Just over an hour outside Las Vegas is Mesquite, Nevada, our destination for the next round of Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WORCS Racing. It was warm, with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s, but the wind was minimal, making it feel even hotter during the weekend.  Beau Baron would battle hard with Travis Damon but would wind up on top of the box as Braxton Grosse would win in Pro-Am, and Torey Matajcich took home the win in Women’s Pro. 

This course has a unique layout that starts in a moto course with big tables and fast corners before you race up a hill into the off-road section that would prove to be one of the rougher and more challenging tracks of the season with giant ruts forming in almost every corner. Baron and Damon would start the race in first and second, and they would set the pace early on in this race, running about 5 seconds faster than the closest competitor. Behind them were a heated battle with Logan Huff, Roberto Villalovos, and Alex Ortiz battling for the third spot at the start of this race. For the majority of the race, Villalovos would be the one holding onto the third spot in the moto, but a small problem in the pro section that consisted of some tires that you had to jump over which cut about 30 seconds off the time if you decided not to take that section. Huff would take advantage of that, getting around him and holding onto that 3rd place spot for the remainder of the moto. 

Inside that pro section, it wasn’t just Villalovos that would find himself in trouble as Baron would end up getting stuck behind a lapped rider and unable to find a way through, which would cost him just over 30 seconds, allowing Damon to squeeze by and put a 20-second gap between himself and Baron. Once he got around him, Baron would go on a mission in just two laps. He would close that gap between himself and Damon and get by him, closing that door till the finish line, where he would take home the win. He also secured the championship, which would make him a 10x WORCS championship in Pro Quad, and that wasn’t the end of his weekend as he would take home the win in Pro Production SXS later in the same day.

Pro-Am would also have a great race with multiple lead swaps between Braxton Grosse, who was returning from an injury that held him out of Idaho, and Cody Sanford, who is also second in championship points behind Grosse. Sanford would grab the holeshot and stay in front of Grosse until the third lap, when he would make a pass and find himself in the lead. While in the lead, he would lose his seat during lap 5, giving Sanford an almost 1 minute lead over him as he fought his way back, having to stand up with no seat available. With just two laps, he would make the pass stick for the lead and take home the win in Pro-Am, with Sanford finishing in second. Clinton Crafts, racing in his first Pro-Am event ever, would ride a consistent race in third place, holding off Cole Fryar and Gage Leaver to take home his first Pro-Am Podium. 

As the race starts, Donna Espensen would take another holeshot, just like in Idaho, but it would be Layne Fryar in the lead after the first lap. Unfortunately, she would suffer from an overheating problem which would cause her to shut off her bike, which wouldn’t allow her to battle for the lead. Matajcich would take home the win allowing her to pad the lead in points to 14 leading into the final round. 

From Everyone at Rocky Mountain WORCS Racing, we want to thank all the workers, racers, and volunteers for your hard work this week and coming out. We can’t wait to see everyone at the final round in Primm SXS will be racing on October 28th-30th.