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ENDUROCROSS 2017 AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 / OCTOBER 28, 2017 WESTWORLD / SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA P78 The series does allow for one "throw away" race but it seems unlikely that Haaker will return for the two remaining rounds. With Haaker out, 20-year-old Trystan Hart took over as Webb's primary combat- ant and put up a good fight to take his sec- ond consecutive runner-up finish. The SRT Off-Road-backed Canadian is progressing quickly and seemed eager to challenge Webb. Ty Tremaine recovered from a mid- pack start to take the final podium position on his RPM KTM. Webb took the win in the Super Endu- roCross gate pick qualifier to get the night show started off right. His only problem was that he smashed his fingers on a course marker and was concerned about how that might affect his grip as the night wore on. The SRT Racing-backed trio of Kyle Redmond, Cory Graffunder and Hart finished second, third and fourth, respec- tively. In addition to the main event gate picks, this race sets the match-ups for the bracket races. The top 12 riders face off in the single- lap bracket races and the crowd was treated to a great show in the second round when Hart beat Webb to the first turn, and the two battled all the way to the finish with Webb making contact to push Hart out and take the win. That put Webb in the final against Redmond, and Webb, again, took the win for his second bonus point of the evening. The short start straight made for a hectic first turn and Webb came away with the lead. He was closely followed by Hart and those two had a race of their own for the win. Hart kept Webb honest for most of the main but started to lose touch and ulti- mately finished nineteen seconds behind Webb. For Webb, it was his fourth straight win. At this point, it's Webb's championship to lose. Rockstar Husqvarna's Colton Haaker, the defending EnduroCross champion, recently had surgery on an infected bursa sac in his elbow. He had been struggling with that since the third round in Denver and further aggra- vated it with a crash at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm event the week before. He said that he will have another minor surgery and aims to be back to defend his FIM SuperEnduro World Championship that starts in December. It appears unlikely that he will com- pete at the remaining two races of the AMA Enduro- Cross Championship but the series allows riders to drop one race, meaning he could technically still have a shot at the title. Haaker started the season off with a win despite com- ing into the season with a badly broken toe. He then struggled to a third-place finish at round two after multiple crashes, and then finished second in Denver despite the elbow injury. Another third at round four in Everett allowed Webb to open a 10-point gap in the championship. FMF KTM's Taylor Robert lives very close to the Scott- sdale venue, and many local fans were hoping to see him back on the track again. Unfortunately, the team did not have another Enduro- Cross bike ready for him to race so he chose to instead come enjoy the action from the stands. Shelby Turner took her fourth win of the season in the Women's main event on her KTM. The defend- ing women's EnduroCross champion finished ahead of Beta's Morgan Tanke and KTM's Kacy Martinez. Destry Abbott, an Arizona native, took another Vet class win on his Purvines DA8 Yamaha. David Stirm rode his Husqvarna to another solid second place and Jason Gitchel finished a close third on his KTM. Josh Greco took his first ever Open Amateur class win on a KTM. Kevin Dupuis finished second on his Husqvarna and Zane Roberts rounded out the podium on a Kawasaki. In the Amateur B class, Shelby Turner took the win prior to taking the Women's-class win later in the evening. Alec Peron- nard (Kawasaki) and Noah Tidball (Yamaha) rounded out the podium. Brian Stull took the Tri- alsCross main event win. Cole Cherick and Shaun Stuck took second and third, respectively. Briefly...