2008 Yamaha / ITP QuadCross Championship Series Round #7 - SpeedWorld Surprise, Arizona September 20, 2008

Yamaha / ITP Quadcross "SpeedWorld" - Round 7 Photo Galleries ATV Race Results

Motoworks / Can-Am's Brandon Smith Wins 3rd Staight Race & moves into 2nd Place in points behind Yamaha's Dustin Nelson

For the 2nd and final time this year, the Yamaha ITP Quadcross series racing was held under the lights in a night race at Speedworld. The Saturday night race has become a tradition in the series and offers a unique experience for racers as lighting and shadows become a factor when out on the track and those with good night time vision have a definite advantage. “I see really well at night so it isn’t an issue for me,” said Polaris/Yoshimura/Eichner Racing’s Doug Eichner. “My night lap times are about the same as if I were racing during the day.”

With over 20 entries in the Pro Class, the Heat race was split into two races, and it was Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson took the holeshot in Heat One and checked out, taking the win, followed by Chris Riley in second, Landon Hurst in third and Can-Am/Motowork’s Josh Frederick in 4th.

#19 Reed Petchnick & #97 Justin Noss battling for position in the 2nd Heat

For Dana Creech, it was his first Quadcross race of the season the Polaris Outlaw 450MXR, and he plans to be back for the rest of the season. “I’m kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to finish, but it felt really good to get back out there and race again. I’ve been training a lot, I have the speed, and I’m in pretty good shape, so I’m really looking forward to the next round to see how things go out here,” said Dana confidently.

Dana Creech makes his return to racing motocross on the Polaris Outlaw at Speedworld, and he will be racing the rest of the season on both ATVs & UTVs	Triumph Motorsports Justin Noss has come on strong in 2008, and he appears to get faster with each passing round of racing on his Yamaha YFZ450

In the main Pro moto, things got off to a bad start. Chris Riley pulled the holeshot, followed by Brandon Smith, Dustin Nelson, Jason Fife and Justin Noss. Half-way through the first lap, Smith and Nelson connected and got tangled up. Jason Fife, who was trying to avoid rear-ending Nelson, suddenly went wide in the turn at the same time that Noss was coming through. Fife and Noss bumped front tires, which sent Fife bouncing off of Nelson and flipping. Fife was knocked unconscious and the race was red flagged. After medics transported Fife off the track, the race was restarted.

As racers came off the line for the second time, it was Justin Noss who grabbed the holeshot, with Brandon Smith right on his grab bar. Noss held off Smith for a few turns before Smith took over the lead. “We came up on this triple and we were side by side. Brandon took the outside line and I was on the inside. I ended up just letting him by because I didn’t want to bump him and risk both of us crashing,” said Noss.

Meanwhile, Pro class points leader Dustin Nelson was having somewhat of a tough time of things. “When Brandon and I got hooked up on the first start, I kind of over heated my clutch, so I wasn’t able to get the start I wanted,” said Dustin, who ended up with a mid pack start. Nelson was able to quickly work his way back up and soon found himself 10 seconds behind second place Noss. “I closed the gap on Justin and was right on his back tires when we crossed the finish line, but he was riding good and I just didn’t have enough time to try for a pass,” Dustin stated.

DATS / Kawasaki's Robbie Mitchell finishes a season best 4th at Speedworld on his KFX450R	Yamaha's Dustin Nelson maintains the points lead with another Podium finish on his Yamaha YFZ450

DATS/Kawasaki racer Robbie Mitchell was riding strong at this round. Robbie came off the line in 4th place and held steady until Josh Frederick caught p to him. Josh made the pass on Robbie and took over 4th, but Frederick, who had been feeling quite ill, began to feel fatigued and fell back, allowing Robbie to regain 4th place.

As racers reached the finish line, Brandon Smith took the win with an impressive 10 second lead over Justin Noss, who had his best finish this season, in second place, Dustin Nelson crossed the line in third right behind Noss, while Robbie Mitchell claimed a strong 4th and Josh Frederick rounded out the top five, which was quite impressive considering that he was not feeling up to par.

With only two more rounds left in the 2008 season, Dustin Nelson still maintains a 24 point lead on Brandon Smith, who just took over second place in the points race this round from teammate Josh Frederick, who now sits in 3rd with 156 points. However, Justin Noss, who has been getting faster and finishing strong every round is quickly approaching with 151 points.