After a pair of runner-up...
After a pair of runner-up placings in his only two other WORCS outings, it seemed a forgone conclusion that Kurt Caselli would win sooner or later. He got that expected victory in Utah's round nine.
KTM's Kurt Caselli came out the race winner, but Team Green-supported Ricky Dietrich alone left Bull Hollow Raceway near Monticello, Utah, leading the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off Road Championship Series.
For Caselli, round nine, presented by ARC, was a welcome return to the winner's circle and the first time he'd won a WORCS race since last year. After all, he suffered a knee injury shortly after his runner-up finish at round one this year and didn't compete again until round eight last month, where he again finished second.
"I'm just happy that I'm back up to where I want to be," Caselli said. "I feel good. The rest of this year I'll just try to win as many races as I can and look forward to next year."
Caselli led the first two laps on his Tag/FMF/Moose 250 XC but had to yield to arm pump and Zip-Ty Racing's Bobby Garrison for a few laps after that.
"I got arm pump in the beginning and just kind of cruised for a little bit and relaxed," Caselli revealed.
Bobby Garrison led early but...
Bobby Garrison led early but got nervous and dropped to second. However, he also moved up to second in series points.
Being out front wore on Garrison, he admitted: "I think [being nervous] is what the problem was. I had the lead and I came into that rock section, and I knew everybody was right behind me. I had so many lines picked out; I just couldn't [remember] them."
So, with about 45 minutes to go, Garrison and his Race Tech/Montclair Yamaha/Moose YZ450F could no longer hold off a resurgent Caselli, and he dropped to second, which he kept to the finish.
Team Green's Nathan Woods put in his best ride to date in the series this year, taking over third place around the halfway point on his Pro Circuit/Dunlop/Moose KX450F. "Today was a good day," he noted. "To be honest with you, I felt like I won the race; I rode really well. It's the first time I've gotten on the podium all year [in WORCS] so I'm really happy with it."
Two of his Team Green-supported teammates--Brenden Ritzman and Dietrich--rounded out the top five. Ritzman earned fourth in his very first time starting as a Pro, after being bumped up after placing fifth overall at round eight as a Semi-Pro. Dietrich crashed hard in the early going but summoned his reserves to get going again on his Carter Powersports/Pro Circuit/ARC KX450F. Though he dropped back to 10th or so, re-passing his way up to fifth at the finish ensured that he alone emerged as the points leader, with Garrison moving up to second ahead of former series points leader Ryan Hughes (still MIA while recovering from the broken arm he suffered at round seven) and Mike Kiedrowski of the FMF Suzuki Off-road team. Team Green's Lance Smail, sixth on the day, now holds fifth in points with Woods a point back in sixth.
WORCS Top 10 Pro Results
1. Kurt Caselli, KTM 250 XC
2. Bobby Garrison, Yamaha YZ450F
3. Nathan Woods, Kawasaki KX450F
4. Brenden Ritzman, Kawasaki KX450F
5. Ricky Dietrich, Kawasaki KX450F
6. Lance Smail, Kawasaki KX450F
7. Matt Karlsen, Kawasaki KX450F
8. Eric Rhoten, Honda CRF450R
9. Robby Bell, Honda CRF450X
10. Mike Corder, KTM 450 XC
 Despite a huge get-off, Ricky...  Despite a huge get-off, Ricky Dietrich managed to get going again and finished fifth. That put the second-year Pro into series points lead by himself though. |  Nathan Woods put in his best...  Nathan Woods put in his best ride of the series and earned third. |  Brenden Ritzman finished fourth...  Brenden Ritzman finished fourth in his Pro debut. |