before it was over. That third-
place rider was KTM rider Ty
Tremaine.
Earlier in the evening, Webb,
Haaker and Tremaine all won
their respective heat races, each
getting a championship bonus
point. This was Tremaine's
second heat race win in a row
and second of his career. Also
transferring straight to the main
out of their heat races were
Beta's Kyle Redmond and Max
Gerston, KTM's Taddy Blazusiak
and Canadian brothers Wyatt
and Trystan Hart. In the first
LCQ—which featured Husqvar-
na's Mike Brown—DA8 Training's
Cooper Abbott and Beta's Ty
Cullins went 1-2 to keep Brown
out of the main event for the first
time this year. The second LCQ
win went to Nick Thompson fol-
lowed by Noah Kepple.
Failing to qualify bit Brown
big-time, as his absence in the
main seriously tightened the final
points position for the podium.
Haaker was arguably the fast-
est racer in the building all night
with the quickest daytime Hot
Lap for gate pick during the day,
the quickest evening Hot Lap
for a championship point during
the night show, and he domi-
nated his heat race for a win.
By the time the main event gate
dropped, he was consistently
better. But Webb had a trick up
his sleeve.
Webb was trying really hard to
be that guy all night. He was rid-
ing possessed in both Hot Lap
sessions to set the tone, deliver
a psychological blow, and in the
evening, earn any extra points
he could. But his time didn't
come until the main event.
"I really sent it in the Hot Lap
tonight because I need to get
as many points as I can," Webb
said. "Then Colton did a near-
perfect lap and beat me just
barely—that kind of hurt a little
bit. So, I knew I had to give it
my all in the main and I came in
really focused to not lose any
more points. Colton made a little
mistake and I was able to get by
early and he hung there on my
tire most of the race. The good
thing is I knew I didn't make any
mistakes all night, really. And in
the main that mattered because
I think I only made two little mis-
takes and Colton made more. It
allowed me to open up the gap
and cruise to victory."
"I got the holeshot—had a
great start—then on the second
lap I had made a mistake and
lost the front end and went off
the track," Haaker said. "Cody
got by and I paced him for five or
six laps until we started getting
into some lappers. I got stuck
behind one early that put me in
a bad spot in the firewood. From
there, I felt like I was riding well
but started to lose contact and
struggled on the track. It's so
soft here and not like anything
we normally ride in Southern
California. Overall, I had more
mistakes at the end of the race
and just couldn't get through the
lappers as easily as Cody did. I
couldn't battle back as easily. In
the end, I lost a few points but
didn't give up too much so it's
still a good night here in sec-
ond."
"It was gnarly—the track was
demanding and it was definitely
a rough one to say the least,"
Tremaine said. "I had Redmond
behind me for a long time and I
think fitness set in because I've
been working so hard. I kept
looking ahead and finally saw
VOL. 53 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 25, 2016 P45
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ADAM
BOOTH
