well. So, when he had to gas-
stop on the last lap, that gave
me my breathing room. If he
didn't have to stop, I don't know
what would have happened. It
probably would have been a lot
closer. But it was still good. It's
been almost two years since I
won a race, so it feels good."
Walker was philosophical
about his team's calculated risk.
"I was in fourth for a couple of
laps, then I made some moves
on Gus and Ashburn, and then
I made a hard push to catch
Craig," he said. "I caught him. He
pitted, and then I pitted the same
lap, but we got out a bit quicker.
So I was leading for about two
laps, and then I had to pit on that
last lap, and he got by me. That
last lap got close. And then we
got into the slicker stuff, and I
struggled to keep up with him.
So I'm stretching the cables as
much as I can, and we're burning
through a little bit more gas than
everyone else on the two-stroke.
So we took a gas stop just in
case. I mean, I'd rather have a pit
and get second than not finish at
all, so it was a good decision."
Witkowski flew under the
radar for most of the race, ulti-
mately finishing third overall.
"It was a long day. I got a bad
start," said Witkowski. "I was
buried and had a lot of work
to do early. I was like 13th or
something, so to come from that
far back, it's not usual for me to
climb all the way back up that
far. So that was good. I'm just
happy to be on the podium. It's
been a long time. It was a solid
day."
Strang and Baylor rounded out
the top five.
Shan Moore
WIND
IN THE
P58
250 Pro rider Jhak Walker was
second overall.
