2016 WORCS ATV Racing Round #7 - Mesquite MX May 8, 2016 Mesquite, Nevada

Mike Sloan was caught up in the first-lap melee, but overcame that to be in the right place when Baron crashed. The rookie followed Fuller to earn his fifth consecutive podium.

ELKA's Mike Sloan made the pass on Beau Baron in the final lap on the MX track to take the 2nd spot on the WORCS Pro ATV Podium

“I tried something different today,” explained Sloan. “I usually come out hot and fade at the end, so I tried to start out slowly and it worked. I picked off a few people lap by lap and made it to third. I saw Beau and Garrin. I just kept charging. I’m pretty happy with the way I rode today and I’m looking forward to the next round. I should be winning, but we’ll see. This is my rookie season and I’m learning a lot.”

While Baron wasn’t happy with his crash, he was pleased with his podium finish. Not only did he finish at a track that has taken him out of contention for two previous championships, but he also retained the championship lead with a 28-point margin. In addition, since the SXS classes didn’t run here, Baron hopped on his dirt bike and won the Plus 30 Expert Motorcycle race.

Sparks Racing's Beau Baron held the lead for nearly the entire race before a bad wreck in the final lap dropped him back to a 3rd place finish

“Mesquite has never been my favorite track; I’ve lost a few championships here,” said Baron, who came into this event with five consecutive wins. “I got off to a great start and pulled off a big lead. Garrin got me in the pits, but I quickly took back the lead. I saw the white flag and was ready to cruise to win, but I didn’t see a big rock. I hit it and cartwheeled. I got up, was kicking it and I was seeing stars. I finally got it started. Garrin had gone by me and Sloan was right behind me. I couldn’t steer it because I had bent my tie rod badly. I’ll take a third here because I’ve had some bad luck here. My win streak is over, but it’s all good because I have a really good points gap.”

Pro Rookie Matthew Hancock continues to build his consistency this year. After finishing fifth in the last race, he stepped it up to finish fourth here. Hancock was also caught in the first-lap carnage and drove through the field to record the top five.

Pro Motorsports' Matthew Hancock scored a career best 4th place finish in the WORCS Pro class at Mesquite MX

“I don’t now far back we started, but it felt like a minute,” said Hancock. “I got really pumped up there and I didn’t stay as calm as I should have. So I just tried to breath and let my blood pressure go down. I knew I set my pace too slow at the last race, so I said ‘What the heck?’ and I started pushing it. I’m pretty stoked that I got my best finish. I felt great out there today. I was a little off the pace, but I just need a little more seat time. Lately I’ve been able to train more and I’m really having fun on the bike. That’s showing in the results. It’s a matter of getting my head right. Now that my mind is right, I’m over half of the battle.”

Pro Motorsports’ Jeff Hancock crashed in the middle stages of the event. He rebounded to finish fifth, his best showing of the 2016 campaign.

Pro Motorsports' Jeff Hancock rebounded from an early wreck to score a top five finish

“We got a pretty good start and got past the big pileup at the start,” said Hancock. “I came back around and was running fifth. I got into some whoops, hit the back brake when I landed and went end over end. We tried a few different things today and hopefully it’s working.”