WORCS Championship Series Round 7 - Straddeline WA

WORCS X
Justin Seeds | 5th place
Robby Bell | 8th place

After opening a discussion with the pros a couple months earlier, the WORCS series decided to add a Saturday evening event to the seventh round of the series that would be for full race points towards the championship. It was a hybrid event comprised of a fairly tame endurocross section and the Straddeline motocross course, designed to be a bit of a sprint event and put on a show for what would be a pretty packed grand stands.

While Justin came in to the weekend looking to get a result against his championship rivals, with whom he was in a heated battle over second place, Robby was hoping to simply score some points to maintain his championship lead. Three weeks prior, at a motocross race at Glen Helen, Robby suffered a horrible crash where his chin came down on the metal crossbar, just to the side of the pad. Robby ended up fracturing his jaw, losing nine teeth and severely spraining his ankle. Luckily he had built a pretty comfortable points lead in the championship, so he was focussed on simply finishing to get points and not re-injure himself in any way.

The WORCS X would be a quick event, especially by WORCS standards, lasting less than fifteen minutes, so a start would be crucial. When the green flag waved Justin got going quickly, rounding the first turn in third, and he immediately pushed his way into second behind Eric Yorba. Justin was looking to get right up to the back of Yorba, but at the close of the first lap he was taken by surprise by Ty Tremaine, who pushed him wide into the pole of the finish line arch. Gary Sutherlin was right behind the two and took advantage as Justin tried to get back on course, taking third place away. Meanwhile Robby had gated just inside the top ten and worked into eighth place as the first lap came to a close.

Justin had a solid weekend, finishing fifth in both the WORCS X event and in Sunday's pro race, and moved himself into third place in the championship standings. | p/c: Harlen Foley

Halfway through the second lap there was a split-line section in the back of the course and Justin took the option to the left, while fifth-place Ricky Russell took the line to the right, which was a bit faster, and was able to make the move. From there Justin settled in and pushed hard to try to make a charge back at the riders ahead of him, but the race went by in a flash and he had to settle for fifth. Robby was able to maintain eighth for the length of the race and earned solid points to maintain his championship lead.

Top Ten Overall 1. Eric Yorba
2. Gary Sutherlin
3. Ty Tremaine
4. Ricky Russell
5. Justin Seeds
6. Justin Morgan
7. Travis Coy
8. Robby Bell
9. John Beal
10. Blayne Thompson

Watch Robby's GoPro footage from the WORCS X event

Sunday Pro Main
Justin Seeds | 5th place
Robby Bell | 7th place

In Sunday's main event the racers faced an unprecedentedly dry and dusty Washington race course as the Northwest had received little meaningful rain since last year. Justin decided to race his KX250 two stroke, as opposed to his normal 450 race bike, and was a rocket off the line taking the holeshot over Ricky Russell. Robby also started really well and moved into third as the course headed out into the trees of the capitol forest.

Russell was able to find his way around Justin on the first lap, and Justin focussed on following the Washington native through the trees. Justin was running a good pace, but a few riders coming up behind him were just a little quicker in the tight trees, forcing Justin back to fifth place by the halfway mark. After starting, third Robby's main goal was to run up front early on to stay out of the thickest dust, but he didn't want to get mixed up in any battles and one-by-one he would make it fairly easy on the riders behind to overtake him, eventually settling into seventh.

Robby was still recovering from a horrible crash three weeks prior to Washington. He rode safe all weekend in order to score points towards the championship while he continued to heal. | photo credit: Harlen Foley

As the laps wound down Justin was starting to feel a little pressure from the late-charging Travis Coy, and despite suffering a last-lap run-in with a tree, Justin was able to up his pace and hold on to a very respectable fifth. Robby, meanwhile, maintained a safe and comfortable pace to hold on to seventh place and again salvage points towards the title. Justin's finishes leaped him from fifth into third place in the standings, while Robby earned enough points to have the opportunity to clinch the title as the series heads to Glen Helen in late September.

Upcoming events:

Aug 15th: BITD Vegas to Reno | Las Vegas, NV
Aug 22nd: NHHA round 7 | Panaca, NV
Sep 27th: WORCS round 8 | Glen Helen, CA