"When it's such good condi-
tions—and you pray for good
conditions—because you're able
to battle, but it is so hard to pull
away from anyone chasing you
because they can capitalize the
whole time," Oliveira said. "I put
in some charges here and there,
then I realized there's pretty
much nothing you can do to
absolutely break him unless we
got into something technical or
the guy went down."
Laughing, Oliveira added, "It
was good racing Zane, but it kind
of eats me up a bit. I want to
celebrate the championship, but
then losing the battle hurts my
ego a little bit."
While the two front-runners
insisted they only "trailrode" the
few remaining miles to the finish,
it was hard to see a drop in pace,
though Roberts took the win
with a four-second cushion over
Oliveira.
Similarly, the battle for top Pro
250 saw the early leader lose the
course while his pursuer found
and followed all markings de-
spite some arrows missing due
to the winds.
Layton Smail and his Team
Green/Canyon Excavation/FXR-
backed KX250 got a great start,
putting himself in the front pack
with the top 450s.
But before long, round-six Pro
250 winner (and third overall)
Ryder Thomaselli and his MX
Trophies/395 Motorsports/Leatt
FC 250 stole that spot, holding
it until he took a wrong turn on
the second loop, losing a couple
miles and the class lead to Smail.
"The conditions were good
today—you had wet dirt and that
really made a difference for me,"
Smail said. "I think just riding
smooth and not risking it too
much is the name of the game
for me at these."
With Thomaselli having too
much ground to make up in
too little time, Smail went on to
record his first series triumph in
his class, finishing less than four
minutes behind Oliveira to take
third overall.
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 3, 2026 P49
For the second-straight Sunday,
Dante Oliveira celebrated backing
up a series championship, though
he had to settle for second on the
day, which irked him to no end.
When early Pro 250 leader
Ryder Thomaselli took a
wrong turn, Layton Smail
(pictured) went by unaware
he'd made the pass. He
held the lead to the finish
for his first Pro 250 win
and third overall.
