Las Vegas, Nev. - Goldspeed Racing Products returned to the top of the podium last weekend as reigning ATVA champion Chad Wienen secured his first win of the season. Wienen and the entire Wienen Motorsports race team have elected to compete aboard the Goldspeed aluminum race wheel for the second year in a row.
Two time champion Chad Wienen came out swinging, taking the fastest qualifier award as well as the moto one win ahead of a talented and hungry field of racers. In moto two, Wienen trailed John Natalie who ripped a holeshot and carried the lead for the entire race. Wienen’s 1-2 finishes were good enough to give him the overall and allow him to keep the coveted red plate going into round two. Fellow Wienen Motorsports/Goldspeed/FMF rider Thomas Brown managed a 5-5 finish to give him a top five spot for the weekend.
On the West Coast, WORCS racers managed to overcome the brutal conditions of the Lake Havasu race course to earn multiple podiums at the third round of the World Offroad Championship Series. Despite a historically rough course, record attendance meant that racers would have to be on top of their game to survive the conditions as well as the competition.
Lonestar Racing/JRi Shocks/Goldspeed racer David Flores took the early lead in Saturday’s Production A race and looked as if he would easily secure a spot in Sunday’s Pro-Am main event. Unfortunately, the clutch on his Honda TRX 450R gave out on lap seven forcing at DNF and opening the door for his Goldspeed teammate Chandler Waxman to take the overall. Despite the mechanical issue, as the class points leader Flores would automatically qualify for the Pro-Am race on Sunday.
Behind Flores, in the Open A class, Mike Sloan overcame a rough start and worked his way to the front, checking out on the rest of the field and proving that he brought his A game to Havasu.
In Sunday’s main event, Mike Sloan would grab the holeshot and leave the rest of the field in his dust as he road uncontested the entire 1:45 minute race. Flores would give chase for the first few laps but eventually backed off the pace to save energy. In the final laps of the race, Flores got crossed up in a rut and careened off the course and off a ledge, flipping his quad. After gathering himself and getting back on, he managed get back on the course and finish the race almost two and a half minutes ahead of third place.
In the Pro race, Can-Am mounted Dillon Zimmerman had difficulty firing his quad from the dead engine start and left the line in sixth place but managed to pass all the way to second when the rest of the field opted not to take the lagoon jump. Zimmerman began to reel in the leader until his quad started smoking and losing power. He would hold on for a few more laps, briefly trading positions with Dustin Nelson, before the engine gave out ending his day.
“I’m very frustrated with our luck,” said Zimmerman after the race. “My JRi Shocks were working awesome and we tried a different tire combination that worked really well in the deep ruts and whoops. We just threw on the Goldspeed sand tires for Saturday’s practice and I was five seconds faster a lap with them. On a short course, five seconds a lap is huge.”
Donna Ellsworth won the ironman (or woman) award for the weekend for competing in three classes, including racing twice on Sunday. Ellsworth lined up in the Sport 15-29 A class on Sunday morning and then finished up the day with an 8th place finish in the 1:45 minute long Pro-Am race. Ellsworth’s husband Rick took home top honors in the 30+ and 50+ classes for the weekend.
