Garrison Rules in Mesquite
| February 19, 2008
Bobby Garrison aboard his Zip-Ty Racing/Malcolm Smith Motorsports Yamaha took on one of the toughest courses yet seen so far this season in Off Road Racing and came home with a decisive victory in Round 2 of the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS). Second place went to defending WORCS Champion Kurt Caselli (Red Bull/KTM) who finished more then one minute behind Garrison after “hitting the ground a lot in this one.” Third place went to 2006 WORCS Champion Ricky Dietrich on his Monster Energy Kawasaki.
The Mesquite, Nevada course employed the Mesquite Motocross Park facility and track, a short but treacherous Worcs-cross section and miles of open desert and sand wash which chopped up into miles and miles of sand-whoops.
KTM/RPM Racing’s Kyle Summers grabbed the Cal Guard holeshot and had the glory of being in the front of the pack for the first few laps, but his lead was short lived, as Garrison took the opportunity to pull away from his top competitors by taking the lead away from Summers. Caselli started about 10th, but put the hammer down and steadily clicked off some of the fastest laps on the track as he moved through the pack. Caselli was shadowed by Dietrich for most of the race and the two friends had an epic battle until Caselli checked out and went after Garrison.
Two time WORCS Champion Nathan Woods fell victim to the course when he took a hard spill in one of the many sand sections and injured his collarbone. The extent of the damage is unknown, but word around the Suzuki tent expressed that the news was very bleak. Bike problems claimed many riders as Kawasaki’s Damon Huffman and Destry Abbott fell victim to the nasty sand when their motors blew up while both where running in the top ten.
Garrison proved to be untouchable for this one, as even the strong finishing Caselli couldn’t close the substantial gap Bobby G, who often says, “I like sand,” had achieved. Garrison took a decisive victory followed by Caselli, and Dietrich, with Summers hanging on for fourth. Justin Soule came in fifth, with Timmy Weigand sixth, Bobby Bonds seventh, Sean Collier eighth, Matt Karlsen ninth and Jamie Lanza rounded out the top ten.
Pro 2 action saw Taylor Robert extend his win streak to two-for-two as he again battled Nick Brozovich for the victory. Robert took the lead early on and was never really challenged. Though Brozovich would reel Robert in occasionally, he never was able to make a pass for the lead. They finished with Robert taking the win with Brozovich second, Corey Floyd third, Jonathan Davis fourth and Justin Seeds rounding out the top five.
