sure of the lead gap I had so I was push-
ing and [still] just playing it smart."
From there, Brabec stayed out front,
leading comfortably the rest of the way—
well, at least until he crashed within sight
of the finish.
He explained, "Midway through the
third loop I tagged a rock with the brake
pedal and it got bent under the clutch
cover, forcing it to drag the rest of the
way. It eventually got so hot, it just
stopped working completely so about
one mile before the finish, I hit a [deeply
rutted] quad [turn track] and it just put
me over the front so fast! Due to no rear
brake, I had no chance to slow down so
it was a rough finish, but I'm excited to
come across the line with a good lead.
"Now I'm just sore and recovering for
the next round."
A quick trip to the hospital showed
Brabec had "only" a pinched nerve, ac-
cording to team owner Campbell, and
the next round is a short six days away
(Saturday, May 5, near Jericho, Utah).
After staying right on Brabec off the
start, Argubright lost touch and settled
into a solitary second for the rest of the
race on his Bel-Ray/FMF/6D Helmets-
backed FX 450.
"We got to Means [Dry Lake] and he
kind of pulled me because it was super-
dusty," Argubright reported. "After that on
the second loop, I went really good, then
towards North Anderson [Dry Lake] I just
came over a rise and clipped something
and I rolled down the hill. It knocked the
wind out of me and ripped my [radiator]
shroud off. It took me a while to get go-
ing [again]; I had to collect my marbles.
Then Taylor passed me—Taylor stopped
to make sure I was all right [first]—and I
followed him for a little bit."
But Argubright was able to repass
Robert, who was doing remarkably well
in his first race since his crash at King
of the Motos 12 weeks ago, and subse-
quent surgeries.
VOL. 54 ISSUE 17 MAY 2, 2017 P33
(Above) Though
he crashed hard
about a mile
from the finish,
Ricky Brabec
managed to pick
himself up and
cross the finish
first for the third
time this season,
thus padding his
points lead.
(Right) Chance
Fullerton
returned to
the desert and
proved he can
still read terrain
with the best of
them, taking the
FMF Pro 250
victory.
