Cycle News Staff | November 20, 2015
The 2015 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship will come down to the final race of the year this weekend as the series heads to Ontario, California. The Citizens Business Bank Arena will be filled with a championship fight to the finish.
In the EnduroCross Pro class, defending champion and series points leader Cody Webb has put himself in good position for back-to-back titles. The FMF/RPM/KTM Team Maxxis pilot holds a not-too-relaxing 10-point lead heading into the final round. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker is hot on his heels and riding a dramatic race-win wave of momentum from the last round in Idaho. Haaker will be doing everything he can to close the gap and take the title.
en points with one round to go might sound like a lot. But EnduroCross isn’t called the “Toughest Racing on Two Wheels” for nothing. With an unpredictable course and the most intense racing action around, EnduroCross is as inconsistent as it gets. The championship is far from over. Get ready for some racing math.
ach EnduroCross round has two extra bonus points up for grabs during the show before the racers head to the Main Event. The first bonus point is awarded to Heat Race Winners, simple enough.
The second point goes to the fastest Evening Hot Lap—a one-lap solo sprint show for the fans. Only the top six qualifiers from the three Pro Heat Races (first and second place from each) are invited to blitz a Hot Lap.
Win your Heat Race and throw down the fastest Hot Lap in front of the crowd and you’re two points ahead. Two very valuable points, as it turns out.
How Colton Haaker Becomes Champion?
If Haaker takes both bonus points heading into the main event, Webb will be racing him for the #1 plate in the main with an eight-point cushion. Haaker then would need to win the main event and Webb would need to finish no better than fifth. Haaker would be champion by one point if this scenario plays out. However, EnduroCross rarely plays out how anyone plans.
Two weeks ago in Idaho, Haaker didn’t even qualify to the Main Event out of his Heat Race and had to take the LCQ route after a slow start to the evening. He won the main event in dramatic fashion, yes. But by missing the bonus points available, he missed a big opportunity to tighten the championship. Unfortunately for him, Webb was there grabbing points wherever he could and as consistently as ever.
Haaker needs to be perfect Saturday night to become champion. And Webb needs to be uncharacteristically off his game.
How Cody Webb Becomes Back-to-Back Champion
Cody Webb is in the driver’s seat of the 2015 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship and if he can continue to tame the unpredictable nature of the sport and manage the track and his competitors wisely, he should walk away from Ontario, California the champion once again. Even though he and Haaker share identical Main Event finishing statistics for the year (three wins, three second-places, one third-place finish and one fourth-place finish, each) he enjoys this 10-point lead coming into the final round. Where did those ten points come from? That’s right—bonus points.
Webb has amassed 13 bonus points in 2015, more than double the closest competitor—Husqvarna’s Mike Brown with six. Winning either his Heat race or setting the fastest Evening Hot Lap in every round so far. At five rounds, he won both points. And that is why he’s in the lead coming into the finals. Haaker, with an identical Main Event record, has won three bonus points, in total, in 2015.
To defend his title, Webb needs to get into the main event and finish top-5. That’s it.
The GEICO AMA EnduroCross series will conclude on Saturday, November 21st at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, California.