DENVER, Colo. – FactoryOne Sherco’s Cody Webb won round five of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross series on Friday, winning his first event after an injury forced him to miss the first four races.
Webb used 1-3-1 moto scores to beat Colton Haaker’s 2-1-2 scores in a tiebreaker.
“I had something to prove. I was in the TV booth helping call the races and missed being out here showing what I could do,” Webb said. “I forgot to breathe after a mistake in that second moto, but I was able to stay close enough to Colton to take advantage when he made a mistake getting around lapped riders at the end of the third moto.
“The wrist feels good, but the lungs and cardio need some work,” Webb added.
The night was still sweet for Haaker as he clinched his fifth AMA EnduroCross championship, equaling Taddy Blazusiak, with one round to spare.
“A championship done and that is five now, so I matched Taddy,” Haaker said. “The race was good for me with a close second in moto one and I came out on top of some bar banging in moto two. Then that final moto I made two big mistakes with lappers on the last couple laps that allowed Cody to get by me.”
Beta USA-backed Tim Apolle earned his first podium with 4-6-5 moto finishes.
Haaker got the evening started by earning quick-time with his lap of 46.708 seconds, which beat Webb’s time of 47.954 seconds.
Webb made his winning move when he quickly passed Haaker and Will Riordan in the early going.
Those three riders held the top three for the entire race despite the surrounding action.
Apolle and Cooper Abbott completed the top five in the moto.
In the second race, which was inverted from the moto one finish, Haaker held off Ryder LeBlond for the win. LeBlond led the first four laps until Haaker took the lead with an aggressive block pass in the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC rock garden.
LeBlond nearly passed Haaker for the win on the final lap but had to settle for second. Webb held on for third.
Max Gerston was fourth in the moto and Ty Cullins rounded out the top five.
Webb emerged victorious in the final moto, taking the lead from Haaker on the penultimate lap for more Denver glory.
Haaker finished second and Nick Thompson placed third, marking a new career best.
Abbott and Apolle completed the top five.
LeBlond was fourth until a mistake on the last lap dropped him back to eighth in the moto.
Abbott was fourth overall with 5-8-4 finishes on his RPM KTM.
LeBlond was fifth overall with 8-2-8 scores to earn the top Junior class points for the night for riders 21 and under. Gerston was sixth overall on his GasGas with 6-4-9 finishes. Graffunder finished seventh overall with 7-9-6 moto scores on a Yamaha.
Thompson was eighth overall on his KTM with 10-11-3 moto finishes. Cullins finished ninth overall on a TM with 13-5-7 moto scores.
Will Riodan’s 3-10-13 moto results earned him 10th overall on a KTM.
The finish:
Cody Webb, Colton Haaker, Tim Apolle, Cooper Abbott, Ryder LeBlond, Max Gerston, Cory Graffunder, Nick Thompson, Ty Cullins, Will Riordan, Spenser Wilton, Brandon Petrie, Anthony Johnson, Daniel Lewis, James Flynn, Dustin McCarthy.
NOTES
Shelby Turner won the women’s main event to take her fourth win of the season on a KTM.
Nathan Rector took his third win of the season in the intermediate class on a KTM.
Jared Prosser’s last-lap pass netted him the win in the amateur class.
Keith Wineland, a former top Trials competitor, won the Vet 35+ class.
A 50+ Masters class was added to the program for Denver and Thomas Headman took the win after a race-long battle with Scott Forrest.
Jack Williford won the Junior Trials class, which is limited to riders 12 to 17 years old.
Saturday’s sixth and final round of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross series will be the second of two consecutive nights in Denver.