WORCS #8/CINEBAR, WASHINGTON/DIRT RIDER.COM/130806
Ricky Dietrich claimed his second WORCS win in a row by taking round eight in his home state of Washington.
Ricky Dietrich is the latest hero in the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off Road Championship Series, as the Team Green-supported rider won his second consecutive round at round eight, presented by FMF. Held at the Burnt Ridge MX Park in Cinebar, Washington, Dietrich found the conditions to his liking, with a flowing motocross track followed by plenty of tight woods and a grass track section. "It's right up my alley where I grew up in," he observed. "This is my neck of the woods, and I kind of expected myself to win. Two in a row, I mean, I couldn't ask for that, but to get it, it's really cool."
Even cooler for the Carter Powersports/Maxxis/ARC KX450F-backed Dietrich is the fact that the sophomore Pro's victory--his second ever in WORCS--vaults him into a tie for the series points lead at 166 each with Team FMF/Suzuki Off-Road's Ryan Hughes, who did not participate. Hughes suffered a broken arm while practicing at round seven in June and apparently has not healed sufficiently. Both riders have 166 points.
While Hughes--and several other Pros, including Hughes' teammate Mike Kiedrowski--did not compete at Burnt Ridge, KTM's Kurt Caselli returned after a long layoff due to his knee injury and subsequent surgery prior to round two. Riding his FMF/Michelin/Moose 250 XC, Caselli quickly slotted himself into second place behind early leader Bobby Garrison's Zip-Ty Racing/Pirelli/Moose YZ450F. When Garrison bobbled in a tire section and momentarily blocked Caselli, Dietrich raced past both of them into the lead, with Caselli jumping in behind him. That's as close as Caselli would get, though Dietrich was nervous for the rest of the race.
"Kurt has, by far, proven himself the strongest guy on the track the last two laps," Dietrich declared. "He was scaring me back there."
Kurt Caselli returned to the WORCS tour after a long injury-caused layoff and finished second.
Caselli said, "It's hard to pass [here] so I waited for him to make a mistake, and he never did." He admitted, "I just kind of slowed down at the end--I got a little tired--but it's good to be back riding; I feel fine. I've still got to work on some stuff, but besides that, I'm glad to be back, glad to be riding again."
Dietrich was first to take the checkered flag, crossing the finish in two hours, 17 minutes and 59 seconds, with Caselli slowing on the final lap to finish 56 seconds back. Garrison held on to his third-place position a little more than three minutes behind, but two protests will keep the results of third on back in limbo until they're resolved. For now, only the first two positions are set.
Pro results, top 10 (third and below unofficial pending protest outcomes)
1. Ricky Dietrich, Kawasaki KX450F
2. Kurt Caselli, KTM 250 XC
3. Bobby Garrison, Yamaha YZ450F
4. Nathan Woods, Kawasaki KX450F
5. Lance Smail, Kawasaki KX450F
6. Eric Rhoten, Honda CRF450R
7. Jon Seehorn, KTM 450 XC
8. Robby Bell, Honda CRF450X
9. Matt Karlsen, Kawasaki KX450F
10. Rory Sullivan, KTM 250 SX
Nathan Woods ran with the leaders for a while and would finish an unofficial fourth, pending protest outcomes. | 
The start saw most key players up front: (from left), Nathan Woods, Ricky Dietrich, Robby Bell, Destry Abbott, Kurt Caselli and Bobby Garrison. | 
Bobby Garrison led the first half of the race and crossed the line third, but that result could change pending a protest outcome. |