But that made them the target
for everyone else in the 38-team
motorcycle field, especially for
the defending San Felipe and
SCORE champs from Ox who
started sixth.
The Monster Energy/Lava
Propane/MSR CRF450X bear-
ing the 1X enjoyed a good but
not trouble-free race.
"I was trying to chase them—
Justin Morgan was on the bike—
and I was going for it!" Rider of
Record Samuels said. "I was at
11 minutes [down] and I made up
a minute at our next pit and I lost
the rear brake [after bending the
rotor].
"I sent Stokie to the next pit
where [team co-owner and last
year's Rider of Record] Colton
[Udall] was and let him swap it
out. He did the rear wheel and
got us back going. That's when
Penhall got on it.
"At mile 236, I ran down there
just to be backup and Penhall
was just under three minutes
[physically], right behind them
so it was tight! He was making
time."
As fast as Penhall was, part
of the reason for the narrowed
gap was an issue with the rear
axle on 45X. Esposito reported,
"When Roberto got on the bike
at 180, we had 15 minutes [over
1X physically]. I literally went two
miles and stopped for a couple
minutes. I thought the mousse
was coming apart so I checked
that and found out it was an axle
issue so I rode to where I could
find some rocks to prop it up
VOL. 54 ISSUE 13 APRIL 4, 2017 P39
(Below) Daymon Stokie
(shown) and teammates
Ryan Penhall and Mark
Samuels never got into
the physical lead, but got
to the finish 18 seconds
quicker than the eventual
runners-up. (Right) Ryan
Gustine/Kevin Johnson
broke into the top five
bikes overall in winning
Pro Moto 40 (riders 40
and older).
