Blazusiak Takes Denver and the Championship

Jean Turner | October 24, 2009

The night and the championship both belong to KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak in Denver, Colorado where round five of the AMA EnduroCross Championship took place. After three wins this season and a second-place finish at the previous round, Blazusiak came into the National Western Complex in a good position to seal up the championship, but along with a win, he needed Christini/KTM rider Geoff Aaron to finish off the podium. Fortunately for the Polish rider and unfortunately for Aaron, that’s exactly what happened.

In the main event, Blazusiak got off with the holeshot but Aaron immediately closed in and began to battle for the lead. It looked like fans were in for a repeat of the previous round, where the two put on an incredible battle, as Aaron and Blazusiak swapped the lead back and forth a few times on the first lap. At the green flag, Aaron had the slight advantage, but in quite a bold move, Blazusiak jumped to the inside and knocked his way past Aaron, who ended up on the ground. From that point on, Blazusiak went unheaded to the checkered flag.

Though he remounted nearly dead last heading into the second lap, Aaron rallied his way up to fifth where he spent the last laps of the race. He was able to squeeze past AmPro Yamaha’s Kyle Redmond only feet from the finish to collect fourth – but not enough to keep his championship hopes alive.

ZipTy Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder got off to a good start, and was looking like he might give Blazusiak a challenge, but he also made a mistake and slipped back in the pack. From that point it was Lucas Oil Kawasaki rider Colton Haaker who moved into second, where he would stay. Haaker began to close the gap on the leader for a few laps, but then settled into second, followed by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Damon Huffman, who ran a solid third for much of the race.

Haaker pulled off his best-ever finish, collecting second in Denver followed by Huffman. Aaron finished fourth while Redmond rounded out the top five.

Blazusiak not only claimed his first-ever AMA Championship in Denver, but also took one step closer to claiming the $50,000 GEICO Triple Crown. If he pulls off the win at the Las Vegas finale, the Polish rider will have $50K to go with his brand new number one plate.

Main Event Results:

1. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM)

2. Colton Haaker (Kaw)

3. Damon Huffman (Kaw)

4. Geoff Aaron (KTM)

5. Kyle Redmond (Yam)

6. Bobby Prochnau (KTM)

7. Jamie Lanza (Kaw)

8. Patrick Smage (Shr)

9. Cory Graffunder (Hsq)

10. Cody Webb (KTM)

11. Ryan Rodgers (Yam)