Sunday - again, WORCS racers, staff and spectators were hopeful for good weather. However, even the blue sky at 7 am couldn't shine too bright of a light on the deep, muddy track after another night of heavy rain. It was just plain nasty. The first race was postponed 30 minutes to get as much track work time in as possible, but the C class riders had a daunting task ahead of them. Sean Reddish clued them in that standing water may indeed be their best line, as the surface underneath was often more solid than the surrounding sticky ruts. However, it also called for being a little conservative on the throttle, which is hard to do in the heat of battle.

The "Grass Trap" proved to be most deadly, claiming the most riders of any obstacle all day. Nearly 18" of standing water on the back side of a roller, proved deceptive in distance as well as depth. Course workers stayed busy pulling flooded quads out, uprighting riders, draining water, and flagging down on-coming traffic. By the end of the 50 minute event much of the water had splashed out and a reasonably dry line was beginning to form to one side. It wouldn't last into race 11, however, as eventually the dry line broke through and allowed another nearby pond to drain into the track again. Course workers stayed posted at the spot for the entire day.

Race 10

Your podium winners:

Race 11

An hour later, were conditions any better? Not really. Though interestingly, there were fewer DNFs. Perhaps the Vet and Master riders really do have a thing or two to teach the younsters? Guess not- as the fastest riders came out of the Sport 15-29 classes. Fastest overall was #258 Jorie Williams in Sport A; second fastest was #777 Dominic Deluca from Sport B. Looked like a lot of Yamahas taking trophies home in these classes.

#247 Steve Shannon hit the Grass Trap hoping to hydroplane and skim the surface of the water crossing. It didn't work quite that way, but he did manage to keep motoring through and post a 2nd place in the 40+B class.

Podium winners:

Race 12

The smallest riders often have the biggest hearts, and today, they also needed stamina and patience to match. Despite numerous track changes, by-passses and uncounted "helpers", it was a long 30 minutes spent in the rain and mud for the 50 - 70cc bikes.

#19y Nate Wilson is apparently too comfortable with the water in his hometown of Tacoma WA. Nate missed an important lane shift in his second lap in the 50-70cc Open class, and ended up in the deepest pond possible on the track. With some help, he got back out and on track, and finished 3rd in his class.

Your superstar podium winners:

Race 13

Okay sports fans, this is it. Not only is Mother Nature against you, WORCS track officials are conspiring to torture. Course changes for the Pro /ProAm final were not looking to make anything easier - in fact, true to form, Sean carved out new portions and routes to make the track the truest test of Off Road riding ability he could. He continues to push the envelope, ensuring the most diverse and consistent riders truly earn the podium, and making all riders challenge themselves to be even better. For spectators, it's just plain great good watching.

For Monticello, the added Pro twist was a drop off a rock ledge. Riders could choose between one line with a 4' drop, with two levels of rocks so the bike was tossed slightly off-camber while in mid-air; or the other line, which was a shorter drop but had several crevases, holes and trees to contend with. Then there was the addition of nearly-single track through scrub oak and a hot pit across the paved parking lot.

Pre-race preparations were completed, including installation of some very creative mud deflection equipment. It was a fashion show of milk jugs, duct tape, cardboard, furnace filters, and what looked like Jiffy Pop pans for John Shafe. And bare hands and radiators for others.

The Pros unanimously elected to forego the parade lap, instead saving strength and equipment for hot racing and reading the track as it came at them. The all-important holeshot would be interesting as turn one really showed only one line high and outside, but there were 14 quads lined up side by side going for it. #2 Brandon Brown was first off and out front about half way up the straight away, however, at that point he met the first cross-traffic mud and the bog began. It was #10 Robbie Mitchell tucking in tight along the treeline opposite the "good line" and finding a dry line that no one had even seen earlier. It allowed him to shoot well out in front of the pack. A few lengths back were Josh Frederick and Doug Eichner, headed out of the motocross section and into the brush for the first time.

Next off was the ProAm line. Again, there was a mad scramble, blinding some with mud completely, but #119 Robert Kramar managed to grab the holeshot - surprisingly, from a center heavy mud line. He had just enough speed and momentum, and just enough head start over the outside riders to hold onto it, though with a very slim margin. Dax Snow wasn't as lucky, taking nearly the same line but bogging just enough that he collected #50 Gilbert Flores. Both came to a dead stop in the stickest part of the corner. #95 Justin Waters had left the start nearly blind and barely avoided being the third man in the pile. The last rider to clear turn one cleanly was #124 Paul Wilkerson, though he was at least ahead of Snow and Flores..

