underway , Layne Michael , still feeling the effects of his opening round crash and injury , would fall off the pace and allow Bollinger to move into the final podium position . With the white flag out , Kelley was way out front , but the battle for second was tightening up . Toth still held the position with Bollinger charging from behind . Less than 30 seconds into the final lap , Bollinger would slide out on the motocross track , allowing Toth to increase his gap . Delong and Ashburn would round out the top five in the field .
Kelley would take his sixth in a row , nearly four minutes ahead of the XC1 pack . Toth on the final lap would get his bike stuck in a rut , allowing Bollinger to go by and take the second step on the podium , with Toth rounding out the top three after the mistake . Ashburn would pass Delong to take fourth , while Strang who was returning from injury would take sixth ahead of Michael , Russell , Baylor , and Justin Ashburn .
Kelley would say after the race , “ I could see Josh and Layne the first three laps , they were maybe 8-10 seconds behind me . I just kept it smooth and found another gear the second half of the race and just started flowing , but man was it tough . I ’ m tired , it felt like a long race , it was physical but happy to get another win .”
Bollinger had to fight at the end of the race to take second , but it was
VOL . 7 ISSUE 6 - JUNE 2022 // PAGE 159