BIG 6 GP, GLEN HELEN

The Prairie Dogs MC round of the AMA Big 6 Grand Prix series is often targeted for the biggest west coast storm each year, and becomes an oddball mud race most years. The weatherman said this year was probably going to be a repeat. But the weatherman was wrong. Glen Helen Raceway got just enough rain the night before the race to make it absolutely perfect, as if the rain gods were trying to make up for past transgressions.

The field of west-coast Pro off-road riders was divided this year between the MSR Big 6 series and the WORCS round at Canyon Raceway in Arizona. Some pro riders claimed they planned on making the overnight drive to do both, but the top riders had to make a decision to do one or the other. Justin Seeds, in particular, gave up good standing in the WORCS series to compete for the Big 6 title. Blayne Thompson was the only rider attempting to ride both. He left right after Saturday’s Western GP at Glen Helen to make the six-hour drive to Arizona. He will start the two-hour WORCS Pro race at 10:30 Sunday morning.

Colton Udall of the self-formed privateer WFOX team is committed to the Big 6 series and came out of the weekend with a Pro win. He’ll combine that with his two third place finishes to become the clear point leader, although Precision Concepts’ Justin Seeds didn’t give up easily. Seeds was just barely out of reach of the lead throughout the race to finished second. The Holeshot from the MX-style start

went to Ryan Penhall, but he and Jeff Loop made a wrong turn early in the race. At the end of lap one it was Colton in front with his teammate Mark Samuels in second. Samuels had a number of problems that pushed him back in subsequent laps to eventual fourth Heavyweight behind Udall, Seeds and Thompson. The most impressive rider through the middle laps of the 90-minute race was Trevor Stewart, who came from behind on his YZ250 two-stroke to pass nearly all of the big bikes and claim third overall. He won the lightweight class ahead of Nick Stover and Rowan Trefz.

The Heavyweight Experts were topped by Benny Breck, who finished ninth overall. Troy Vanscourt was the top Lightweight Intermediate, head of Johnny Campbell’s son Preston Campbell. For more results go to www.big6racing.com.