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2008
Yamaha / ITP QuadCross
Championship
Series
Round #6 - Glen Helen
San Bernardino, CA
August 10, 2008
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Yamaha / ITP Quadcross
Pro & UTV Race Report - Continued
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TJ Dietrich takes the Open Pro Win on a
Yamaha Raptor 700 he borrowed from 2X Champion,
Darrell Patton |
In the Open Pro class, there was plenty of excitement
as well as TJ Dietrich, Doug Eichner and Darrell
Patton were all battling for the podium, but it
was Dietrich, who came out on top to take the overall
win despite being on an unfamiliar machine. “TJ’s
bike blew up, so I let him borrow my Raptor 700
for this race,” said Darrell Patton, who was
riding strong as well.
Patton came off the line in mid pack for the
first moto, but made several passes in the second
corner to take over third, where he and Dietrich
battled for 2nd place. The two racers swapped
positions several times before crossing the finish
line, where Patton had to settle for third. In
moto two, things got a little interesting as Doug
Eichner took the holeshot ahead of Patton and
Dietrich, but Patton made his move and came out
of the second turn ahead of the #2 Polaris. “I
was leading, but Eichner was right behind me and
he ended up running into me pretty hard, which
put me back a couple of places,” said Darrell,
who crossed the finish line in 4th place and went
on to take 3rd overall.
Doug Eichner was not having the best of days
out on the track either. During the parade lap,
Eichner’s throttle got stuck in the open
position at the worst possible time. “I
was just getting ready to go over a jump and my
throttle stuck, so I bailed,” said Eichner,
who sent his quad ghost riding over the jump.
The impact only broke a spindle on Doug’s
quad, but Eichner was the one who got the worst
of the ordeal. “I broke my toe, and hurt
my hand and shoulder,” he said. Despite
being battered and bruised, Eichner went on to
take the 1st moto win, but was not as lucky in
the second moto. “After I ran into Patton,
I got stuck and it took a while to get going again,”
Doug stated. Eichner ended up finishing the second
moto in 3rd place, which earned him 2nd overall.
The points chase heats up in the Open Pro Class
with Doug Eichner and TJ Dietrich tied for first
with 157 points each while Robert Villalobos holds
onto third with 138, just 11 points ahead of 2007
Open Pro champ, Darrell Patton.
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#52 Dana Creech dominates the Rhino Class
in his new Polaris RZR S Model UTV, which
comes off the show-room floor nearly race
ready |
In the Rhino class, Dana Creech made a racing
comeback and showed he still has what it takes
to be at the top of his class. “I had a
great time out there today,” said Creech,
who was piloting the new 60” wide Polaris
RZRs. “The new RZR has lots of power and
handles really well. I really had a great time
racing it.”
“I’ll be doing the rest of the ITP
Quadcross series. I’ll be doing both the
Rhino class and I’ll be racing in the Pro
class on the new ’09 Polaris Outlaw 450
MXR,” said Dana, who will also be pairing
up with Doug Eichner and Travis Spader in just
a few weeks to compete in the annual Pont de Vaux
race in France. “I’m really looking
forward to racing with Doug and Travis. They are
both great guys and are great riders, and I know
that Doug wants to get one more win at Pont de
Vaux, so it should be an exciting race,”
Dana concluded.
With the end of the season fast approaching,
the competition is becoming more intense and with
the addition of a new competitor in the pro ranks
in the last three races, the points battle should
be an interesting one. The competition will really
be heating up at the next round, literally, as
racers will head back to the scorching Arizona
desert, where Speedworld MX Park will play host
to round seven of the ITP Quadcross series.
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