Round eight of the 2010 Yamaha/ITP Quadcross series was held at Racetown 395 in California’s high desert. The track received 3 to 4 inches of rain in the week leading up to the race and made for a mostly one lined track with a strange mix of muddy and hard packed dusty sections. It always seems to be windy in the high desert but with stormy weather in southern California the winds were even stronger than usual and constantly kept all riders on their toes throughout the weekend.

Production Moto 1: The starting gate fell very slowly and threw my timing off for the first start of the day and as Beau Baron and Justin Noss exited the first turn battling for the lead I was fighting hard just to put myself into third. Baron took the lead entering turn two but Noss fought back with a very aggressive, but clean block pass in turn four to take the lead. Just before the end of the second lap I was able to make an outside line work and pass Baron to take over the number two spot. I quickly closed the gap to put myself on Noss’ grab bar and began applying pressure. I was trying any line he wasn’t in and soon made a pass up the inside of the dragon’s back only to have Noss square me up in the following turn to retake the lead. Three turns later I was able to make the pass stick using the same outside line that I used to get by Baron. Once out front I pulled away at a steady pace while Baron made his way past Noss to slot into the second position. When the checkers flew I took the win by five seconds over Baron, Noss, Jason Dunkleberger and Thatcher.

Production Moto 2: I made a mental adjustment and timed the slow falling gate much better in moto two. Once over the gate I just sat back and let my #94 YFZ-R pull through the gears and grab me the GYTR/Yamalube $250 Holeshot award. Baron showed me his wheels once in the first lap with an attempt at a block pass that could have ended badly if he didn’t back off but he did and we had no contact. After that close call I put my head down and just clicked off fast laps hoping to open up a gap and not give him another chance at making a pass. The field spread out much more quickly in the second moto with the bumps and holes getting bigger and herder to ride as the day went on. The track that started as easy and one lined was now a very technical, multi-lined track, the kind you can just pick apart with the right line selection. The gaps between riders only grew as the moto went on and at the finish I won with a twelve second lead over Baron. Dunk had a better second moto taking third with Noss admittedly struggling with the rough conditions in fourth and series newcomer Thatcher once again crossing fifth.

Round eight of the Yamaha/ITP Quadcross series went very well. We had another four moto sweep of both the Pro Production and Open Pro classes. Most importantly we extended the all important points lead. At the finale in three weeks at Glen Helen a 17th place finish will guarantee the 2010 Quadcross Championship. The last race falls on my birthday and I can’t think of a better way of celebrating.

Top Five Results:
1) Dustin Nelson (Yam)
2) Beau Baron (Hon)
3) Jason Dunkleberger (Yam)
4) Justin Noss (Yam)
5) Thatcher (Suz)

Top Five Points:
1) Dustin Nelson (190 pts)
2) Beau Baron (171 pts)
3) Justin Noss (155 pts)
4) Jason Dunkleberger (152 pts)
5) Jason Fife (141 pts)