A non-points paying fun race at the Carver County Fair in Waconia on August 13th was the next stop for the Motokazie Supercross series, and it had one of the most bizarre heat race happenstances that I can ever recall.
First, Ian Hastings takes the holeshot while a chain reaction brake-stand in the first corner turns Andrew Schroetter’s quad into a wrecker, partially towing Carter Pollock around the corner, while Ian Hastings slides out in front of everyone. This allows Andrew Schroetter to come out in the lead, yet Ian somehow transports back into second place!
What appears to be a runaway victory by Andrew by lap number 2 sees yet another twist. At the beginning of lap number 3, Carter ends up landing awkwardly on his right-front tire jumping a single designed as the landing for the finish line triple. It appears that he jammed his wrist, as he went rolling off to the side of the track.
From what is mostly invisible in my footage, but was only slightly clearer in another person’s footage, was a flagger inadvertently pointing the red cross flag off to the exit of the track while holding the yellow flag. All of the riders starting with Andrew, as they approached the area, started to pull off the track as they thought the race was being stopped. Flaggers on the track do not carry red flags, so this was a reasonable assumption on the part of the racers, and disobeying flags could mean a disqualification.
How unexpected the case then, when another track flagger tells Ian Hastings that the race is still going, and he and Cam Pollock are at the right place at the right time to take over first and second place in the race! By the time Carter can slightly feel his wrist again, he resumes the race too, and Andrew, having to come back through the pit area back onto the track to resume the race, ends up finishing the race in third, one lap ahead of Carter.
The main event was much more thrilling than it was bizarre! Ian ripped his second holeshot of the night, and proceeded to “run scared” with Andrew on his tail for the next three laps. By the beginning of lap 4, Andrew made his passing move in the holeshot corner, but can only tag a piece of Ian’s right-rear tire, and the effort puts Andrew about 6 quad lengths behind. Within a couple laps, Andrew is right back on Ian’s tail again, but ultimately with this very tight fair race track, there just wasn’t enough room and lanes to complete the pass.
Ian finishes the race with his 3rd overall win of the year. With Andrew Schroetter already clinching this year’s supercross Quad Open B/C championship, the next two rounds, both at Jordan on August 28th and September 19th, will determine whether Ian Hastings or Kyle Lundin get the coveted second place standing.
📸 Photo credits: The #134