Things are getting crazy this weekend as the fourth round of the AMA Endurocross heads to Ontario, California. First the rumour mill was rife with speculation but now the entry list confirms it: Justin Barcia, the current AMA West Coast Lites Supercross champion will line up against Taddy and the boys in Ontario…
This weekend’s GEICO EnduroCross round in Ontario, California just got even more interesting. Fresh off of a podium finish at the final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship in the premier 450 class, Justin Barcia’s GEICO team announced that he will give EnduroCross a shot and see how he stacks up against some of the best off road racers in the world on the extremely technical course.
Barcia: “The team and I have been training just up the road. We decided that since we were in town we’d come check out the races and cheer our teammates on. I just said hey, ‘I want to give this a try,’ so our guys made a few calls and I’m going to race Saturday.”
“I’ve seen these races on TV before and the tracks are pretty gnarly,” Barcia said. “I will definitely be talking with the rest of the GEICO Honda guys to get some tips. I really expect to have a lot of fun racing against the best guys in EnduroCross.”
Johnny Campbell (Photo: JCR Honda)
Johnny Campbell, the Baja racing legend will take his first crack at competing in an EnduroCross this coming Saturday, September 17th. The GEICO AMA EnduroCross series, presented by Lucas Oil, will make a first time appearance inside the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California and Campbell will be competing in the Vet class. The top two finishers in the Vet class earn a spot in the EnduroCross Grand Championship, which is a winner take all AMA Amateur Championship and will take place during the EnduroCross finals in Las Vegas on November 19 th.
Campbell, who is now 40 years old owns and manages the JCR Honda off road racing program, which continues to be a dominant force in Baja with Quinn Cody, Colton Udall, David Kamo and Kendal Norman, who is also the current AMA Hare & Hound Champion and a regular EnduroCross competitor.
With Jonny Campbell and now Justin Barcia adding their names to start list we’re set for some explosive action but who’s in the hunt? One not to be counted out is Ricky Dietrich. The 2008 EnduroCross champion has added his name to the stacked field of riders that will tackle the extremely difficult obstacles that create some of the most exciting action you will ever witness. KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak is the dominant EnduroCross rider but Mike Brown has been challenging for wins and currently sits in second place in the points. He is a bulldog on a motorcycle and wants to take his first EnduroCross win. Then you have Geoff Aaron, the very smooth multi time Trials champion that has managed to beat Blazusiak twice over the past two seasons. Add in Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Justin Soule and his teammate Taylor Robert along with Beta’s Cody Webb, another former Trials champion and you can expect some great racing.
Will Barcia be the cat among the pigeons?
Geoff Aaron, who is in the thick of the series championship hunt, said he needs to start stepping up his game to keep pace with points leader Taddy Blazusiak.
“You want to do well at every race,” Aaron said. “So far we’ve just been OK. Hopefully we can step up. I hope the track is a technical one and suits my driving style.”
The Citizens Business Bank Arena is a new venue for the GEICO AMA Endurocross Series, which Aaron said increases the degree of difficulty heading into Saturday’s event.
“Everybody’s got to ride a course that none of us have ever seen,” Aaron said. “You kind of take it one step at a time. You go in there and see what the dirt’s like and see what kind of obstacles the track coordinators have built and see how it rides. We have a couple of practice sessions, a hot lap and then some heat races to figure it out. It all boils down to who learns the track the fastest.”