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Photography: Kenny Lau

As the Texas humidity slowly started to make its way into the mind and body of the riders, Kawasaki’s Thomas Covington started the weekend off with a bang in the 85 12-13 stock class.  The #64 busted out of the gate to grab the early lead and was looking to make it stick.  But the young Kawasaki rider would make a mistake in the first lap, allowing Cade Moore to get around him for the lead.  Covington would rebound to secure second, but it was too little too late as Moore was beginning to put some distance between the two of them.  Moore and Covington would take the top-two spots with Jose Ceja and Dean Spangler rounding out the top four.  But Moto two would be a different story.  Once again Covington jumped out to another great start, while Moore found himself having to work through the pack, after a crash right out of the gate left him at the back of the pack.  This helped Curren Thurman, who placed eighth in the first moto, grab hold of second and slowly begin to put some heat on Covington.  Thurman put on a hard charge but could not catch Covington as the two crossed the finish line 1-2.  The hard charger of the day award had to go to Moore as he put on an amazing charge to the front, coming from outside the top 30 to finish eighth in moto two.  The overall would go to Covington, with Thurman, Moore and Spangler rounding out the top-four.  Joshua Cartwright and Jose Ceja finished out the qualifying positions.

Consistency played a vital role in the 85 9-11 mod class.  Andrew Segovia might have taken a break from riding, but he didn’t forget how to start.  After jumping out to an early lead, however, the time off the bike for Segovia looked to have an effect on the young kid as Chase Marquier and Patrick Lods would work their way around Segovia by lap two, with Marquier taking the moto win.  Segovia was able to hold off a hard charging Shelby Peterson to hold onto 3^rd.  Moto two saw much of the same from Segovia as he jumped out to another early lead, but could not hold on as Patrick Lods put his KTM in front of Segovia by the end of the first lap.  After getting around Segovia, Lods began to distance himself from the pack, eventually taking the checkered flag in 1^st.  He was followed by Parker Fleming with Segovia once again holding on for 3rd.  But at the end of the day, Segovia would win the overall with a 3-3-1, followed by Marquier with a 1-4-3.  Lods and Fleming rounded out the top four positions.

The Schoolboy 1 class saw Beau Baldwin check out. Simply put.  After Baldwin got around Roberto Castillo in turn two he never looked back and crossed the finish line in 1st.  Brandon Glenn, Krae Weldon, Kirby Dodd and Jake Riggle swapped positions all weekend long, but they were no match for Baldwin as he put his Honda of Houston CR125 on top, with Dodd taking second overall. Glenn followed in third, with Suzuki’s Riggle sneaking into fourth with an 11-2-3.  Weldon and Bryce Dozier grabbed the last two qualifying spots.

To say that the Schoolboy 2 class was deep in talent would be an understatement.  Names like Cody Silver, Justin Summers, Kyle Swanson and Austin Burns all showed up and boy did they put on a good show.  In moto one Silver would work his way to the front and never look back.  Austin Burns showed he had the speed to run with the top guys, finishing second.  Kyle Swanson, who capitalized on a great start, finished third in front of Summers.  Moto two wasn’t much different; except for Summers.  While battling with Silver, Summers swapped out going up a jump and took a hard spill. He wasted no time getting back on the bike, but lost several spots while picking up the pieces.  Unfortunately for Summers this would not be the last time he met the soil at Whitney, as he found himself down at the end of the race in the big right-hand sweeper.  Silver rode a very consistent weekend and secured the overall with a 1-1-5, Burns took runner up, and Swanson went 3-3-6 for third overall.  Brandon Glenn, who finished third in Schoolboy 1, took fourth overall against the older age group with Dylan Schmoke and Summers filling out the fifth and sixth spots.

With two divisions of Super Mini 1 (12-15), getting top six is no easy task. Division one saw Aaron Sanchez get out front early, while Evin Pierce followed in second.  Beau Baldwin made his way past a couple of riders, with Pierce in his sights.  Baldwin started to catch Pierce and would eventually make his move going up the mini mountain.  He started closing the gap on Sanchez, but could not make up that much ground that late in the race.  Sanchez rode a solid race from start to finish and crossed the line in 1^st.

Division two saw Yamaha’s Matt Bisceglia take the moto win.  Bisceglia, who is no stranger to running up front and winning championships, finished fourth overall on the day.  Thomas Covington and Cole Heath both ran close to the same pace in the first moto, but would finish outside the top ten in the second moto; neither rider rode the last moto.  Jon- Murray Barr stayed the most consistent with a 4-2-1 and would end up on top in the highly stacked class.  Pierce took second overall with a 3-3-2 and Blake Lilley went 2-1-6 for third.  Matt Bisceglia took home fourth, with Brandon Scharer and Baldwin rounding out the top six.