his trusty Simi Valley Cycles/
Blu Cru/O'Neal Racing YZ250.
Buried off the start, he had his
ups and downs en route to his
second Pro II podium.
FMF/RPM Racing/KTM's
Noah Gordon rounded out the
Pro II class podium, despite
still being not fully healed from
his round-one crash. Hoping
to simply get through this one,
he surprised himself by lead
-
ing the first lap and putting in
steady laps,
holding off all but
Pretscherer and Simpson after a
tough 90 minutes.
Gordon's teammate, Cole
Zeller, Zip-Ty Racing Husqvar
-
na's Dustyn Davis and IWC Mo-
Coming a week after a sting-
ing defeat here when he lost
the lead due to
a small crash,
Pretscherer was out to make
amends.
"I was just fired up all week!
All I could think of was this
weekend and what I could do
to be better," Pretscherer said.
"I feel like I override in some
instances, and it makes it a lot
harder on me to put a gap on
when I'm burying it in the cor
-
ners. Today, I just wanted to try
and
ride the smoothest race and
save as much energy as I could."
Simpson had to work even
harder for his Pro II runner-up
result and sixth overall aboard
ROUND 2 / JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1, 2026
SHORTY'S SPORTS PARK / BLYTHE, CALIFORNIA
OFF-ROAD I AMA NATIONAL GRAND PRIX CHAMPIONSHIP
P88
torsports KTM-mounted Harlem
Nelson rounded out the top 10
overall.
A little farther back, SLR
Honda star Mikayla Nielsen's
battle was mostly with the fairly
debilitating effects of a bug
that's been going around.
"I ended up getting sick on
Sunday, so I didn't really ride at
all this week," Nielsen said. "I
rode yesterday and felt all right,
but in the [Saturday] afternoon
race, I was like, I need to call it—I
don't feel good.
"But I had faith in my fitness
because I have a really good off-
the-bike trainer, so I knew to rely
on my fitness. The Pro section
was a little tough this year so I
tried to take my time [there] be
-
cause that could make or break
your race,
so I kind of tip-toed
around it."
Despite being more cau
-
tious overall, the Progressive/
Southern Powersports/Maxima
CRF250RX rider led every lap
of the Pro Women class and
owned a 1:24 gap over Norman
Racing Husqvarna's Ava Silves
-
tri at the finish. Kylie Alvarez
earned third on
her Roseville
Motorsports YZ250F.
CN
OVERALL (Top 10)
1. Dante Oliveira (KTM) 1:33:57
2. Justin Hoeft (Kaw) 1:34:24
3. Mateo Oliveira (Hus) 1:35:43
4. Mason Semmens (KTM) 1:36:30
5. Samuel Pretscherer (Hon) 1:37:00
6. Cody Simpson (Yam) 1:37:32
7. Noah Gordon (KTM) 1:38:28
8. Cole Zeller (KTM) 1:38:49
9. Dustyn Davis (Hus) 1:39:02
10. Harlem Nelson (KTM) 1:40:56
Though he trailed in
second for the first
half of the NGPC
Super Mini race, Bucky
Karvasek led the final
half to repeat his
round-one triumph.