First lap - no problem. The rock drop was bypassed because the bikes came through so bunched up. Lap two however, the fun began. With a small crowd of spectators and course workers at the top and nearly as many photographers at the bottom, Josh Frederick was the first Pro through, with a pretty good lead. He took the right side with the shorter but more technical drop, no problem. The next dozen or so riders also took that route, with fairly solid results. Then # 47 Zack Herrera got to the obstacle just the exact wrong angle, was tossed just slightly off to the right and was wrapped up into the scrub oak. The angle was just right that as he lifted the front to move it over, the rear went into a hole and eventually he was wedged in tighter and tighter. In the meantime, other riders were bypassing and taking the steeper drop on the left instead. Several minutes went by with Zack working earnestly to free his quad, then ProAm holeshot winner Robert Kramar came up behind him and pitched in. Since no non-emergency outside help is allowed, the two labored for quite a while, with Kramar at one point even offering Herrera his own bike to continue. Eventually, Herrera told Kramar to go on, and he did, down the other line.

In the mean time, Dax Snow topped off his bad-luck-start with an even worst luck brush tumble. He took his first shot at the left line, and ended up dumped and rolled into the brush. With Herrera blocking lane 2, lane 1 was quickly filling up with other anxious riders, one especially eager to ride over him if he didn't get himself back upright and facing the right directly quickly. After some anxious moments, he got it straightened out and headed out on course.

Meanwhile, back at the top of the rock drop, David Lindsay had pulled up behind Herrera and finally helped free him - despite riding with a dislocated shoulder. In stopping to do so, Lindsay himself became caught in the rocks and brush, and he struggled on until guess who - Dax Snow. Dax had had enough of lane 1 where the course worker was pointing him to go, so he made a quick call to pull in behind Lindsay, help free him, then both took the line and continued one. The hero count -David Lindsay would finish 8th in Pro, Snow 5th in ProAm, Kramar 9th in ProAm, and Herrera would take a DNF. Thank you gentlemen, for reminding us the other part of racing.

Up front, the race was hot between Frederick, Eichner and Mitchell, trading the top spots several times. Frederick took a water crossing too deep and Eichner passed him, then Eichner took nearly the same bad line the next lap and Mitchell passed him. Frederick was plagued with flat tires and unscheduled pits, while Mitchell choose to ride on without goggles to avoid any extra pits. In the end, it was Eichner taking a podium win for Duncan racing, Frederick in second for Golden West Cycle, and Mitchell happily in third. The $200 HiPer Holeshot bucks probably helped.

In addition, Eichner's win clinches the WORCS Pro Championship for the third straight year. He will head to the final round at Oceano Dunes (Pismo Beach) in October able ride for fun. Though word from his mechanic Len Duncan is that he wants to "try a few things", so Doug may have to be on his toes after all. Frederick certainly wants to end the year with a win, so don't look for him to be holding back.

In the ProAm race, it was Nick De La Grange out front nearly the entire race but Justin Waters was riding hard to reel him in. After Waters bad line off the start, he set out and consistently turn fastest lap times of the class, and held those times steady through the entire 90 minutes. With two laps to go, Waters came out of a final pit stop right behind De La Grange and finally passed him for the lead, turning his fastest lap of the race. De La Grange must have known he was back there because that was his fastest of the race as well, but unfortunately for him it was about 30 seconds slower than Waters'.

When Waters came off, he was worn out and had no idea where he finished, thinking perhaps he was second. On the final two laps he had continued to push hard, finishing a full minute ahead of second place. He was very glad to find out he was wrong, though said he might have taken it slightly easier if he had known. His reward - not only was he top of the ProAms, he posted his best finish of the year, sliding his YFZ450 in as 5th place overall.

Both Waters and Paul Wilkerson, who fought his way to third for the ProAm division, laughed and claimed they were sure they must have been last off the start, and both had to pass nearly 20 riders during the race to earn their podium spots.

Your podium winners, and riders knocking on the door:

Next race - October 21 & 22, Pismo Beach (Oceano Dunes). This is last event for ATVs in the WORCS tour, and will be held in conjunction with the dirtbike classes so look for a huge crowd of racers as well as spectators. If you didn't get your parking permits from Pepper at Monticello, suggest you call or email WORCS asap. A limited number of beach passes have been reserved for racers, and once those are gone, Park Rangers do limit the camping and day-riding on the beach. Yes, it's full-on beach, right up and into the ocean if you want. Sunday after racing will be the 2006 Year End Awards.

Remember to check back here in the next few days (yeah, right, I know...) for the Monticello photo gallery! We had to bail on a couple races on Saturday due to rain, but we'll have hundreds of photos from everything else. You'll probably see your muddy mug here somewhere.

Congratulations to Doug Eichner on your championship, and we look forward to many more years of you inspiring the next generation to win with grace, humility and good humor.

-ptw