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ITP QuadCross Championship
Series
Round #2 - Racetown 395
Adelanto, CA
March 19, 2006
By:
Corry Weller / Weller Racing |
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Quadcross Round #2 - Links |
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Round 2 of the ITP Quadcross Series was
finally upon us, as racers converged in the high desert
and had a chance to see one another again after having
some time off since Round 1 at Glen Helen in January.
This time around, riders from California, Arizona, Nevada,
and Utah gathered at Racetown 395 located in Adelanto,
CA (just east of Victorville) to battle windy conditions
and each other on Racetown's fairly technical Main track.
Known for its Ski Jump double and its huge step-up jump
in the back, Racetown also consists of many tables, doubles,
some tight, twisty sections, a rhythm section and fairly
sandy soil, which allows for some huge berms and deep
ruts to develop as the day goes on. Rain was all around
on Sunday, but riders lucked out and only had to deal
with the cold and growing winds throughout the day, as
the rain never actually touched the track.
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Dana Creech would be racing a 4wheeler of a different
nature at this round of the Quadcross Series |
With a great turnout of 18 Pro riders for
the 2-4 Stroke Pro class, Racetown's Pro gate would be
a full one, and the Pro's would have to race two heat
races to earn their starting position in the Main. Pro
rider and ITP Champion Jeremy Schell was on hand, minus
one white, fluffy cast seen on his foot at Round 1. This
would be Jeremy's first real race back since he broke
a few bones in his foot, and after some time off of the
track many riders wondered if the downtime to heal would
affect his race speed. Duncan Racing's Doug Eichner was
also present and ready to ride, but was hard to spot this
time, as he brought his quad in the back of his pickup
truck - which, by the way, also sports FOX Racing suspension
and some killer custom door handles! Dustin Nelson was
also present and ready to show everyone the way around
the track, as were other ITP Quadcross regulars, Mike
Machado, Josh Frederick, Cyle Chislock and last year's
YFZ drawing winner, Rafael Guzman. Dana Creech was spotted
in the pits as well, but told us that he wouldn't be racing
his quad in the Pro race; Instead, he would be racing
a fully set up Rhino built by Rhinocraft in the new Rhino
class that the ITP Series has added for 2006! "This
is probably the most fun thing I have ever raced"
he said, when asked how he liked taking the Rhino out
on the track, and the laughing that could be heard coming
from the front seats of the Rhino every time Dana hit
a jump told us that he must have been telling the truth!
Pro Heat A
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Jeff Spooner got out ahead early in the first
Pro Heat A until Nelson would make an early pass. |
After practice and a short riders meeting,
Pro Heat A was on the line and ready to go, as engines
revved, clutches were pulled in and the gate dropped for
the dirt start. To the corner first was number 56, Jeff
Spooner, as he shot out ahead of Dustin Nelson and was
followed by a pack of churning wheels and flying dirt.
Side by side over the first three tables, riders spread
out behind the leaders and headed to the back section.
Nelson was riding tight behind Spooner as he sought a
safe place to get around him, making the pass by the first
half lap and beginning to extend what would be a huge
lead. Josh Frederick was riding in 3rd place with Chris
Riley, Dustin Terry and Brandon Smith following him, as
they sailed the Ski jump double and headed into the rough
straight.
By the second lap, Nelson had created a good sized
lead over Jeff Spooner, who was one of several Pro riders
making the trip from Arizona. Frederick was keeping
his sights on Spooner, while the 04 quad of Chris Riley,
who was behind Frederick, had seemed to disappear. Now
in his place was Dustin Terry, charging hard behind
Frederick and beginning to leave some space between
him and the rest of the field.
There was racing going on all over, as Evan Carillo
fought to get around Rafael Guzman and Joe Arrowsmith
managed to keep Brandon Smith behind him for a while,
until Smith was finally able to make the pass on Arrowsmith.
Meanwhile, Chris Riley appeared once more, but was down
at least a quarter of a lap from the field, and had
a huge amount of time to catch up, but he must have
been on fire, because by the end of the heat race, he
had made up all that time and caught up to Rafael Guzman
and was looking for a way around him when the clock
ran out.
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Dustin Terry finds his way around Frederick to
take the number 3 spot away in the Pro Heat A |
Meanwhile, Nelson had increased his lead
even further, leaving the real race happening behind him,
as the battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place was heating up.
