Andy Lagzdins emerged victorious at DP Brakes “The Race”
Article and photos by John Gasso

Maryland Pro ATV racer and current series points leader Andy Lagzdins (Honda / Moose Racing / ITP) crossed the finish line at the Bike Barn Saturday with a twenty second gap over three time OMA Nationals champion Rob Zimmerman (Honda / Moose Racing / Maxxis) to win the event that is simply titled The Race. Zimmerman and Lagzdins battled for four laps of the twelve-mile course in Fenton, Illinois. Matt Lindle ( Honda / Moose Racing / Maxxis) took the holeshot after a wide open run across the corn field, but lost the lead later in the race. Lindle would have to settle for fourth place behind Rob Weis (Honda / Moose Racing / Maxxis). The Stratford, Wisconsin racer managed to hold off Lindle to take the final DP Brakes podium spot with only a six second margin.

Lagzdins ran with the lead pack for the first lap and rolled through the scoring tent just two seconds behind Lindle, who was only three seconds behind leader Zimmerman. Lap two found Lagzdins in front by twenty six seconds over Zimmerman with Weis and Lindle close behind. After 1 hour-37 minutes-31 seconds of close competition the Dirt First racer collected another thirty points for his fifth win of the season. “You never know what’s going to happen,” said Lagzdins. “So I just planned on going out and trying to win each race. If the championship happens, then it happens.” This event was the first trip to Fenton for the Atvriders.com pro, as he missed the Moose Run due to an injury. “It was definitely close and fun,” he recalled. “You got wide open stuff, tight stuff that you can barely fit through, and then whoop sections and loamy turns, and the corn fields. It was really fun.” The Douglas, Smith Optics backed racer said “I can’t thank Dirt First enough for preparing my quad. ITP tires worked great, hooked up in the whoops and everything today. Elka shocks were perfect in the whoops. I couldn’t ask for a better quad. The Duncan motor had the power on the straights. Really it was just a great package and all I had to do was just ride it.”

Rob Zimmerman shook off his bad luck streak and put together a clean race aboard his GT Thunder, Scott Goggles Honda 450R to finish close behind Lagzdins and grab second place. “I finally had a good race,” said the Team Honda Racing group leader. “No massive problems. The closest race me and Andy have had.” He said “It was really good. It was nice to go from wide open to real tight stuff. Everyone was real close from the get go. I hope the fans liked it.” The three time OMA Nationals champion ran the fastest lap of the race on his final lap, but came up just short of the leader. “I’d gained on Andy quite a bit, but not enough to get the win,” he commented. Recalling the events in the race, Zimmerman had great things to say about his Honda racing machine. “The fox shocks saved my butt out there on a fifth gear jump. The quad just turned sideways in the open and landed; it just soaked everything up. The Clarke tank allowed me not to have to pit, which was great. Big gun exhaust system, Pro armor protected the quad. Let me rail around trees with those nice nerf bars. Flexx bars kept me nice and strong, taking all the impact out.”

Country Sports Racing Honda pilot Rob Weis collected the final DP Brakes podium spot after a close battle with Matt Lindle. The Caspersons Tree Service backed rider from Stratford, Wisconsin said the race was “excellent.” Weis came to The Race after a disappointing finish in Waukon, Iowa due to a broken sub-frame. The AC Racing, Hyper rims, Flexx handlebars, Amsoil sponsored quad was up to the task for this event, and Weis found himself on the all Moose Racing podium with Zimmerman and Lagzdins. “It was a great race. We were going pretty good,” he said. “I got tangled in a vine. By the time I got out of that vine Matt (Lindle) caught up to me, and then we battled back and forth to the end. I knew Matt was right behind me, and every field he was getting a little jump on me. It was a blast.”

Fourth place went to young racer Matt Lindle aboard his Quad City Quad Doctor, Arnold Motor Supply, D.L. Machine Honda 450R. Lindle, who currently sits in third place in the series points battle, lead across the long open field start and much of the first lap. “That was a great track,” he said. “(I) got the holeshot, got out there, lead quite a while. Zimmerman and Andy got around me. They got tied up on a tree. I got back around them, led all the way to the last straightaway. Those guys (Lagzdins and Zimmerman), they’re fast. It was fun being able to run with them, even just there for a little bit in the beginning.” The smiling young man also recalled his battle with Weis, saying “We battled those two laps here. We were right on each other the whole time. I just couldn’t get it done to get around him there.” Lindle, who credits his parents with most of his sponsorship, said the track was “awesome, just a nice mix of nice wide open areas. Nice tight woods back in there. I really liked it.”

