Zip-Ty Racing Shifts Gears at Glen Helen

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - The Zip-Ty Racing off-road team shifted gears and went back to their MX roots as both Ty Davis and Bobby Garrison raced at the U.S. Grand Prix at Glen Helen on Memorial Day weekend. As the sixth round of the FIM World MX1 and MX2 championship series, this event pitted the best motocross racers in the world against a couple of American wild cards. With the USGP and the Veteran's Cup World Championship round being held together, it gave Ty and Bobby a chance to test their speed against Europe's best riders... Not to mention offering a sneak peek at who will be coming to compete at the Motocross des Nations in Lakewood, Colorado, this year.

Veterans Cup World Championship
Held in conjunction with the FIM MX1 and MX2 races, the Veterans Cup championship brings back blasts from the past, including former USGP winner Chuck Sun, Jeff "Chicken" Matiasevitch, Daryll King from New Zealand and a host of other legends. Limited to riders aged 40 and over, the heroes don't get to rest on their laurels any as they compete on the same difficult and demanding GP course as the MX1 racers. Ty Davis qualified his Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna TXC450 against the fastest "old guys" on the planet. In Moto #1, Ty got off the gate in good order, but was pinched off in the infamous "Talladega Turn" high-speed sweeper at the end of Glen Helen's notorious starting chute, dropping him back into 10th position. But by the end of the first lap Ty had already worked his way into 4th, just behind GP/Supermoto superman Kurt Nicoll. Ty battled with Kurt for three laps around the extremely challenging Glen Helen track before moving in to make the pass. Just when he had the expatriate Brit lined up in his sights, Ty missed a shift, which dropped him back into the 5th where he ultimately finished in the first moto.

In the second moto, Davis grabbed another great launch off the starting gate, proving his old MX reflexes are still sharp as ever. He was well inside the top five when Ty caught a small kicker coming down the face of the Mt. Whitney downhill which pitched him over the front of the bike and onto the ground. Ty recovered quickly, but was in the back of the pack and forced to work his way through traffic. Although he moved through the back of the pack quickly, the leaders were long gone. Unable to close the gap with overall winner Doug Dubach and defending World Vet champ Mats Nilsson from Sweden, Ty had to settle for 6th in the second moto. "I rode well and the bike worked great," said a smiling Davis after the champagne stopped spraying. "I think that it is great to have the Vet Cup race the same day as the FIM MX1 and MX2 teams, and I really had fun." Overall Ty finished a fine 5th place ahead of personal watercraft legend Victor Sheldon.