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Off-Road Riders Take 1st In Night Race

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

Offroad racing team l to r Damon Bush, Will Sheldon and Dalton Jones lit up the course at an MRAN night race held in Jean Nevada. The team took first place in the race. Photo courtesy of Tracey Rodgers.

The Motorcycle Racing Association of Nevada (MRAN) hosts over a dozen races throughout the year around the Silver State, and one of their recent races featured an impressive finish by a few local racing enthusiasts. On June 22, MRAN hosted its second Night Series event of 2019 in Jean, Nevada.

The event, which started around 9:00 PM and didn’t wrap up until after midnight, was open to all interested competitors, whether they be novice or expert. The race consisted of eight laps of sixteen miles each, and featured multiple classifications based on how many racers competed in the relay-style event.

Local riders Damon Bush, Dalton Jones, and Will Sheldon teamed up for the event and entered the Open Expert Class, which allowed them to compete with three racers to the bike. The class for the most advanced professional riders in the race allowed for just two.
“We were just going to have a good time so we signed up there instead,” explained Sheldon.

The team elected to use Sheldon’s motorcycle, a Twisted G Enterprises / Abaico Electric-backed YZ450. In such a long race, endurance, problem-solving, and motorcycle durability were all critically important.

“The fun part about night racing is all of the potential problems,” explained Sheldon.”Whether it’s the lights or a flat tire, it’s fun to be able to solve it as you go.”

The team got off to a good start when Dalton Jones took the bike for the first two laps.
“Dalton started the race and was able to run near the same pace as the pros,” Sheldon said.

In the second lap, Jones claimed second place by passing one of the riders from the Vet class.
“I followed him right out of the pits and ate dust in the first half trying to stay close,” Jones said, “I started reeling him in once the dust cleared and he was gassed after a few woops and let me by.”

After the second lap, Jones pulled in for a pit stop to refuel the bike and switch riders. Will Sheldon took over for the third and fourth laps.

In the third, the team pulled into the leading spot. And they never looked back from there. In fact, at this point, the trio began facing navigation problems because they started overlapping other racers.

“At night time, the dust is gnarly!” said Shledon. “The headlights light up the dust and sometimes it’s like a wall. So we had some issues with the dust and weren’t able to pass some riders cleanly.”

Regardless, the team claimed a healthy lead when Damon Bush raced the fifth and sixth laps. Jones and Sheldon took one lap each for the final two and the team finished with a comfortable first place. This was not only in their class but for the overall race. With a time of 3:47:15, Jones, Sheldon, and Bush were six minutes ahead of the next fastest team.

“We weren’t necessarily the fastest guys out there,” Sheldon said. “But we were the most consistent and the bike held up.”

Sheldon also explained that they hooked the bike’s lights up to battery packs to conserve power and make the bike a bit more reliable for this type of race. Bush, Sheldon, and Jones clearly made the right choices and consequently found themselves in the top spot of the race.

The next MRAN Night Series race will be on July 20 in Searchlight, Nevada, so more action is sure to be around the corner.

 

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