On The Pegs June 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 6 | Page 63

On The Pegs VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 - July 2020
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try to put on a sprint and gap us. I just wanted to kind of latch on as long as I could.
I felt like I could have ran with him a little longer, but I don’t know if I would have
been able to obviously sustain that. So he kind of got me a little bit and I just kind of
settled into my own pace.
Lafferty turned in one of his best rides to date, finishing fifth overall and second in
the XC2 class. The XC Gear/Enduro Engineering/Husqvarna rider gave DeLong a run
for his money in the opening laps, but then lost out to Layne Michael for fifth in the
overall results.
After running near the front early in the race, Babbitt’s Online/Monster Energy/
Team Green Kawasaki’s Jordan Ashburn finished off the race in sixth, 1 minute and
14 seconds ahead of seventh-place finisher FMF/KTM’s Josh Toth, who was making
his return to racing after breaking his leg in February.
FactoryONE Sherco’s Grant Baylor overcame a bad start to work his way up into
eighth at the finish. He also was slowed a bit, having to use the old dump-can method
of refueling during pit stops.
Am Pro Yamaha’s Mike Wistkowski, winner of the XC2 class at the series opener in
South Carolina, was third in class and ninth overall, while Phoenix Racing Honda’s
Andrew DeLong was almost two minutes back in 10th.
Raines Racing’s Jason Raines won the FMF XC3 125 Am Pro division, finishing nearly
two minutes ahead of Husqvarna/FXR/Enduro Engineering’s Jake Froman, as New
York’s Dominik Morse was third on a KTM, just over eight seconds behind Froman.
BABS/Fly/Maxiss/Yamaha’s Becca Sheets kept her perfect streak alive in the WCX
Women’s Elite division, topping Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Tayla Jones by 23
seconds, however, Am Pro Yamaha’s Rachel Archer was in the mix and actually led at
one point.
“We were kind of just all riding together and I made a pass for the lead on the first
lap,” said Sheets. “I had a pretty steady lead going, but then I made a mistake on
one of the laps and got together with a lapper and we got hung up for a really long
time, longer than I would expect. I got up and got around, but Rachel Archer was
close, right behind as soon as I got going again. So Rachel ended up passing me. I
just kind of followed her for a little while and we were going through some lappers.
I felt like I really had to get around her, so as soon as we came through scoring. I was
able to make a pass right as soon as we got the white flag and I just tried to maintain
steady flow through that last lap. I was definitely tired.”
Enduro Engineering/Mepmx/Fly/Grizzly Peak/Traveler’s Rest Speedway/KTM’s
Mackenzie Tricker ran second on the opening lap but fell and broke her clutch. n