onship. Jones was leading the
points going into this round, but a
mechanical issue made him miss
the final test on Saturday, which
cost him the championship.
"Taylor won them all and put a
spanking on us, but I got a few
seconds which was cool," said
Shondeck. "It was easy to make
a lot of mistakes, but you could
also make up a lot of time. I fell in
one of my tests, rode hard after
that and I had my best time of the
weekend."
Shondeck is an experienced
motocross racer, but he stayed
with the series to work on his
off-road skills. Hailing from
Colorado, he was hooked at the
opening round at Glen Helen
and made the decision to run the
entire series.
Shirey participated in his first
Sprint Hero race and he was
competitive enough to snag the
final spot on the podium, edging
out fourth-place finisher Destry
Abbott.
"I'm going to be 46, I'm still
doing chemo and dealing with
cancer, so I can't be too disap-
pointed," said Abbott. "I want to
see the series grow because it's
awesome. I would like to do some
WORCS and some hare and
hounds, but my body won't work
for two hours at that pace so this
format is perfect for me."
Mitch Anderson completed his
sweep in the Open A class and
took the class championship. The
CST KTM rider said the series
was perfect for up-and-coming
racers like himself.
"I had a really good year and
put it all together," said Anderson.
"I'm happy to see the speed is
there and I'm looking forward to
moving up to Pro soon."
Harlen Foley
OVERALL
1. Taylor Robert (KTM)
2. Cole Shondeck (Hon)
3. Dalton Shirey (Hus)
4. Destry Abbott (KTM)
5. Mitch Anderson (KTM)
VOL. 55 ISSUE 15 APRIL 17, 2018 P25
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
HARLEN
FOLEY
Cole Shondeck
came away with
the first-ever Sprint
Hero Enduro
Championship.
five or eight minutes at a time and
then you get to take a break. I re-
ally enjoy this style of racing."
He especially enjoyed off-road
sections and plans to contest
the entire series next year. "It
was super technical, rocky and
rough," said Robert. "That's how
they do it overseas in ISDE. They
make it as gnarly as they can.
The real technical stuff separates
everyone."
Shondeck finished second
and edged out Justin Jones by
two points to take the champi-
