ROUND 4: JUNE 19, 2010

Round four of the Yamaha/ITP QuadCross series took us east to Speedworld in Surprise, Arizona. It's a location known to be very hot this time of year. We were lucky this race, as temps only reached the 105-degree mark. The track has always been a fast track, and that was no different this round.

Moto 1: Dustin Nelson started right where he left off at round three by grabbing the holeshot, and within a two laps he was pulling away and making it look easy. The real action was for second and third place. Justin Noss started out second, with a little room between himself and third place rider Jason Dunkleberger. Beau Baron, who started in fourth, had caught Dunk and made the pass and was now closing the gap on Noss. At the halfway point Baron was all over Noss, but could not find a way around. Noss was just riding too well and not making any mistakes. Baron tried a couple of outside lines only to lose ground and in the end he just could not make the pass. Meanwhile, Dunk was now in a battle for fourth with Jason Fife, who started in the back and had worked his way up. They battled for a couple of laps before Fife was able to make a pass stick and gain some breathing room. Dunk backed off because it looked like he had an oil line coming loose and his machine was starting to smoke a little. At the end it was Nelson with the checkers, Noss and Baron second and third, and Dunk reclaiming fourth after Fife's quad shut off on the last lap.

Moto 2: The second moto always has a nice little incentive. It offers $250 for the holeshot, and it was Dustin Nelson just beating out Noss by a front tire. Once again Nelson said "catchya later guys" and left everyone behind. Within a few laps Nelson had put an eight- to ten-second gap over the battle for second, once again between Noss and Baron. This time Baron wasted no time forcing the issue when he took an inside line and did the bump-and-run. Baron said he didn't mean to hit Noss that hard - almost sending him into the fans along the fence - but he knew he had to make an aggressive move early in order to have a chance of running down Nelson. Noss dropped all the way back to fourth behind Dunk but managed to get around and finish third. Baron never had an honest chance of catching Nelson; the defending champion was on fire. By the end Nelson had put it on cruise control and finished out front by an easy 15 seconds. Baron took second, Noss third and Dunk fourth.

Next round goes back to Glen Helen on July 11, 2010. We'll see you there.

RESULTS:

1.Dustin Nelson (1-1)
2.Beau Baron (2-2)
3.Justin Noss (2-3)
4.Jason Dunkleberger (4-4)
5.Jesse Goss (5-5)

POINT STANDINGS:
1.Dustin Nelson (97pts)
2.Beau Baron (86pts)
3.Justin Noss (75pts)
4.Jason Dunkleberger (69pts)
5.Jason Fife (67pts)

Story by Roy Bloodworth

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