Dietrich Takes EnduroCross Finale

Jean Turner | November 22, 2009

The championship wasn’t on the line, but $50 grand was. Still, it was a disappointing night for Red Bull KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak. With the title already wrapped up, he still came into Vegas as the only rider with a chance to nab the Triple Crown but his bid for the win at the AMA/GEICO EnduroCross finale was thwarted on the first lap after he was taken out by a hard-charging Ricky Dietrich. Making his return to the series after recuperating from a foot injury, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dietrich showed his dominance on the extremely technical course, chasing down Christini KTM’s Geoff Aaron for the overall win.

Aaron held on for second and Damon Huffman joined his Kawasaki teammate on the podium, taking third for the evening. Lucas Oil Kawasaki rider Colton Haaker finished fourth and Blasuziak was only able to salvage fifth after struggling through the rest of the main with an injured knee.

Destry Abbott – fresh off of the Baja 1000 – grabbed the holeshot in the main event and led the early charge, but it wasn’t long before Aaron got by for the lead. He and Dietrich were the only two to get away clean from a first lap hang-up (the result of Dietrich center-punching Blasuziak). Aaron jumped out to a commanding early lead, but Dietrich didn’t waste time reeling him in. The two went back and forth a bit before Dietrich secured the point and built up a comfortable gap of his own, taking his lead all the way to the checkered flag.

Aaron’s second-place finish credited him with second overall in the championship followed by Huffman, who ends the year in third followed by Haaker and ZipTy Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder.

 

Main Event Results:

1. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw)

2. Geoff Aaron (KTM)

3. Damon Huffman (Kaw)

4. Colton Haaker (Kaw)

5. Taddy Blazusiak (KTM)

6. Cody Webb (KTM)

7. Bobby Prochnau (KTM)

8. Cory Graffunder (Hsq)

9. Mike Brown (KTM)

10. Graham Jarvis (Shr)

11. Destry Abbott (Kaw)

 

AMA/GEICO Powersports EnduroCross Series Final Points Standings:

1. Taddy Blasuziak (161)

2. Geoff Aaron (134)

3. Damon Huffman (115)

4. Colton Haaker (111)

5. Cory Graffunder (96)

6. Kyle Redmond (80)

7. Mike Brown (75)

8. Ricky Dietrich (66)

9. Jamie Lanza (61)

10. Gary Sutherlin (50)

11. Bobby Prochnau (41)

12. Patrick Smage (40)

13. Destry Abbott (33)

14. Jason Raines (31)

15. Ryan Rodgers (28)

16. Phil Smage (27)

17. Cody Webb (26)

18. Nick Brozovich (26)

19. Eric Rodgers (23)

20. Ronald Commo (21)

Jean Turner | Contributor

A former staffer at Cycle News, Turner continues to contribute to the website and magazine as a columnist and someone we can count on to whip up a few thousand words on an off-road race when needed.