Josh Frederick was not giving Jeff Spooner an easy race,
as he was right on his bumper through the "S"
turns - and right behind Frederick was Dustin Terry looking
to make a pass for 3rd place.Terry found his way around
Frederick to take the number 3 spot away and charged after
Jeff Spooner in 2nd. As Dustin Nelson crossed the finish
line in 1st place with plenty of room to spare, Terry
continued after Spooner, and as they approached the last
turn before the checkers, Terry turned on the speed and
there was a last mad dash to the finish line with Spooner
nosing Terry out for 2nd place. Terry came in a very close
3rd place, with Josh Frederick right behind in 4th place.
Pro Heat B
As soon as the riders from the Pro Heat A moto were
off of the track, the gate dropped once again for the
Pro Heat B race, and Mike Machado rocketed into the
first turn with WORCS regular John Shafe and Nick Hengtgen
right behind him. Keeping his lead over the first 3
tables, Machado and the rest of the riders headed towards
the back of the track in a cloud of dust. Without wasting
any time, Jeremy Schell moved up behind Machado into
second place, with John Shafe and Doug Eichner following
close behind. TJ Dietrick was followed closely by a
fast moving Ricky Nickell as riders headed into the
second lap.
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Cyle Chislock made a great run through the field
in the Pro Heat B race |
Schell was all over Machado as he seemed
to be looking for Machado to make a mistake so he could
move around him, but Machado was not ready to give up
his lead and stayed ahead of Schell in the number one
position. Eichner, back in 4th, stayed on top of Shafe
until he found room and made the pass, moving up into
3rd and looking to close the gap between him and Schell.
Meanwhile, Cyle Chislock must have had a bad start and
was towards the back of the field but moving fast and
riding on the edge to make up lost time, getting a little
out of shape in the rhythm section but recovering nicely
to continue his charge.
Machado remained out front, extending his lead just
a bit, while behind him positions were changing as Shafe
dropped back a place or two, and Nickell made a pass
on Dietrich for 4th place, settling in behind Doug Eichner
for the remainder of the moto. The distance between
Schell and Machado shortened quite a bit, as Schell
once again got close enough to be a threat, but never
found the opening he needed to make the pass for first
place.
As the race wore on, Cyle Chislock was not content
with his position near the back, and continued his drive
towards the front of the field, first passing Jovany
Pimentel, TJ Dietrich, and then John Shafe as he continued
to work his way closer to the front before the checkers
came out. With the wind picking up, and riders getting
tired, some riders risked getting a bit out of shape
on the larger jumps in an effort to edge closer to the
leaders.
By the time the white flag came out, Machado had again
started to increase his lead on Schell, who, if his
foot was hurting him at all, showed no signs of it!
Eichner continued to run a smooth, comfortable race
in 3rd with Nickell still following closely behind in
4th. TJ Dietrich rounded out the top 5 riders in the
5th place position as the riders began their final lap.
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Mike Machado took a well-deserved first place
in his Pro Heat B race. |
Mike Machado took a well-deserved first
place finish and the checkers as he rounded the final
corner, with Jeremy Schell finishing behind him and
just ahead of Doug Eichner. As Ricky Nickell approached
the last table top, he found himself in a sprint to
the checkers with #222 Cyle Chislock, who had worked
his way all the way up to 5th place and was making a
race of it for 4th place through the last turn. Ricky
edged out Cyle and kept his 4th place finish, with Cyle
taking a hard earned 5th, as the rest of the riders
crossed the finish line behind him.
Pro Main
The wind had picked up considerably before the Pro Main
race, and dirt was blowing through the pits and over
the track with the stronger gusts as the Pro's made
their way to the gate for their final Pro Main race
of the day. But fate would step in and stir the pot,
and as the Pro gate dropped, many failed to notice that
the left side dropped while the entire right side of
the gate stayed in place; but only for a second, as
the Pro riders on the right plowed through and over
the gates when they saw the rest of the field leaving
them behind! The race was on, with Doug Eichner getting
the holeshot on the far inside line.
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Before the first Pro Main was redflagged, several
Pro riders got hopelessly tangled. |
There was some intense racing action going
on, with a few riders getting their quads hopelessly stuck
together, and other riders having problems being blown
around in the gusty winds. Jeremy Schell was in the front
of the pack but disappeared around the back section as
he spun out in a corner and came off his quad. He was
back on and chasing down the riders who had passed him
within seconds, however. The intense racing action came
to a sudden and confusing halt as the wind-blown riders
rode past the red flag that was thrown out at the beginning
of the fourth lap! Riders came off the track, some looking
confused, some looking relieved - but all making their
way to the persons in charge on the infield to figure
out what they were going to do next.
