AZOP North 93 ATV Race Report Round 4

The ATV’s rode the soft silty berms of Western Raceway during the Round 4 stop of AZOP’s championship series.
Photo: MotoCanon/ Graham Buck

The Round 4 stop of Arizona Offroad Promotions’ championship series landed in White Hills, Arizona at Western Raceway. The race was sponsored by ATD Automotive. The 80 acre multi-track facility had the perfect variation of obstacles for an AZOP race. The race was held primarily on the main track and ventured off into the outer area of the raceway for some flat single track action.

In the Pro Quad class, Mike Sloan demonstrated his untouchable WORCS experience, grabbing the holeshot and leading the entire race, finishing two and a half minutes ahead of second place on his Pointless Racing Yamaha. Pointless Racing teammates Erin and Andrew Simmons also had great days, finishing third and fourth respectively. Finishing the podium out was Ricardo Gonzalez taking a solid second place.

Mike Sloan effortlessly takes the win at Western Raceway

In the stacked Sportsman Class, Francisco Lizarraga came off the line hot and led the first lap, with Nick Helton following close behind. Many positions would switch in the following laps, most notably Austin Snyder coming from an eighth place start to taking the lead on lap five, and holding on to take the win. Rounding out the podium in Sportsman would be Francisco Lizarraga in second and Michael Mack in third. Top 10 for Quads would be the four Pro’s of Mike Sloan, Ricardo Gonzalez, Erin Simmons, Andrew Simmons, followed by Todd Ellsworth (Expert), Michael Tsosie (Expert), Austin Snyder (Sportsman), Brandon Siewiyumptewa (Expert), Francisco Lizarraga (Expert) and David Ham (ATC 3 Wheelers).

Next Race is at Thin Air Offroad Park in Winslow, AZ on May 5-6. More info at Azopracing.com