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2008
Yamaha / ITP QuadCross
Championship
Series
Round #2 - Arizona Cycle Park
Buckeye, Arizona
April 13, 2008
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Yamaha / ITP Quadcross
Pro & Amateur ATV Race Report
| Yamaha
/ ITP Quadcross
"Arizona Cycle Park "
- Round 2
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Round two of the ITP Quadcross traveled to the desert
SW of Buckeye, AZ, just west of Phoenix, where the
only thing hotter than the scorching sun, was the
action on the track. Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson
was feeling the heat from Can-Am/Motoworks racer
Brandon Smith in the Pro class while Doug Eichner
claimed his 2nd win in the Open Pro class.
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#70 Brandon Smith grabs the Holeshot on
his Motoworks Can-Am DS450 ATV |
In the first heat of the Pro class, it was Can-Am/Motoworks’s,
Brandon Smith, who took the holeshot, followed
closely by Dustin Nelson. Can-Am/Motoworks’s
Josh Fredrick seemed to be having an off day and
came off the line in 7th. Brandon Smith was soon
feeling the pressure from Dustin Nelson. As the
pair checked out from the rest of the pack the
battle got under way.
The track conditions for Sunday’s events
were dry and dusty and the ample amounts of blue
groove made things a little slick in the corners.
Despite some sliding due to the blue groove, Smith
was doing a great job of holding off Nelson until
he had a slight bobble in one of the turns. “We
were really close and as soon as I made a slight
mistake, Dustin got around me,” said Smith.
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#94 Dustin Nelson Wins 2nd Straight Race
and extends points lead to 16 points over
Josh Frederick |
Once Nelson slipped past Smith, he gave it his
all to put a comfortable gap between them. “This
time it wasn’t like at Glen Helen,”
said Dustin in regards to his easy win last month
at the season opener. “I had to work really
hard to put a 5 second lead on Brandon in the
first heat.” Nelson took the win in the
first heat with Smith in second.
When the gate dropped for the 2nd moto, it was
Nelson who got the holeshot with Smith close behind
him and privateer Justin Noss nipping at their
heels. “It was one of those tracks where
if you really want the win, a good start is going
to make a big difference. There were lots of different
lines to pass on, so it was important or me to
get out front first and try to pull away,”
said Nelson.
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Yamaha's
Dustin Nelson grabs the Holeshot in 2nd
Moto with Justin Noss, Brandon Smith, and
John Shafe in chase
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For the first couple of laps, Nelson, Smith and
Noss were all running a close race, but after
that, Nelson and Smith began to pull away. Nelson
went on to take the win with Smith in second and
Noss taking the third spot on the podium. “I’m
very excited about it,” said Noss about
his first time on the podium. “It felt really
good to be able to make it up there.
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| #97
Justin Noss finished an impressive 3rd place,
which has him in a virtual tie with Josh
Frederick for the 2nd in Points |
#603
Josh Frederick overcame a poor start to
secure a 4th place finish ahead of Dustin
Terry on the Honda TRX 450R |
Josh Frederick managed to work himself up from
a bad start to finish in 4th place while Dustin
Terry rounded out the top 5. One of the more impressive
performances for the day came from privateer Chris
Riley. Riley had a nasty crash in the heat races
and ended up with a bad gate pick, which landed
him in the 2nd row for the main event. Riley put
his head down and began picking off the competition
one by one until he had worked himself up to a
6th place finish.
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