Having 18 tired, dirty and very concerned Pro quad
racers heading towards me is not a position I envied
for the people in charge at Racetown on Sunday, but
our riders showed why they are Pro's when discussions
about how to proceed ensued and a decision was finally
made. A call to Lori Bryant sealed the deal, and the
decision to run the Pro Main race again was met with
a mixture of reactions. Some racers had given so much
already that they weren't sure they had enough in them
for another full moto, while others were more than happy
at another shot at securing their overall position for
the day. Jeremy Schell lightheartedly challenged everyone
to another race "and I'll do it on one foot!"
he joked, as the riders began heading back to their
quads for the new moto.
For the restart, the gate was minus a few riders as
someone noted that Josh rederick had headed home, and
Evan Carillo had done the same. The number 70 quad of
Brandon Smith was also missing for the restart, leaving
15 quads on the line to race the final race one more
time.
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Dustin Nelson takes the holeshot by a tire as
Jeremy Schell takes the inside on the final Pro
Main start. |
The gate was checked and double checked
to be sure that the start of this last moto would get
underway without a hitch before going up the final time.
Engines revved and all eyes were on the Pro riders as
the gate dropped as it should this time, and the race
to the first corner was on! It was a close holeshot between
Dustin Nelson and Jeremy Schell, with Nelson taking the
lead by a mere tire, edging just ahead of Schell and out
of the first turn. Following just behind Nelson was Schell,
with Chislock rounding out the top 3 riders in the first
lap.
As Nelson began once again putting distance between
himself and the other riders, Chislock was riding hard
and keeping pace with Jeremy Schell. Not getting as
good of a start in this restarted race, Doug Eichner
was making up some ground in 4th place and keeping Chislock
in his sights. In 5th place was Jeff Spooner, who had
been running solid motos all day and continued to show
everyone that he was back in the game after a bad crash
in Phoenix last year during the Pro Quad Stadium Series.
Mike Machado, who had had a great heat race, had some
ground to make up after his start in this final moto,
and was running in 6th place with Dustin Terry a few
lengths behind him in 7th, riding what appeared to be
a borrowed quad. A newly healed Ricky Nickell was running
right behind Terry in the 8th place position, as the
rest of the field followed, fighting the windy conditions
and blowing roost.
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Eichner was putting the pressure on Jeremy Schell
during the Pro Main |
As the final moto continued, several position
changes took place during some close racing throughout
the field, but once again, the number 4 quad of Chris
Riley had some issues and appeared to be out of the race
as he was spotted sitting alongside of the track, looking
down at his quad. Doug Eichner, who had been running just
behind Chislock, managed to slip past the number 222 quad
and into the 3rd place position, putting pressure on Jeremy
Schell, as Machado was moving up and now challenging Spooner
for his position in the fast moving Pro field. Spooner
held his position ahead of Machado a little longer, but
after some close racing through the "S" turns,
Machado made the pass and began to close the gap between
him and Chislock. Ricky Nickell and TJ Dietrich also had
some close racing midpack, with Nickell keeping his lead
over Dietrich for the entire race.
Running far in the lead at this point was Dustin Nelson,
extending his lead over the field with every turn. Dustin
was apparently having a great time, as everyone standing
near the first turn on the final lap could hear his
"Wooohoooo!" as he rounded the corner and
began the last lap of the Pro main! The race for 2nd,
3rd and 4th place got very interesting towards the middle
of the last lap, as Machado managed to get around Chislock
and was tire to tire with Eichner, who in turn was almost
nudging Schell, as all three riders bunched together
coming through the tight, sandy turns. Also managing
to maintain his position towards the front of the pack,
Jeff Spooner was riding a solid 6th place behind Chislock
and was working on decreasing the distance between them.
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| After
taking some time off with an injured foot, Jeremy
Schell came back and took second place overall
for the day. |
Dustin
Nelson dominated both of his motos as he rode
to a 1st overall in Round 2. |
When the checkered flag was thrown, it was a happy
Dustin Nelson taking the win by a large margin, with
Doug Eichner pressuring Jeremy Schell all the way to
the finish, coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. After
coming up through the field, Mike Machado showed some
real speed and rode hard for his 4th place finish, while
Cyle Chislock also ran a solid race to round out the
top 5 finishers. The entire pro class not only fought
the cold and the wind, but they also had to reach down
deep and find the extra strength to run almost an entire
extra race for this second round of the ITP Quadcross
Champion Series, earning even more respect than usual
from those watching as well as from their fellow racers.
Congrats to all who finished, and we hope to see everyone
back again for Round 3 at Arizona Cycle Park in Buckeye,
Arizona for what is hopefully a much warmer race weekend!
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ATV Race - Video Clips |
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