VOL. 52 ISSUE 14 APRL 12, 2016 P37
Graffunder estimated he moved
up to third in points behind
Purvines Racing Beta's Nick
Burson and Bonita. Burson
finished sixth after running as
high as third before he "ruined"
his goggles. "I should've taken
them off, but I never want to do
that," he said. "I finally took them
off near the end and I could see!
It was night-and-day difference.
I was struggling the whole first
loop I think because I couldn't
see."
Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing
KTM's Travis Coy had occupied
second in points going into
Shasta, but a clutch issue on
the starting line required many
frustrating minutes to repair. He
managed to go from 89th on the
first lap to 24th overall at the fin-
ish, putting him 14th in the Pro/
AA class and dropping to fourth
in points, unofficially.
Though he missed round
three due to competing in the
SuperEnduro World Champion-
ship in Europe, Motosport Hills-
boro/Alexander Exhibits/Moose
Racing RM-Z450 rider Kevin
Rookstool made a speedy return
to the series with a solid third.
"I got off to a little slow start,
but I had issues with my goggles
the whole time—I didn't bring
any roll-off's, unfortunately, so
I rode most of the race with no
goggles!"(Rookstool wasn't the
only one riding sans goggles in
the heavy mist that fell through-
out most of the race, creating
very sloppy conditions.)
"I think my last lap was probably
my fastest. At least I felt the best
on my last lap," Rookstool added.
AMA District 36 regular Jason
Hurst moved up throughout
the race to finish fourth on his
Roseville Yamaha/F&S Racing/
MSR YZ250X after falling in the
slick first turn and coming out of
it last. Fellow D-36 racer Chaz
Halbert also enjoyed his day in
the mud, finishing fifth after some
vision problems—probably the
most common complaint of the
day—plus a trip over the bars of
his NorCal Motorsports/Phoenix
Builders Inc. KTM 350 SX-F.
Burson, Joey Fiasconaro and
Justin Sanders filled spots six
through eight followed by the
first two FMF Pro 250 finishers:
winner Dante Oliveira and run-
ner-up J.T. Baker, who rounded
out the top 10 overall.
Mark Kariya
After chasing round-three
winner Mason Matthies
in the early going, Mateo
Oliveira (pictured)
swooped past for a
convincing win in the
Super Mini race.
Dante Oliveira (middle) scored his
second FMF Pro 250 win in a row
and third of the year ahead of J.T.
Baker (right) and Max Parker (left).
