WORCS ATV Series
Round #8 - Honolulu Hills
Taft,
California
October 24-26, 2008
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WORCS Racing Pro ATV
Race Report
Motoworks / Can-Am's Brandon
Smith Wins with Doug Eichner back on the Podium
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An
obstacle course similar to the WORCS X Cross
was added to the track for the Main Event
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Taft, CA - Can-Am/Motowork’s
Brandon Smith ended his season with his best WORCS
finish to date, taking home the win for the final
race of the season and bringing him into the top
five of the points race, while teammate Dillon Zimmerman,
who was within just a couple of points of the Pro-Am
championship, battled it out down to the wire.
Honolulu Hills MX Park was the hosting track
for the final round where racers were greeted
by beautiful sunny California skies and warm temperatures.
Track conditions were dry and a little dusty,
but nothing that the WORCS racers are not accustomed
to when racing in the west coast’s southern
regions.
Although Josh Frederick already wrapped up the
Pro championship, there was still plenty of action
to see who would claim the number two and three
positions as there was a close race going on between
Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson and privateer Beau
Baron.
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| Yamaha's
Dustin Nelson grabbed the Holeshot followed
by Brandon Smith, Mike Cafro, and Doug Eichner |
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Tim
Shelman & Justin Waters both went off
the side of one of the table tops on the
start, which sent the pair to the back of
the pack |
As the gate dropped, it was obvious that Dustin
Nelson meant business. Dustin grabbed the holeshot,
followed by Brandon Smith, Mike Cafro and Polaris’s
Doug Eichner, while Beau Baron got off to a slow
start was way back in 17th place in the second
corner. Josh Frederick appeared to have issues
off the start and limped his quad around for one
lap before pulling into the pits, ending his day
early.
Eichner, who was on a mission to finish his season
with a win, wasted no time in his quest to pass
Cafro and got around him shortly into the first
lap and began to gain ground on Smith and Nelson.
As the three racers made their way into the second
lap, Dustin Nelson found himself in trouble. “I
made a mistake and ended up going off the track
so Brandon and Doug got around me,” said
Dustin.
With Nelson out of the way, Smith took over the
lead, but Eichner was right on him and was determined
to take over the lead until a mechanical issues
forced him into the pits. “I had just left
the pits in my third lap and noticed what I thought
was smoke or steam coming from the bike. I thought
it was maybe steam from the radiator, but then
I noticed oil on my boot. I limped my quad around
the track and went back to the pits. It turned
out that the oil filler cap came off and most
of the oil came out of the bike so we refilled
it and put a new cap on and I was back out there.
I was still in third and tried to catch Dustin,”
Eichner explained. Unfortunately, Nelson had too
great of a lead for Eichner to catch him before
the end of the race. “I was really hoping
I was going to win this one. I felt like it was
my race to do it, but that oil leak set me back.
Even though I didn’t win, I’m still
glad to finish the season on the podium,”
concluded Eichner, who had to settle for third
place.
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| Motoworks'
Brandon Smith took over the lead in the
2nd lap and never looked back as held on
to claim his 1st Pro WORCS Win of the year,
which moved Smith up to 4th place in the
Pro Points |
Polaris'
Doug Eichner was on the gas this weekend
as he recorded the fast laptime of the race
and earned a spot on the Podium in 3rd place,
and Eichner finished out the year in 5th
place |
Meanwhile, Brandon Smith, despite being ill,
checked out, increasing his lead on second place
Nelson by about 30 seconds. “It’s
really nice to finish the season with a win,”
said Smith, whose victory bumped him up to 4th
in the points race, edging out Eichner by one
point.
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