Ryan Hughes Wins WORCS, Ricky Dietrich Injured
The unpredictable can and usually does happen in the World Off Road Championship Series. Moments before the Pro Main, disaster struck defending champion Ricky Dietrich, as a parade lap miscalculation sent back him to the Monster Energy Kawasaki semi for the day with what early reports have described as a fracture in his shoulder.
After a brief delay for Dietrich to be helped from the track, the Pro Main event launched with Chris Johnson dropping the holeshot on the full gate of pro riders. Johnson led them off the motocross track and into the off road sections which was a veritable minefield of bombed out deep sand straights and vicious sandwashes with huge braking bumps guarding the entrances into sand hairpin turns. When the pro field roared back onto the motocross track and over the signature Racetown 395 130 foot Step up, Ryan Hughes used his Factory Suzuki RMZ450 to power his way to the front and never looked back as he led the way to the finish after persevering for over 2 hours on one of the roughest courses the WORCS circuit has to offer. Kurt Caselli proved valiant aboard the Factory KTM 450XC in his effort to run down the hard charging Hughes but ultimately came up 5 seconds short of the leader. Nathan Woods finished a strong third with his Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F to fill the WORCS podium and gain valuable championship points.
In the P2 main, 15-year-old Joshua Morros took the win besting Brian Goolsby and Jamie Lanza to complete a Big Green sweep of the box.
The WORCS sets up the show next for Round 3 of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Championship Series in sunny Lake Havasu, Arizona March 16-18. Bring sunglasses, sunscreen and be ready to watch the fastest racers on the planet do battle to see who will be the a top the podium at the end of the day.