VOL. 52 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 24, 2015 P37
Graffunder barely missed the
podium with his 3-4 tally, while
Tucker Larrieu rounded out the
top-five with a pair of fifths.
Brownie helped himself to an-
ther victory in the Vet division,
carding another 1-1 overall, once
again, ahead of Abbott who fin-
ished second in both motos.
Rory Sullivan rounded out the
Vet podium, which proved to be
nearly as competitive as the Pro
feature.
Young Cooper Abbott made
dad proud by taking the overall
win in the Amateur class with a
1-2 score.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's
Colton Haaker came into the
weekend as one of the heavy
favorites for the podium, but a
crash while practicing during the
week left him too banged up to
compete. Haaker started the first
moto, but pulled off comment-
ing that he "tried to stomach [the
pain], but it was too much."
BEYOND PRO
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
The weekend culminated with
the "Beyond Pro Championship
Race"—a very unique race that
combines elements of Freestyle
and EnduroCross.
Destry Abbott explained a little
about the Beyond Pro format, that
pits the off-road racers against
freestyle riders: "We [the off-
road racers] have a ramp we ride
over—it's like 50-55 feet. Then
we have our own EnduroCross
section we go through while they
do a 75-foot ramp and have to do
a trick. Then we race each other.
Their section is definitely a little
bit easier, but it's still fun."
Combining his freestyle skills
and his speed on the track, Bar-
tram powered his way to the big
win. He and Mike Brown had a
great battle going for most of the
race, as Bartram hounded him
for the lead lap after lap. Brown
was headed for the trifecta on the
weekend, but couldn't quite pull
it off.
"That was absolutely the most
intense race, much more than the
last two years," Bartram said. "I
was racing for everything I had to
catch Brownie. During the race I
almost under-rotated a backflip
and died! It took me a second to
re-group and breathe after that,
but somehow I rode it out."
Bartram kept going strong,
though, and finally got the oppor-
tunity he needed late in the race
when Brown ran into trouble.
"I had it until a lap or two to
go, but lappers crashed in front
of me," Brown said. "That's part
of it."
It was just the break Bartram
needed to capture his third-con-
secutive win in as many races,
making him the undefeated Be-
yond Pro of the Mesquite Off-
road Weekend.
"That was unfortunate be-
cause I don't like to win like that,
but a win is a win," Bartram said.
"It was intense—that's for sure!"
Jean Turner
"Cowboy" Kenny Bartram shows off
his new hardware after taking the
big win in the Beyond Pro event,
which mixes Freestyle and Enduro-
Cross elements.
Destry Abbott
enjoyed a full
weekend of
racing, and
scored runner-
up finishes in
the Pro and Vet
classes.
