VOL. 52 ISSUE 15 APRIL 14, 2015 P35
passing JCR Honda's
Chris Bach for third
before making a run
on Strang late in the
race. Baylor trailed
Strang by 20 seconds
on the last lap but
cut that margin down to just four
seconds by the time the check-
ered flag came out.
Bach went on to take fourth,
while KTM rider Steward Baylor
rounded out the top five over-
all. Rockstar Energy Racing
Husqvarna's Ryan Sipes and
Andrew DeLong placed sixth
and seventh, respectively, while
Takeshi Koikeda (Honda), Chris
Douglas (KTM), and Adam Bon-
neur (KTM) completed the top
10 in the XC1 Pro class.
N-Fab AmPro Yamaha's Jor-
dan Ashburn and Rocky Moun-
tain ATV/MC KR4/FAR's Thad
DuVall, two of the series top
riders, both experienced rear-
brake problems that prevented
them from earning any points on
the day.
After four rounds, Russell
continues to lead the way in the
championship with 120 points,
followed by Strang with 100,
Baylor (65), DuVall (60), Bach
(55) and Ashburn (44).
In the XC2 Pro Lites class,
Raines Riding University/Atlas
Yamaha/OffRoadViking.com's
Ricky Russell returned to racing
for the first time this season
following an injury and captured
the win over RideMPS.com/
AMSOIL/Honda's Layne Michael
and Moto-Tech KTM's Trevor
Bollinger. Craig Delong and
Scott Grills rounded out the top
five in class.
Two of the XC2's biggest com-
petitors—Nick Davis and Jason
Thomas—experienced issues
that kept them outside of con-
tention at the end of the race.
Thomas finished 13th in the
class, while Davis finished 19th.
Kentucky's Vance Francis
captured the $125 American
Kargo Top Amateur Award with
a big win over Anthony Stone in
the 250 A class, earning 22nd
overall for the day.
Thomas still stands on top of
the XC2 Pro Lites leaderboard
with 89 points, followed by
Michael with 81 and Delong with
70. Bollinger is fourth with 65
points, and Davis slipped to fifth
with 57.
Yamaha-mounted Jessica
Patterson won the Women's Pro
class over series leader Kacy
Martinez (KTM).
Ricky Russell
returned
from injury
and won the
XC2 Pro Lites
class.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KEN
HILL
