While the first race of the three day event was a mud race, the final race of the season was a complete dustbowl. Despite the drastically different track and conditions, Ashley Crouch was able to finish her season just the way she hoped by locking down second overall for the season after taking third today ahead of Mandi Mastin.
Crouch took off from a 4th place start but tangled with a tree before getting too far into the race. Crouch had to beat Mastin today to hold on to second in the points, and dug in to pass her on the moto portion of the track. Crouch held on to third, and was able to keep it there to finish more than 30 seconds ahead of Mastin.
"I'm super excited I got second overall for the year," Crouch said. "I'm really happy with how the season went and how I finished overall."
Watkins nabbed his third 7th place finish in a row in the XC1 ranks. Watkins had a strong start, but went down on one of the Ranch's notoriously steep hills. After three days of races, the track was becoming increasingly dusty and beat up and Watkins took a few more spills on the track. But despite it all, Watkins was able to finish the day 7th on the 450.
"I started out the year in XC2, and I've been with class since its inception," he said. "As the year was going on, I wanted to ride the 450 more and more. I feel a lot better on the bike now and I'm getting better overall results. It was a good plan to get my feet wet so I will have a little better advantage going into 2012."
Jimmy Jarrett finished the first lap in 7th, but when Suzuki's Josh Strang was injured somewhere in the second lap, Jarrett decided to stay put, and make sure the hurt rider made it out of the woods safely. The JG Off Road team wishes a speedy recovery to Strang.
Mead improved over Friday's race, by pulling in a 10th in the XC2 class.
"Today went a little better," Mead said. "I just played it safe today. I got a mid pack start and pretty much stayed there today."
"The track conditions from Friday to today were a big difference," said Team Co-owner JT Bennett. "Ashley did a fantastic job. It's a good finish for the season for her. The rest of the guys fought hard all day like usual. I think Jimmy did the admirable thing and stopped for Josh. He knew Josh was hurt, and said he wouldn't be able to concentrate knowing he left Josh there."
"We want to throw out a huge thank you to everyone for a fun and competitive season," Bennett continued. "We'd like to thank all the riders for working hard for us all season long. We'd also like to thank all the friends and family who help out the program from race to race."
Jarrett and Watkins would like to thank team sponsors JG Off road, GEICO, American Honda, Kenda, Silkolene, EBC, Tsubaki, Ride PG, Rekluse, Moose, Cycra, Arai, FMF, G2, IMS, BRP, Renthal, Works Connection, Factory Connection, Smith Optics, and Sidi.
Watkins would like to thank his additional sponsors Parts Unlimited, and ProMoto Billet.
Jarrett would also like to thank individual sponsors No Toil, CV4, and Outerwears.
Crouch would like to thank sponsors JG Offroad, GEICO, American Honda, Kenda, Silkolene, EBC, Tsubaki, Ride PG, Rekluse, Moose, Cycra, Scott, Tucker Rocky, Ogio, PMP, Spruill Honda, and Factory Connection.
XC1 Results
1. Charles Mullins (KTM)
2. Kailub Russell (KTM)
3. Paul Whibley (YAM)
4. Toby Price (KTM)
5. Jesse Robinson (BET)
6. Jedediah Haines (KAW)
7. Scott Watkins (HON)
8. Cody Webb (BET)
9. Eric Bailey (KAW)
10. Kenneth Gilbert (KTM)
XC2 Results
1. Andrew DeLong (HSQ)
2. Jason Thomas (HSQ)
3. Jordan Ashburn (YAM)
4. Steward Baylor (KTM)
5. Morgan Moss (YAM)
6. AJ Stewart (YAM)
7. Steven Squire (YAM)
8. Justin Bonita (KTM)
9. Zack Nolan (KTM)
10. Rory Mead (HON)
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