lot of [riding in] Belgium
and the sand [there]. If you ride
the sand and let it come to you,
it's much easier to ride."
Purvines Racing rider Trevor
Stewart, 3 Bros./Hatch Rac
-
ing GasGas-mounted Giacomo
Redondi, SLR Honda's Tallon
LaFountaine and Cameron
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P41
Kade Tinkler-Walker
notched his fourth Pro
II win of the season.
He's now just five points
behind class points
leader Jack Simpson who
had an off day, finishing
seventh Pro II.
