PHOTOGRAPHY BY DREW RUIZ
Rockstar FMF Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Mike Brown led from start to finish to take his first GEICO EnduroCross win since 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rockstar Lucas Oil Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker was able to apply pressure on the last lap, but settled for second while Factory Beta’s Max Gerston rode a smart race to finish third.
Brown’s night went great from the beginning with the veteran throwing down an insanely fast lap time during the evening Hot Laps session while also “quadding” a step-on-step-off section of the track previously un-attempted by EnduroCross’ best. He took the first gate pick and a bonus championship point into the Main Event. From there, he grabbed the Nexen Tire $500 Holeshot award. And that’s when the race got interesting.
Most of the drama of the evening took place right after the finish tire jump—into the second turn of the course. Taking the leading role in that drama was FMF/RPM/KTM Team Maxxis’ Cody Webb and Haaker. The pair charged for the inside line, both refusing to shut down and leave the second spot to the other—the result was them both going down and the rest of the class stacking up, around and on-top of them. Haaker would re-mount quickly (inside the top-10), while Webb suffered the worst of it with multiple bikes and riders blocking his way. Webb would rejoin the race towards the back of the back. Somehow, Gerston made his way through relatively unscathed.
Meanwhile, it was clean sailing up front for Brown. On a fast track it was clear he’d be hard to catch but Gerston kept him in-check for the first half of the race with Webb’s teammate Ty Tremaine in third. But behind them, Haaker and Webb were on a mission. By the halfway point, Haaker had charged past SRT Racing-backed rider Cory Graffunder and Tremaine to put the pressure on Gerston. Gerston looked strong, holding him off until around five laps to go when Haaker made a smooth move on the rocks to get by.
Webb was flying, too and managed to work his way through traffic to salvage some points in fourth place.
Graffunder ended the night in fifth ahead of Tremaine who was recently crowned FIM Super Enduro Junior World Champion. In seventh was Nick Thompson.
Beta’s Kyle Redmond finished eighth ahead of Kevin Rookstool on a Suzuki. Rounding out the top 10 was veteran Destry Abbott on a Kawasaki.
2015 GEICO AMA EnduroCross
Salt Lake City, Utah
Men’s Main Event Results
1. Mike Brown (Husqvarna)
2. Colton Haaker (Husqvarna)
3. Max Gerston (Beta)
4. Cody Webb (KTM)
5. Cory Graffunder (KTM)
6. Ty Tremaine (KTM)
7. Nick Thompson (KTM)
8. Kyle Redmond (Beta)
9. Kevin Rookstool (Suzuki)
10. Destry Abbott (Kawasaki)
