Unlike last race, which was on the soft and muddy side, the ground was hardpacked and dry-slick. There was some dust out in the field sections, but in the woods the trees and shade had kept the ground just damp enough to keep the race from being a dustbowl. It was the first really hot race of the year, but fortunately the youth riders compete early in the day, so didn’t have to deal with temperatures as brutal as the big bikes did. Out of the 94 riders in the youth ATV race, Nicholas Dearing was the overall winner, while Bodie Buckhannon took the overall win in the 37-rider micro ATV race.

Dearing took the win in YXC1, after leading for the majority of the race. By the third lap, Charlie Stewart and Tyler Cox had caught back up to him, and by the next one, both had passed Dearing, dropping him back to 3rd. Heading into the last lap it was a super tight battle, with only two seconds separating the riders. In the end, Dearing was able to get back into the lead and even pull a small gap on Stewart, who finished second, and Cox, who was third. When asked about his race, Dearing said, “I got off to a great start! I ran in first for a while, got held up by some other riders and had to battle my way back until I saw the checkered flag! I was happy to take another win and it felt great to be racing again!”

In YXC2, Ty McGaughey won again, keeping his perfect season intact. He led from start to finish, beating out second-place rider Harrison Lindsey by an impressive two and a half minutes. Lindsey’s second place ties his best finish so far this year – not bad, especially considering he started out the day in 8th place. Brody Pullen was in 5th at the beginning of the final lap, but charged his way past Tavin Cook and Bryson Lee, earning the last spot on the YXC2 podium. When asked about his race, McGaughey said “I had a good start, moved into first quickly and led the whole race. I had a great weekend; the track was awesome. I had fun with all my friends and I’m glad to get back on the quad!”

The overall non-YXC rider in the ATV youth race was Bryce Pullen (YAM), racing in the 125 JR (8-11) class. He placed 15th overall.

In MXC1, Bodie Buckhannon made it two in a row, further solidifying his points lead over Khyler Davis. Buckhannon was on fire this race, running laptimes that averaged at least a minute faster than the next closest time. Given that the micro race laptimes tend to be around the ten minute range, that is especially impressive. Khyler Davis was able to recover from a 6th place start, slowly moving up to 2nd place, while fending off passes from Ethan Berner (3rd) and Brayden Cox (4th), both of whom came through the finish line right on her tail. When asked about his race, Buckhannon said “I had a great start and headed into the woods in first place. I picked good lines and was able to hold on to the lead. The course was tighter than normal but it was fun!”

It was a good weekend for both the Buckhannon brothers, as Kody Buckhannon won MXC2 and finished 2nd overall behind his older brother! Buckhannon started off his race in 2nd behind Noah Slocum. Buckhannon passed for the lead on lap four and made it stick. Slocum didn’t let the win slip away easily, he finished eight seconds behind Buckhannon and took third place overall as well!  A mistake on lap three cost third-place riderr Reed Stevens almost two minutes, but he held onto third and eroded that gap to only fifteen seconds by the end of the day. “I had a good start and was second headed into the woods. I picked out some good lines that got me around some lappers and the leader, who was still trying to get around them. I think I could have caught my brother [Bodie] if we’d had a few more laps!

The overall non-MXC rider in the Micro ATV race was Ryder McCormick (HON) racing in the 90 Stock (8-9) class. He finished 8th overall.