Speedworld Raceway, Surprise, AZ 2008
- Updated: January 28, 2008
by Jeff Bertuzzi
The first round of the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS) kicked off in sunny Phoenix Arizona, and the weather did not disappoint anyone, it was sunny and dry.
The track started off on the Speedworld motocross track which featured a few big table top jumps, and then it went out through the desert on a 3-5 mile trail with whoops, bumps and ruts. After the desert section it was back onto the motocross track with a challenging log section tossed in for the pro and pro-am riders.
Most of the top pros from last year were on hand for the season opener including last year’s champ Doug Eichner (Duncan) and runner up Josh Frederick (Epic). Three-time ITP QuadCross Champion, Jeremy “The Hick” Schell made a surprise appearance. Some folks in the pits questioned how the motocross pro would hold up in the hour and half pro main. With 25 of the West Coast’s top professionals on hand, the pro class season opener sure was going to be interesting!
In total, WORCS runs three professional races. On Saturday there is the Pro Production and the Open Pro, and then Sunday is the big Pro race with the added cash purse. Saturday’s Pro Production race ended with Doug Eichner taking the win with Levi Marana hot on his tail, finishing just six seconds behind him. John Shafe rounded off the top three spot respectably.
On the holeshot of the Open Pro race it looked like Jeremy Schell was going to take the early lead, then he suddenly pulled off on the second turn, giving Mike Cafro clear sailing, but Josh Frederick trailed hot on his heals. It turns out Schell ended up just using the Open Pro race as practice to learn the track better for the big race the following day. Josh Fredericks took a commanding lead and ended up winning the race a full minute ahead of Mike Cafro (chef extraordinaire & great guy to borrow a throttle off of I might add). Timothy Shelman took third with honors.
On to the main event, plenty of questions surfaces as the field took their positions. Who would be first and lead lap one? Who would end up taking home the victory? Would it be reigning champ, winner of the Production Pro race and ATV legend Doug Eichner? Or would Josh Frederick dodge his typical gremlins and pull off the win. Would Jeremy Schell, who purposely only finished three out of the six laps in the Open Pro race, have more energy than the rest of the riders and end up being a big factor in the main?
On the start Eichner jumped to an early lead while #4 Robbie Mitchell followed closely. After completing the first 10 min lap, the race was red flagged after Eichner and Mitchell missed a turn coming into the pits. The turn was not properly marked off, thus the red flag.
One the restart Eichner once again was out front, Mitchell did not fare as well, but Josh Frederick came out a little closer to the front this time around. Josh ended up following Eichner for ¾ of the race. The two even got tangled up at one point and Josh had to get off and untangle his quad.
Taking it easy on Saturday, eating a good meal at The Cracker Barrel and getting a good night’s rest the night before were paying off for the “So Cal Hick”. There was no longer any question about him being out of his element or not having enough stamina to run an endurance race like this. Shell reeled the leaders in and was even able to make a last lap pass on Eichner to take second. Taking the gold however was Josh Frederick. Eichner was third, John Shafe fourth and Levi Marana finished with a respectful top five.