Kevin Tinsley (Honda / Moose Racing / ITP) finished fifth on a day that he called “one of those days.” After clipping a tree, Tinsley was left with a jammed thumb. He also had some trouble with traffic. “I just danced around with a couple guys out there, a couple slower guys in the woods, and just lost pace with the lead pack. I just never quite caught up,” he recalled. Jake Voss followed Tinsley through timing and scoring with his Honda twenty three seconds later to capture sixth place in the event.

Seventh place went to the first non Honda racer, Curt DeMay, aboard his Gieson Motorsports, Moose Racing, Mom and Dad sponsored Kawasaki 450. DeMay said “The quad didn’t start up at the start but then I made it upon the straightaway. Then I was in like fifth and I just fell back. Someone had a tree in the way.” He joked that the spectators must have moved the tree to see someone crash. Kyle Turnis rounded out the top finishing pro’s with eighth place overall aboard another Honda machine. Turnis completed his fourth lap after 1 hour-45 minutes-58 seconds.

A ATV class rider Jon Hughes (Honda / Moose Racing / Maxxis) won his class and finished ninth overall in the event just sixteen seconds behind Turnis. Hughes, who comes from Stratford, Wisconsin along with Rob Weis, said “It was a fun race. I got the holeshot. I made one mistake out in the woods and a guy got by me but he let me back right away as soon as we got going. I got out front, kind of checked out. Had a lot of fun, rode hard.” According to Hughes it was a “fun track. I had a lot of fun.”

Ryan Holoweiko finished second in the B ATV class and thirteenth overall after a good start followed by some shifter troubles. The THR Honda team member said “I couldn’t get out of third gear, so I rode third gear to the first turn and a guy got around me and then finally got upshifted and I got back to him before we got to the jumps here. I think I stayed in second place the whole race.” Holoweiko said it was “a good track. One of those days where, you know, the white flag just comes up too soon. You can go three or four more laps.” Lady racer Kim Muzzarelli followed Holoweiko fifteen seconds later to collect second place in the B ATV class and fourteenth overall. The Houser, Powermadd, Elka, Spider Yamaha YFZ 450 mounted rider said, “It was a lot of fun. I felt really good out there.” After a bobble in the woods, Muzzarelli found her TORC, AC Racing, Van’s Motorports Yamaha behind some C riders. “It took forever to get around them,” recalled the Maxxis, Fast Flex Bars backed female racer. “It was horrible. And it just killed me, cause it’s so fast.”

Another THR Honda team rider, Aaron Wright, finished fifth in the C class and seventeenth overall. The Fly gear, Maxxis backed rider said it was an “excellent time. I liked it a lot.” Aaron Venters followed in eighteenth place overall to win the plus 30 class. Venters was aboard his new Maxxis shod Polaris Outlaw 525. According to Venters, the Polaris, with its KTM 525 engine, “was outstanding. The power is crazy.” He said “it was so much fun. I think the open fields allowed people to race against each other a little more than normal when you are just single file in the woods. It was a lot of fun.”

Quin Kosmecki rolled his B ATV Yamaha YFZ 450 in to fourth place in class and nineteenth place overall. The Gieson Motorsports, Thor, ITP racer said he had “a little mechanical difficulty with the machine, but she held up.” Smith Optics, Pro Grip, Ready Racing, and sidewinder chains and sprockets help Kosmecki maintain his racing program.

Jason Grundey won the utility class aboard another THR entry. The Honda Rincon “was running real good out there,” according to Grundey. “We were topped out in all the fields, and it handles real well. On the trails we were sticking with everybody. Even the motocross track we were having fun on. It was great.” Unfortunately Grundey hit a stump with his Thor, Alpinestar, Scott Goggles, Arai machine. The big utility quad bent a tie rod and suffered severe handling issues after the incident. “That basically took me out of the running,” he said. Meanwhile, final THR member Camas Reed motored her new Honda TRX 400 to ninth place in the C ATV class. “I switched to a new quad and I have reverse now, so it helps a lot,” said the lady racer. “The creek crossings, we miss those. It was great for this race not to have the creek crossings, but it made it a lot faster lap times.” Reed also noted “there’s not too many females who show up out here. But there was one lady in B class (Kim Muzzarelli), she’s fast.”

More photos may be found at www.photobyjohn.com

For more on this weekend see Dirt Bike Magazine-Cycle News-ATV Riders.com- Dust Magazine-Trail Rider Magazine-Parts Magazine!

Congratulations to all Rd 9 winners! Thank you for a great weekend of racing! Special thanks to PARTS UNLIMITED/MOOSE RACING - MAXXIS - and DP BRAKES!