Last weekend, ran in conjunction with stop #4 of the ABA National Series, was the USAC National Championship in Chula Vista, California. This was a 3 day event with racing on the ABA track Friday and Sunday and the American Elites racing on the supercross track on Saturday afternoon.
Fresh off a 2nd place at the opening round of UCI World Cup in South Africa just a week ago, Khalen Young was back with his team mates ready for another long weekend of racing. Friday with 22 entrees in Elite Men, Khalen and his team mate Nic Long were looking great all through qualifying. Both of the bash brothers qualified for the 8 man final where Khalen didn't get the start he was looking for but Nic was running 4th until the last turn where he did a high low pass and locked down a podium 3rd at the finish. Khalen ended with a 6th on the day.
In Junior Women, Brooke Crain was looking good as usual winning her qualifying rounds in hopes to make it 7/7 on the season. She did just that, winning her main from start to finish uncontested. She's killin' it right now. In A-Pro, DB44 won his two qualifiers, made it through the semi but was only able to muster up 6th in the main event. Hurttttting!
Saturday at the USAC National Championships, DB44 started the morning off for the team in the Vet Pro Class with a second place in the main event behind legend, Matt Pohlcamp. The real action was going down on the Supercross track next door though, and with Khalen being from Australia, Nic and Brooke had National Titles on the line and Khalen had his pom poms ready to cheer for his team mates.
Brooke didn't have a Junior Women class so she was combined with America's best Elite Women. She had no problem making the Elite Women main event where she had 3rd gate pick. She chose gate 1 and was solid from the start. Heading down the 3rd straight she was in 2nd on the outside gaining ground on Alise Post, but couldn't make it stick. She ended up with a 2nd place finish but top honors for the juniors. An impressive day for her.
Nic Long, The current reigning USAC National Champ, looked consistent as usual breezing through qualifying and into the main event. I've seen better starts out of Nic but he was still top 4 from the first turn. Through the 3rd straight Nic was setting up a high-low pass in the final turn but came short by a wheel at the finish settling for 4th on the day giving away his #1 from last year.
Sunday was the final day of a long weekend where Nic and DB fell short in the semi finals. Brooke continued her winning ways making it 8/8 on the ABA season. Khalen looked rested and hungry for a win, lining up in gate 2 in the Elite Final. In the first turn Khalen was running 4th behind Marc Willers, Donny Robinson and Sam Willoughby. Through the second and third straight KY made some impressive passes and picked off D.R and Sam and was back on the #2 box for the day. A solid weekend for Haro/Rockstar to say the least.
The next stop on the ABA Pro Series is May 20-22 in Nashville, TN. Khalen leaves in a week to go back to Australia to race some Aussie Nationals as part of his Olympic selection criteria.
Photos by Dan Mooney and Pete Demos. Thanks Guys.
