IN
THE
WIND
P36
ZACH BELL TOPS PRAIRIE DOGS BIG 6 GP
I
f anyone had doubts about
Zach Bell's win at round two
of the AMA District 37/Maxxis
Big 6 Grand Prix Series being a
matter of luck, he erased those
doubts at round three by leading
every lap at Glen Helen Race-
way, March 4-5, and stretching
his points lead in the AMA Big 6
West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP)
Series (a series within a series).
The Ox Motorsports Honda rider
won the 90-minute feature race
by 28 seconds over Johnny
Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda's
Trevor Stewart, while defending
series champion Eric Yorba en-
joyed his first trouble-free race
of the year to claim third.
Bell didn't lead the entire way,
though, as Stewart got to the first
turn with a slight edge aboard
his Lucas Oil/Maxxis/Fly Rac-
ing CRF450RX ahead of Bell,
Yamaha-mounted Deagan Von
Lossberg, Fasthouse Honda's
Blayne Thompson, John Burr
Cycles Yamaha's Jeff Loop, JCR
Honda's Benny Breck, Yorba and
the rest of the field to collect the
$100 holeshot award.
By the end of the first lap,
though, Bell had his Monster
Energy/Lava Propane/MSR-
backed CRF450X in front,
controlling the race from there to
the finish.
"I made some good passes
about halfway through the first
lap," Bell said. "I knew I had to
make them before we got to the
ridge because it was dusty up
there, so I put a hard charge in,
got past Stewart and just kind
of sprinted out. That put me in
a good position so I could kind
of relax and just check myself
out and see what I could do to
make me go faster or slower
at different points. I got off to a
good lead, rode my own race
and had a smile on my face the
entire time."
Stewart said, "I was trying to
keep on his tail, but he was just
riding such a solid race. Once
we hit those ridges, it was abso-
lutely no vision so it was tough,
for sure. Then he ended up get-
ting stuck behind some lappers
Trevor Stewart (75) led
the pack into Talladega
but would have to
settle for second at
the end of the WCGP
behind Zach Bell (100).
