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The second round of the Clear Channel Stadium Series was held in sunny Anaheim, California. There were forty-one entries signed up for the day - unfortunately only twenty riders can run the main event, which means twenty-one were going home. However, because of the track conditions many people pulled out before the qualifiers even started. They simply said that they thought it was going to be a TT track, and had their quad set up for that.

As I was talking to John Natalie, the current points leader in the series after winning the Houston race, about the track, he said that the tracks keep getting better and better every year, and Clear Channel is doing a “GREAT” job. He wished that it had a whoop section like Houston had, but he liked the Anaheim layout better. Kory Ellis said that he also like this track a lot better. He was really surprised that the track had dried out, but was really happy that this year the track was more motocross compared to last years TT style track. Doug Gust also liked the more technical track. What he is used to seeing Clear Channel put together, is more of a TT style track.

This year they switched things up a bit. Usually they run the qualifiers before everyone shows up, but this time everyone got to run in front of the 60,000 fan audience. Only the top three from each qualifier advance to the heats for starting positions in the main. With 5 qualifiers that would only mean fifth-teen racers, and a line-up for twenty. That is where the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) comes in. They take the top five guys from the LCQ and put them in the main.

The first qualifier of the day consisted of John Natalie, Sage Baker, Jeremiah Jones, Jimmy Robinson, and Jeff Bertuzzia. John Natalie showed us what made him win in Houston, by taking the holeshot and never looking back. Sage Baker crashed right before taking on the second lap, leaving Jeremiah Jones in second place and Jimmy Robinson to take third, and these were the three from this qualifier that were advancing to the final. The rest would have to run the LCQ.

The second qualifier went as smoothly as the first. Tim Farr grabbed the holeshot and pretty much left the rest of the pack behind, with Skyler Stewart taking second and Nic Granlund in third. That would leave Cory Hintz, Jack Bedner, and Rafael Guzman to run the LCQ.

The third qualifier was a great battle. Keith Little grabbed the holeshot, with Tony Munio in second and Dustin Nelson in third. By the next lap Dustin Nelson worked his way around Tony to take on the second position, and Cyle Chislock moved into third to move onto the main.

Unfortunately the fourth qualifier didn't go as smoothly as the other ones. On the first lap Brandon Smith, running his first pro race ever crashed and went down hard. He took a trip to the local hospital where he was said to have a fractured shoulder, rib and back. Also Cody Smith, his brother, crashed half a lap later. Luckily, Cody didn't have to go to the hospital and was right back out there after they restarted the race. Kory Ellis took the holeshot and led the entire race. Cody Smith took second, and Darrel Patton took third.

The fifth qualifier went a little bit smoother. Jeremy Schell grabbed the holeshot and led the first lap of the race. Doug Gust then took over the first position from Jeremy leaving Jeremy to take second. Josh Frederick took third place.

The LCQ was awesome. With eleven guys competing for five positions everyone knew it was going to be a tight race. Brock Lyons grabbed the holeshot but Tyson Leaver was close behind. Brock managed to hold him off taking first place in the LCQ. The other who also were able to make it to the main included Tyson Leaver, Robert McClure, Jeremy Lawson, and Sage Baker.

They split the top twenty into two groups of ten to race for qualifying positions. Kory Ellis won the first heat, and John Natalie won the second one. Unfortunately Darrel Patton crashed in heat one, and Keith Little and Cyle Chislock crashed in heat two. Keith Little was the only one who was seriously injured. He had to take a trip to the hospital to get stitches after cutting open his face. We hope you get well soon Keith.

With twenty quads going into one corner it was going to be tight, however Jeremiah Jones jumped the gate. For that he was penalized and had to start from the back of the pack. Kory Ellis grabbed the holeshot in the main event. Kory knew that was what it was going to take to win - a good start. John Natalie was right behind Kory. Unfortunately he and two others, Jeremy Lawson and Robert McClure, crashed half a lap into it. Jeremy Lawson didn't finish the race, however the other two did. Doug Gust had a bad start and was working his way back to the top. Jeremy Schell was holding on strong right behind Kory Ellis, but Tim Farr wasn't far behind. Dustin Nelson was holding fourth place. Jeremiah Jones was on the prowl, after starting off in the back he was moving to the front, and fast. As Tim Farr was closing the gap in on Jeremy Schell , he rolled over going into corner. Doug Gust closed the gap on Schell and made the pass, Dustin Nelson Followed Gust right past Schell. Kory Ellis took the win, with Doug Gust taking second, Dustin Nelson taking third, Jeremy Schell taking fourth, and Jeremiah taking fifth.

After the race I was able to talk to Kory Ellis about the race. He said that he rode great - he tried to get the holeshot every race because he knew that's what mattered, and he did. He got out front and charged. With John Natalie, who was the current points leader, finishing so far back in the pack, it should put Ellis up in the front in points.

POINTS STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2