Nelson Wins Quad X Overall
Story and Photos by Robert Van Damme
Dustin Nelson went 1-1 for the win in the 450 Pro Class at round two of the Yamaha Quad X Series with support by Big Kid Racing, STI Tire, Pro-X and MTA at Arizona Cycle Park. Promoter Lori Bryant commented that this was the first race of the season since the first round was all about surviving in the rain and mud. Racers were greeted with clear skies and warm temperatures in the Arizona desert just outside Buckeye, Arizona. Before the start of the first 450 Pro moto, the racers did a slow commemorative parade lap.
Last month just before the first round of the Quad X Series, former pro competitor Jeffery Spooner was in a fatal automobile accident. Evan Spooner, Jeffery’s brother, led the procession around the racecourse and honored his brother by running Jeffery’s #56 on his quad.
For the start of the first moto it was Nelson absconding the lead over Ethan Thatcher, Beau Baron and Dirkie Baard. Thatcher and Baron battled for several laps, allowing Nelson to pull away. Jason Fife sat alone in fifth while Evan Spooner, Justin Jones and Johnny Shafe battled over sixth. On lap three Jones moved around Spooner for sixth. Then on the next lap Shafe passed Spooner for seventh. Then on the next go around, Thatcher still under pressure had something fling off his quad just passed the tower. Jones went down on the uphill triple taking himself out of contention. Through the hills Baron was able to secure second over Thatcher. Then Baard made a mistake on the next lap dropping out of the top five. Baron closed within three seconds of Nelson on the final lap but ran out of time. Nelson first past the checkered followed by Baron, Thatcher, Fife, Shafe, Spooner and Christopher Ray Martinez.
Nelson grabbed the top spot after the second moto start, but this time Baron was right behind Nelson then came Baard. The two top riders pulled away from the pack with Nelson creping away from Baron in the next few laps. Baard was alone in third while Josh Row in fourth battled with Thatcher and Jesse Goss. Thatcher on the side-hill jump, double-singled through it while Row and Goss were tripling it. So Thatcher would close down on Row while pulling away from Goss. Then they would get to the side-hill and Thatcher would lose ground to Row and have Goss on his rear fender. Thatcher used the rest of the hills to get around Row on lap 6. The Yamaha/Motoworks/DWT/One Roll/MotoWorld backed Nelson finished the race in the top spot. The Maxxis/John Burr sponsored Baron was not far behind in second, followed by Baard, Thatcher, Row, Goss, Fife, Shafe, Spooner and Martinez.
Ryan Nevin’s box score of 1-1 for first overall in the 450 Intermediates looked like a simple win. Though in the first moto Nevin was making things interesting. Kloster pulled the holeshot in the first moto, but it was Nevin who made up the most ground out of a poor start. Nevin stumbled out of the gate and was third from last. Nevin found a crease between several competitors going into the left-hander. Then he stayed to the inside while the rest went wide and Nevin passed 6 racers within 100 feet. Nevin was in third by the end of the first lap. Then Nevin went past Cody Miller for second on lap two. Kloster stumbled on the next circuit around that sent Nevin to the front. Miller moved to second over a tiring Kloster who would plummet down to 7th by the end of the moto. Nevin took the win followed by Miller, then came Michael MacGregor, Robert Stewart, Levi Shirley and Ryan Waldo.
Nevin looked to have the holeshot in the second moto, but by the time the pack came by the scoring section it was Miller leading Nevin. Then halfway through lap two Nevin moved by Miller and stayed there the entire moto. Stewart midway through the moto went around Miller for third. The Auburn, California resident Nevin came through with the win, then came Stewart, Miller, Kloster, MacGregor, Shirley and Waldo.