Blazusiak Lands AMA EnduroCross Championship at Las Vegas Finale

The Red Bull KTM Factory rider earns his fifth consecutive GEICO AMA EnduroCross title at the Orleans Arena and remains the most dominant rider in the sport’s history

Red Bull KTM Factory rider Taddy Blazusiak came to the final round of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series in Las Vegas last night deadlocked with FMF/KTM’s Mike Brown, but when the final battle was waged, Blazusiak successfully defended his AMA National EnduroCross Championship crown.

It was the closest EnduroCross title battle in the history of the sport. Both men came into the final round with 130 points each, having earned identical finishing positions during the season. Brown applied pressure right off the bat in the first heat when he grabbed the holeshot and went on to lead every lap of the race to take the win and transfer directly into the main event. Blazusiak also nabbed a holeshot in the second heat, but he was forced to do battle with American Beta’s Cody Webb, who took the lead at about the halfway point and went on to score the heat win. Blazusiak settled for second place, which was still good enough for a direct transfer to the main.

However, Blazusiak fought back during the hot lap that sets the gate picks for the main event when he turned in a 57.721-second lap to land the number one gate pick. Brown wasn’t far behind, with a time of 57.750 seconds.

Off the start, Brown beat Blazusiak to the first turn and led the first lap with Blazusiak in tow, but then Brown made a mistake and Blazusiak ran into him with the rest of the field coming on the scene and creating a huge pile-up. Brown and Blazusiak came out on the worst end of the melee, as they had to wait for the others to get going again before they could reach their bikes. The two championship contenders suddenly found themselves at the back of the pack while Geoff Aaron and then later Webb took turns leading the race.

Over the the next five laps, first Blazusiak and then Brown would mistakes while running in sixth place and seventh place respectively. Blazusiak would stall his bike, allowing Brown to catch up, only for Brown to struggle in the woodpile section and lose the valuable time he made up.

American Beta-backed Webb went on to take his third win of the season, more than any other rider.

“I am ecstatic right now. I had a great season except for that little setback” Webb said. “The track tonight was insane but I loved it”.

But then it all came undone for Brown when he crashed hard in the water section, losing 10 seconds as well as several on-track positions during From there Blazusiak picked up one more position and was able to finish the race in fifth place, four spots ahead of Brown, to secure his fifth consecutive GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship.

“That was one of the most exciting races I have ever had in my life,” Blazusiak said. “It was so much fun to battle with Brown this year, and I am excited we were both able to keep it clean while we battled for the championship. I’ve never been so far back in a race battling for a championship. I can’t believe how we kept finding each other throughout the race. I don’t think I breathed the entire twelve minutes.”

Orleans Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Results: November 23, 2013

Main
1. Cody Webb-Bet
2. Cory Graffunder-Hus
3. Kyle Redmond-KTM
4. Colton Haaker-Hon
5. Taddy Blazusiak-KTM
6. Geoff Aaron-KTM
7. Taylor Robert-Kaw
8. Gary Sutherlin-KTM
9. Mike Brown-KTM
10. Destry Abbott-Kaw
11. David Knight-Sherco
12. Eric Rhoten-KTM
13. Jack Field-Chr

2013 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship Final Points Standings
1. Taddy Blazusiak-146
2. Mike Brown-142
3. Cody Webb-135
4. Colton Haaker-126
5. Taylor Robert-119
6. Kyle Redmond-106
7. Cory Graffunder-105
8. Geoff Aaron-85
9. Gary Sutherlin-79
10. Justin Soule-78