The course on the hill was wid-
ened a bit for the Pro Stock Main,
with these racers about to battle
side by side into a very tough
hill. In the Pro Stock Champion-
ship standings, Cipala entered
the Carnegie Classic with only a
five-point gap over Austin Teyler,
so everyone was anticipating
these athletes to go all-out. In his
second round of racing, Teyler
won but had a strange crash
and tweaked his knee. His next
race after that crash was against
Cipala in the quarterfinals and
would determine the class
Championship. Cipala got the
jump on his GasGas MC 450F
and pushed Teyler to the left,
taking the fast line and moving
on to the next round while secur
-
ing the 2023 Pro Stock Cham-
pionship. But the racing wasn't
over, as Cipala ended up in the
finals against Supercross racer
Brandon Ray. They left the start
decks and were bar to bar in the
first couple hundred feet, but
B-Ray pulled ahead on his Honda
CRF450R, going over the hill and
winning the Pro Stock Class.
In the Pro Open class, a whole
new course was opened on the
left side of the hill, which started
off-camber, avoided several large
boulders, and hooked right into
a very steep 100-foot section
to the top. In the first round of
racing, only 11 of the 21 ath
-
letes made it over, with Logan
Mead holding the fast time
with an 18.043-second run on
his KTM 1290. Ray, riding Josh
Hill's Yamaha MT-09, gave it his
all on the second pass with a
17.173-second run, setting the
fastest time for his first race ever
on an open-class bike. Teyler
then pulled up on his Suzuki
GSX-R750 on 50-percent nitro
-
methane and put in a very quick
16.721-second ride, securing
the class win and gaining points
on Cipala for the championship.
Cipala placed fifth on his Buell
1190HCR, which gave him a
two-point buffer to spare over
Teyler to win the 2023 Pro Open
Championship.
With the MSS determining the
event overall from the Pro Stock
and Open classes, it was Ray
who finished 1-2 and won the
Carnegie Classic event. Logan
Cipala ended the day winning
his fourth overall MSS Champi
-
onship and won the three class
championships for the season.
Matt Musgrove
WIND
IN THE
P48
Brandon Ray was the day's
Carnegie Classic overall winner.
PHOTO: STEVE GOODAL
