pace, saying, "Kind of the whole
time I was waiting for somebody
to catch me because I'm like, 'I'm
not going that fast.' Here, you
couldn't push that much. It was
just kind of ride at 85 percent. I
tried pushing in a couple spots
and ended up in some trees.
"I'm also just starting to have
more confidence that I'm fit
enough and fast enough that
at the end of a race, I can make
up whatever time I need. That
also plays into not panicking too
much at the beginning if I'm not
out front."
Now riding with a little extra
hardware in the wrist he broke,
Campbell's first National back
after missing round four couldn't
have gone much better. "The
start really helped me out today
and put me in a good position
for the rest of the day," Campbell
said. "I was able to make a pass
on [Walton] when he missed
the course, and I led for—I don't
know—half a mile out on loop
two, then Zane got me almost
instantly, and he was gone. After
that, I just rode by myself in sec
-
ond all day."
As he focuses on competing
in the series full-time next year,
Redondi nearly missed the race,
which he thought was on Sun
-
day. When he double-checked
and discovered it was a one-day
race only on Saturday, he and
his mechanic jumped in his van,
double-timed it to Caliente on
Friday night and got a few hours
of sleep before starting the race
on his Acerbis/Arma/Seven-
backed EX 450F.
Fifth after the bomb, he
slipped to sixth on the 36-mile
second loop but came into his
own on the final loop, which was
33 miles long, passing Walton,
local favorite Axel Pearson (who
would DNF) and, finally, reigning
series champ Dalton Shirey.
"It was a nice experience and
the best training that I could do
today," Redondi said.
While not back to full race
fitness after his injury at round
three, Shirey hung on for fourth
aboard his FMF/ VP Racing
Fuels/ Sidi-backed FX 450, five
seconds ahead of Walton with
Liqui Moly Beta's Wasson just
seven seconds further behind.
Seventh overall and first Pro
250 went to Dallas Chidester
VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P39
After Sam Pretscherer
addressed a bent
sprocket, the 2019
class champ took over
for the Pro 250 win.
