Maxxis / MCR’s Beau Baron & Josh Row Round out the Podium

Lake Havasu, AZ – Can-Am Motoworks’ Josh Frederick claimed the win and took over the points lead at round three of the 2010 WORCS series, while MCR/Maxxis’ Beau Baron and Josh Row were in a close second and third.Crazy Horse MX Park in Lake Havasu, AZ is one of the most popular rounds of the WORCS series due to the typically nice weather and location, and this year, was no exception as temps soared into the low 80’s with plenty of sunshine.

Track conditions started out good, but because of the sandy texture, became whooped out and rather rough. The infamous “lagoon jump” returned for this year, but only for a couple of laps as the lip of the jump deteriorated quickly and created hazardous conditions that brought about close calls for several racers, including Josh Frederick who almost didn’t make it to the starting line when he cased the jump hard during the parade lap.

Despite attempts to fix the jump, the lip still wore down to the point of being dangerous and after several racers came up short, including Dillon Zimmerman and Justin Waters, who almost ended up at the bottom of the deep creek bed, the jump was closed and the track re routed.

Despite his close call on the parade lap, Can-Am Motoworks’ Josh Frederick was undeterred as he flew off the line in second place. “I spent almost the whole week prior to the race practicing my dead engine starts,” stated Frederick, who is not known for grabbing holeshots. Frederick’s practice paid off and he quickly took the lead from Tim Shelman, who was first off the line.

Once in the lead, Frederick began to pull away, but he was not alone as Beau Baron and Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson were right behind him. Despite the pressure from Baron, Frederick would hold his lead, and in the final few laps, the former champ put the hammer down and pulled away, taking the win by over one minute, putting him into the pro points lead.

“I’m really happy about how things went today. It feels good to be back in the points lead, but that doesn’t mean I can relax, because Beau is a tough competitor and he wants to win as much as I do,” stated Frederick.

Beau Baron, who was feeling under the weather at round two, seemed to be back in top shape for round three. Baron was in a solid third off the line and made a quick pass for second. Baron was gaining ground on Frederick, but at the ¾ mark, the power robbing sand began to take its toll on Baron’s quad and it began to overheat slightly, forcing Baron to back off. Luckily Baron had a big enough lead on third place that he was able to pace himself for the rest of the race and still take home second place.

Baron’s teammate Josh Row, who has been coming on strong this season, got off to a mid pack start, but quickly worked his way through traffic, and by the mid way point had taken over the number three spot. Row held his position for nine laps, finishing in third, less than a minute behind Baron.

MCR/Maxxis’ Levi Marana took home his best finish since returning from the injured list. Marana, who had been a front runner for the MCR/Maxxis team before, showed that he is back and means business. Marana was in mid pack off the line and climbed into the number five position quickly. From there, Marana paced himself until the midway point when he gave an extra push and took over fourth place, where he would remain all the way to the checkered flag.

Can-Am Motoworks’ Dillon Zimmerman would round out the top five after a fierce battle with MCR/Maxxis’ Mike Cafro. The pair were in close contention from start to finish and swapped positions many times before Zimmerman would get around Cafro and pull away just enough to secure fifth, leaving Cafro to settle for sixth. Despite Zimmerman’s better finish, Cafro still remains in fourth place in the points chase.

Robbie Mitchell had a tough time at Saturday’s practice when he blew the engine on his KFX450R. Without a spare engine on hand, Mitchell decided to race his sister’s quad. Mitchell’s bad luck appeared to carry over to Sunday when right off the start, a rock got stuck in his front rotor, locking his wheel. Mitchell was then in dead last, but his determination and drive had him picking off the competition and working his way to a seventh place finish.

Justin Waters, who almost crashed hard on the lagoon jump early in the race, was able to keep his composure despite the close call and make a charge to finish in a solid eighth place. Andy Lagzdins was looking consistent as he hung on to claim a respectable ninth place, while Tim Shelman, who had grabbed the holeshot with amazing quickness, which was probably due to the sugar high he was on from all the birthday cake the night before, would round out the top ten.

Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson, who had ran into some bad luck this season, was looking strong for the first half of the race, but a fuel pump issue sent him back several places to finish in thirteenth place.

Round four of the 2010 WORCS series will head to Racetown 395 in Adelanto, CA on April 23rd-25th where Beau Baron and Josh Frederick will once again go head to head for the pro championship points lead.

ATVRIDERS.COM