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It was almost like Wiliam Yokley was the predator and Jenks was the prey and he could sense the Jenks was injured(No Front Brakes) as he maintained a steady pace behind Jenks and closed the gap in half to almost 30 seconds with one lap to go, so the question was whether Jenks would be able to hold off the quickly approaching Yokley to the finish line.
To my astonishment, Brandon Ballance came through in 5th place over two minutes behind Yokley, but what happened to everyone else? Brandon Ballance just put his head down on the 4th lap and recorded the fastest lap time in the Pro Class that lap which was enough to pass his way up to 5th :macho
Matt Smiley came through 6th and once again in front of Houston, but Houston would manage to pass Smiley before the end of the lap and they would come through the scoring tent back to back heading into the final lap.
Santo Derisi was back to 8th place as he approached me, but he found himself stuck in one of the deep ruts, so with my two cameras around my neck, I ran out onto the track and grabbed ahold of his front bumper and pulled him out of the mud before anyone was able to pass him
No sooner did I get out the way, Andy Lagzdins with a train of riders behind him came through in 9th place with Bryan Baker in 10th and Greg Trew back to 17th
Early in the 5th lap, Bill Ballance continued to lead the race.
Chris Borich had slipped 6 seconds behind Ballance heading into the 5th lap, so his team directed him to go through the slit pond short cut at a daring attempt to make the pass on Bill as went around the almost impassable mud pit
Team Alba crew assembled atleast five guys in the pit to prepare for Chris to make his attempt through the slop, and if would get stuck they were ready to grab his Honda and lift it out of the mud, but with a carefully picked line and Chris Borich in control, he easily made it through the mud pit and was almost able to make the pass on Bill Ballance as they headed back into the woods bumper to bumper.
Later in the lap, Chris Borich would go on to pass Bill Ballance they would swap the lead position back in forth several times they worked their way through lapped traffic. With only two miles to go, the report came in the Chris Borich was out front and pulling away from Bill Ballance
Chris Jenks continued to lose time on the leaders and William Yokley continued to close in on Chris Jenks which would kept the fans in suspense waiting to see how would crest the finish line hill out front.
Reports came in the bridge crossing at the 6 Mile Marker was destroyed and riders were scattering everywhere attempting to cross the creek with its 4 to 8 foot high banks there were practically vertical in sections. Many riders found themselves buried in the mud trying to make their way through the creek, which made things extremely interesting as the Pro riders came through.
Michael Houston and Santo Derisi arrived at the creek in 7th and 8th place and they both attempted to drop down in the creek on each side of the bridge to go across and both of them were sucked up by the creek.
Santo Derisi got off of his machine and went over to assist Michael Houston get his quad out of the mud because Houston was exhausted, so while they worked together to free up Houston’s Honda.
Bryan Baker decided to try to skate his quad across the two remaining poles that the bridge was built on and made it across without slipping one of his tires off the narrow logs as he rode to the otherside. If he would have made one false move, him and his quad would have dropped atleast 4 feet into the creek, so don’t attempt this at home.
Andy Lagzdins approached the creek next and decided he wasn’t going to risk dropping down in the creek or crossing the remaining poles, so he decided to find a spot and try to jump the creek bed. Amazingly, Andy grabbed a handful of throttle and closed his eyes as he launched his Duncan 470R to the other side.
Santo Derisi was able to help Houston get his Honda free and told the exhausted Houston to go on ahead and he would get his Honda out with the help of a friend and some spectators.
With some help, Santo Derisi was finally able to get his quad free from the muddy creek, but he dropped all the way back to 15th after it took him almost 15 minutes to get free from the creek.
Once he was out of the mud, it was time to carve his way through the dust.