VOL. 53 ISSUE 20 MAY 24, 2016 P33
"I put my head down and caught
the dust and wasn't too far be-
hind them, I think. I caught Tuffy
and passed him, [but] Axel's dust
was just gone.
He added, "I could've pushed
harder and went for the win, but
it wasn't worth it in the long run."
Indeed, he added to his points
lead with his second place and
now has 106, with Graffunder
holding second with 92.
Though he prefers more tech-
nical going, Graffunder proved
he's able to adapt pretty well to
fast high-desert going on his
TBT Racing/Motul/O'Neal Rac-
ing 300 XC after a long battle
with Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing
KTM's Travis Coy.
"When the wind was in my
favor, I would catch up a little
bit, then we'd turn and I'd get
completely dusted out and I'd
be in first gear on a fifth-gear
road," Graffunder explained. "I
was so frustrated because I feel
like I'm faster and I just can't do
anything."
Graffunder eventually passed
Coy for good and found himself
looking back to see Rick's Cus-
tom Shutters & Blinds Yamaha-
mounted Ryan Smith, who com-
pleted the four laps just seven
seconds behind Graffunder for
fourth place.
KTM of Aspen's Iau Blythe
took fifth followed by Rocky
Mountain ATV-MC/Precision
Concepts Yamaha rider Justin
Morgan and Coy.
Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing
KTM's Dante Oliveira made a
clutch last-lap pass to secure
11th overall and the FMF Pro 250
victory for the third consecutive
round, SRT Husqvarna rider
J.T. Baker settling for second in
class and 12th overall after lead-
ing the division for the first three
laps.
The series now takes a break
for the summer with the final
three rounds all favoring desert
racers, which Burson appreci-
ates, though Graffunder will
certainly give it 100 percent.
Mark Kariya
1. Axel Pearson (Bet)
2. Nick Burson (Bet)
3. Cory Graffunder (KTM)
4. Ryan Smith (Yam)
5. Ian Blythe (KTM)
6. Justin Morgan (Yam)
7. Travis Coy (KTM)
8. Justin Bonita (Yam)
9. Tuffy Pearson (TM)
10. Steven Godman (KTM)
Sophia Oliveira won
Women A for the
fourth round in a row,
extending her class
points lead.
Dante Oliveira
spent most of
the three hours
chasing J.T. Baker,
but a do-or-die
push on the last
lap netted the KTM
racer his third-
straight FMF Pro
250 victory.
