McGrath works for wins on Labor Day Weekend

Sept. 3-4

By R. Otterness

Wyatt McGrath snared many first-place trophies as he cleaned up in three classes for the two days of racing in Super Series rounds 9 (Viking Clash) and 10 (Labor Day). This included the Schoolboy 2, 14-24B, and Open B classes, with wins in 11 of 12 motos. More on that one non-winning moto below. Many other riders were on hand to try their luck in the Clash and the Labor Day blast, with about 680 riders on hand for Sunday, and a good chunk of them stayed for Monday. The track was in great condition for the weekend, although it took considerable watering by the track crew to keep ahead of the dust with the mid-90 degree temps. Track routing was similar to that of round 8, with a chicane added near the south side of the track near the bottom of Mount Martin. A special event during the day was held to support Jordan Rasmussen, who was injured this summer, with a fundraising raffle and a parade lap to show that riders care.

Viking Clash (Sunday)

Josh Boaz charged out front as the Open A class hit the track for Moto One. His biggest threat to dispute for the win, Jake Loberg, took a little detour off the side of the track and was forced to play catch up, which he did pretty successfully as he displaced Nick Jackson and then Bryce Backaus to take over second place around mid-moto. Boaz was safely ahead, though and went on for the win. Backaus took third, with Nick Jackson holding on for fourth with a few bike’s length over Gavin Tilford. Jackson ripped the holeshot in the next moto but had to pull out immediately with bike problems, so Boaz and Loberg took off to battle for the lead. Loberg rode valiantly like a Norse warrior (Viking Clash tie-in) but Boaz was just a bit quicker and built up enough of a lead to secure the win. Backus took a lonely third, with Tilford fourth over Luke Van Lyssel.

The first Supermini moto got off to a roaring start, with Kyler Hagedorn edging out Craton Roberts as they rounded turn one. Hagedorn has been running hot all season in this class and started to slip away from the pack, with Brecken Maas slotting into second ahead of Roberts. Isaac Opalewski was pressuring Roberts as the moto progressed and made the move up coming up on the white flag lap. Then Cooper Couette grabbed fourth as Roberts had a last-lap issue and dropped back.

Hagedorn pulled two holeshots for Moto 2 as they had a red flag incident. He had Maas pursuing him in second for the early portion of the race but Roberts stepped up and took over second while Maas had a bobble and lost a number of positions. Hagedorn kept the hammer down and built up a nice lead to take the checkered flag over Roberts. Couette battled to get Colin Megaw to take third while Megaw held on for fourth by about a bike length over Wyatt Niedfeldt when they crossed the finish line.

Zaine Randall led the Open C pack into turn one, with Koby Turner and Cash Moorman dropping into pursuit. Turner didn’t wait long before he pounced to take over out front, and he led the way to the flag. Randall and Moorman stayed within sight of Turner but couldn’t quite match his pace. Jerome Storlie and Archer Sims rounded out the top five. Turner started better in Moto 2 and was out front all the way, with Randall hanging with him pretty well to finish about 3 or 4 seconds back. Moorman had a battle over third with Jaydon Nyeggen in which he finally prevailed to match his first moto finish. Spencer Hein took fifth a few seconds behind them.

Labor Day Round 10 (Monday)

Carson Wittman has been flying in the 85 cc classes all year and he grabbed the lead from Jaxon Arends shortly into the first 85cc 9-12 moto. Wittman had some pressure from Arends as the moto proceeded, and they pulled away from the pack. Cooper Couette put in a solid ride for third, with Louis Oswald close in fourth. That set up the finishing order for Moto One as the checkered flew. Couette shot out into the early lead for moto two but Wittman was soon out front. Couette held onto second for a couple of laps, with Arends pressuring. About at the halfway point, Arends made the pass, and the final finishing order was established. Colin Megaw and Ryan Reinhardt took their bikes across the line for fourth and fifth.

The Schoolboy 2 class featured what was probably the best battle of the weekend as Brodie Boumeester grabbed the holeshot in Moto 1 and battled with Wyatt McGrath for the entire Moto. Both riders were riding at their limits, but Boumeester held off McGrath all the way in for the win, hitting the finish line jump just a second or two ahead of McGrath. Owen Nelson and Caleb Wagner scored the 3-4 positions. McGrath shot off the line in the next moto, determined to take the overall, and while Boumeester put in a mighty effort, he couldn’t reel in McGrath. Their battle carried them far ahead of the pack until they finally hit the finish line, with McGrath’s effort keeping his perfect record of overall wins in the Schoolboy 2 class alive. Nelson was again third, with Tyler Maas holding fourth over Wagner at the finish.

Link to results page: http://www.resultsmx.com/springcreek/class.asp?s=23&c=all&e=420