VOL. 52 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 17, 2015 P21
to the two-stroke Kenda/Preci-
sion Concepts/Klim-backed
300 RR.
"We were high-fiving at the
end of the race. It was fun bat-
tling," Burson said. "I just don't
know why you wouldn't pit where
everyone else pitted."
Defending race and se-
ries champ Cory Graffunder
improved quite a bit from his
unexpected DNF at round one
last month, the SRT KTM rider
a competitive third after dueling
with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
Factory Racing Off-road Team's
Jacob Argubright all afternoon.
"I think this is the easiest one
I've ever done here," Graffunder
said. When club members tried
to lay out the course two weeks
before, it was under six inches of
snow so they opted to avoid the
nasty areas that'd be severely
impacted by more bad weather.
"With the dust, that made it re-
ally difficult because in the tight
stuff you could actually close in
on someone, but if you weren't
on their tire when you hit the fast
stuff you had to almost stop,"
the Motul/TBT Racing/O'Neal
300 XC rider, Graffunder, said.
"I keep reminding myself that last
year I wrapped up the champion-
ship a round early so this year,
maybe it's just the first round I
don't [count] instead of the last
round."
Argubright settled for fourth—
the first big four-stroke—on
his Bel-Ray/FMF/Fly Racing
FE 450. "I was able to make it
work, for sure," he said. "I made
passes and I felt good. When
I'd see people, I was able to
get them. I was a little slow in
the tighter stuff, for sure, but
I've got the bike pretty dialed
where it doesn't bother me."
Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing
KTM's Travis Coy was another
who switched to a two-stroke
for this race and ended up
fifth.
In the FMF Pro 250s,
Yamaha-mounted Dillon
Shepard took the top step on
the podium with teenagers
Max Parker and Dante Oliveira
second and third, respectively.
Mark Kariya
Two weeks ago, most of the Salinas Ramblers property
was under six inches of snow. Obviously, the soil dries
quickly so getting a good start was vital.
Normally a desert
racer on a big
four-stroke, Nick
Burson switched
to the Beta 300
RR two-stroke
and proved he
can ride tighter
woods more than
competitively.
