Justin Jones tops the 24th Annual Prairie Dogs Grand Prix, round three of the AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series.
After starting the season with a disappointing DNF, Ox Motorsports Honda’s Justin Jones knew there was nowhere to go but up, and the son of three-time AMA 250cc National Motocross Champion Gary Jones wasted no time plotting a steep trajectory in his quest to be the best when the AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series visited Glen Helen Raceway, Sunday.
Jones claimed fifth at round two of the series, but at round three at Glen Helen he unknowingly made a last-lap pass to win the 24th Annual Prairie Dogs Grand Prix, hosted by the Prairie Dogs Motorcycle Club.
“I’m really happy—this is my first Pro win!” Jones said. “It feels great to do it at Glen Helen. I grew up racing here; they’re always so nice to me, and I really love the track.”
Ironically, Jones didn’t realize he’d won until after crossing the finish line where spectators relayed his status to him. During the race, he’d been following Ox Motorsports Honda teammate and defending series champ Colton Udall on that last lap, but Udall crashed in a spot on the track where Jones did not see him.
“I only had the lead of the race for about a hundred yards,” Udall said. “I came up on a lapper and I railed the outside really hard, and it was kind of a technical area. My front end skipped up really high. Once it caught, it went right off the track and I went into the bushes.”
Hidden from Jones’ view, Udall managed to get his CRF450R back on the trail after losing only one spot and took off after his teammate, finishing just 3 seconds behind him at the end of that 90-minute, $5000 AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series feature race.
But going into that last lap, both riders trailed Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey, who’d spent most of the race engaged in a private battle for the lead with Fasthouse Yamaha-mounted Blayne Thompson, the winner of the first two rounds. (That duel ended when Thompson ran out of fuel and had to push his bike back to the pits.) Unfortunately, a mistake cost Shirey his first WCGP overall triumph as he changed lines on the long, steep Yamaha uphill, hit something wrong and endoed—yes, endoed—going uphill.
“It was a bummer; I couldn’t get up fast enough,” he said. “I had to come back down and get a re-run at the hill.”
Shirey managed to hang on to claim third, 22 seconds behind Udall. Meanwhile, Trevor Stewart claimed the WCGP Pro II victory, this one aboard the Fasthouse YZ250 he’d used to overall the series finale last year. As a Pro II, Stewart had started on the second row and vaulted to 14th overall by the end of the first lap and made it up to fourth overall by the time the white flag came out.
“I ended up getting a really good start and worked my way up, trying to pick people off one at a time,” he said. “I ended up getting to the EnduroCross section and it looked like a lot of people had some bad luck [there] and I ended up capitalizing on their mistakes. I got by quite a few people [there].”
Privateer Maxxis Yamaha rider Jeff Loop finished fifth overall, fourth WCGP Pro, followed by 2014 Big 6 champ Eric Yorba, Thompson, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Kawasaki teammates Justin Seeds and Robby Bell, and John Burr Cycles Kawasaki rider Ryan Reina.
2016 AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series
24th Annual Prairie Dogs Grand Prix
Glen Helen Raceway
San Bernardino, California
Results: March 6, 2016 (Round 3 of 8)
Overall
1. Justin Jones-Hon
2. Colton Udall-Hon
3. Dalton Shirey-Hus
4. Trevor Stewart-Yam
5. Jeff Loop
6. Eric Yorba-KTM
7. Blayne Thompson-Yam
8. Justin Seeds-Kaw
9. Robby Bell-Kaw
10. Ryan Reina-Kaw
11. Michael Del Fante-Yam
12. Mike Sletter
13. Beau Baron-Hon
14. Mitch Anderson-KTM
15. Trvis Damon-Hon
16. Thor Amad0r
17. Jared Minor-Hon
18. Nic Garvin-Hon
19. Mason Ottersberg
20. Jarett Megla
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