WORCS Round 8 Pro ATV Race Report

Taft, CA – The 2012 WORCS Series finale was held at Honolulu Hills MX Park in Taft, California, and Maxxis / H&M Motorsports’ Beau Baron nearly had the Pro ATV Championship wrapped up heading into the final round, and he only needed to finish the race to secure the top honors, but Baron didn’t hold back as he went all out and secured his fifth win of the year to clinch his second WORCS Pro ATV Championship on a winning note.
Sparks Racing’s #549 Beau Baron barely edged out Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson coming out of turn one to secure the ATVriders.com Holeshot Award, and Baron never looked back as he gradually pulled away from Nelson for several laps with David Haagsma eventually moving into the second spot chasing after Baron for the second half of the race, but Baron was in control as he secured the win with over 25 seconds to spare.
Maxxis’ #422 David Haagsma has been a constant contender for the podium, and with the final round of the series near his hometown of Bakersfield, CA, he was more determined than ever to take a spot on the Podium with plenty of friends and family in attendance, and Haagsma charged his way past Nelson and Josh Frederick to take over the second spot, which Haagsma held to the checkered flag, which also secured Haagsma the third spot in series points just five points behind Frederick in second.
Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson has had his fair share of up and downs this year, but he came on strong in the season finale and secured the final spot on the Podium, which was his third podium finish of the year.
Can-Am / DWT / Motoworks’ #49 Dillon Zimmerman charged his way past Josh Frederick early in the race and closed the gap on Nelson in the third spot down to just 13 seconds at the white flag, but Nelson was able to hold of Zimmerman in the final lap with Zimmerman finishing out the year in a solid fourth place in the race and pro season points.
Can-Am / DWT / Motoworks’ #2 Josh Frederick got off to a third place start, but he wasn’t able to hold off the competition as he dropped back to a rare fifth place finish, but Frederick held onto his second spot in points for yet another year, but the multi-time WORCS champion was after the big prize, which eluded him in 2012.
EXIT Shock’s #8 Robbie Mitchell finished out the season with a seventh place finish behind Yamaha’s #417 Josh Row, but Mitchell edged out Row in the points battle by just one point to secure the #5 plate for 2013 for the top finishing pro privateer.
Klim’s #12 Tim Shelman finished his final WORCS pro race in the ninth spot and he did it while racing with his daughter, #30 Allie Shelman, who qualified for the Pro-Am Main event, which made for a very special end to TPQ’s pro racing career, and he announced his retirement from pro racing at the Awards banquet, but “TPQ” will still be at the WORCS races in 2013 as the race announcer, so he will need new “TPA” (Tim Pro Announcer) stickers to hand out to everyone willing to take one.
MCR’s #10 Mike Cafro is also retiring from full-time WORCS racing after finishing out the year with the #7 plate, which isn’t bad for a man nearly double the age of his competition at over 40 years old.
The 2012 WORCS Pro ATV racing season proved to be another exciting year of racing, and with atleast the top four WORCS Pro-Am ATV racers moving up to the pro ranks for 2013, it should make things even more interesting as the pro rookies go up against some of the fastest pro racers in the World.
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