Trail Rider Magazine

out to promote the event. pulled away for the 200 class At 1pm, the bravest of the win, which also was good bunch found herself standenough for 2nd overall in B. ing out in front of the pack, Christian Crum nailed the B with the start flag in her Open start, and led all the way hand, as the racers warmed to the flag, taking his class, as up their bikes one last time, well as the B overall win. Luke adjusted their goggles, and Knowlton got the start in the B got last minute instructions 4-Stroke class, and never looked from their pit crews. The back, as he comfortably took Charlie Stapleford gave the the class win, as well as 3rd order to "shut 'em down".. overall in B. Elijah Olsen took and all eyes went to the 2nd , with Chase Beach in 3rd. start gal when the "10 secB Vet's Brent Ruhlman, and B onds" warning was called Seniors James McGee ruled Mike Lafferty took the overall win out. And before you knew their classes, both going wire to aboard his new KTM it, the flag was dropped, wire for their wins. engines came to life, riders dumped their clutches, and in a collective roar, the pro racAs in recent years, this event has hosted a separate C class ers were racing shoulder to shoulder down the start event, or "Morning race', which also allows many non-C class straight, leaving a dust cloud in their wake as they fought for racers that aren't chasing Championship points, to race in position in the first corner! the "Sportsmen class". Plenty of talented racers show up for this class, as they can have their day of racing, and still pit for The first lap had some tight, bar to bar action, as Mike Laftheir friends (or kids if they're a parent) racing in the main ferty, Tegan Temple and Shane Hufford battled for the lead, event. Combined, these Sportsmen, and C class riders made with Jerod Stoner in tow. By the time they passed through up the largest event total of the weekend, as over 300 racers the scoring barrels at the end of the first lap, Temple and Laf- signed up, ready to tear up the course. At the start, a numferty had pulled ahead, with Lafferty right on Temples rear ber of racers fought for position during the first lap, but befender. They continued the battle during the second lap, fore long , National Endurocross star Wally Palmer emerged with Lafferty taking over the lead and Temple keeping him in check. Meanwhile, further behind them, Kyle McDonal had been putting on a charge and steadily making his way up to the leaders. Keeping his momentum going, on lap three he was able to slip past Lafferty, who now latched on to his fender. Temple had fallen slightly back from the group, but was keeping them in sight, while Hufford started to up his pace. By the fourth lap, Lafferty regained the lead again, while McDonal had his hands full with Hufford, as they battled for position. By the fifth lap, Hufford had slipped past McDonal, and held it through the sixth and final lap, securing second place overall, with McDonal rounding out the podium in third. Young Ryder Lafferty had also been on the gas, as he had steadily moved up through the pack as well, and into the fifth spot on lap five. After Temple lost some valuable time on the last lap, Ryder was able to slip into fourth, with Temple holding on for fitth, just ahead of the 2013 ECEA HS Champion, Jerod Stoner. A notable mention was another up and coming racer, Thorn Devlin, riding from the A-Lite row, as he fought through many of the Pros ahead of him and finished a very respectable tenth overall. Open A racers Dylan Bean, Kyle Bylsma, and Will Harkness had good rides as well, as they all made it into the top 20 overall finishers. There was plenty of tight racing in the B classes as well. In B 200, Sal Cusimano Jr held the lead after lap one, as he battled with Luke Ross. By lap 2 Ross took the lead, and steadily December 2013/January 2014 21

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