E3 Spark Plugs News

The stands were packed this weekend for the final round of the 2010 GEICO AMA EnduroCross presented by E3 Spark Plugs – and the audience was on its feet when KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak crossed the finish line for both the race win and another year as the championship title holder. But it wasn’t easy. Blazusiak barely edged out Monster Kawasaki’s Justin Soule to set the fastest time during the Pioneer hot laps, a feature that puts riders on the track one-by-one for a single lap against the clock. Blazusiak, Soule and Geoff Aaron, respectively, won the first picks for the heat races, then each won their heats for a quick trip to the main event.

Taddy Blazusiak (with team manager Antti Kallonen, right) wins the 2010 GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series championship presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Image by KTM Racing.

On the main event track, Aaron proved particularly aggressive, pushing past Blazusiak to claim the Girardi Wealth Management $750 Holeshot Award. That got Blazusiak fired up and the two were neck-and-neck for much of the race. At the finish line, however, it was Blazusiak who dominated, with Aaron running a close second. Cody Webb fought hard for third place and almost lost it to Colton Haaker, who successfully defended his title as the E3 Spark Plugs EnduroCross Pro Junior champion during round five of the series, raced at the National Western Complex in Denver, CO. An ugly trip over the handlebars pushed Haaker back to fifth behind KTM’s Mike Brown instead. Soule, Kyle Redmond, Jamie Lanza, Cory Graffunder, Kevin Rookstool and Destry Abbot rounded out seventh to 11th place finishes.

Also taking home coveted prizes were Ty Davis, Luke Reynolds and Patrick Smage. Each landed an AMA No. 1 plate, up for grabs by the top finishers from the five previous rounds and the Vegas daytime qualifiers. Davis took the 35+ vet class win; Reynolds won the Open Amateur class plate despite a last-lap crash in the rock pile; and multi-time AMA Trials champ Smage added another when he won this year’s TrialsCross championship.

If you couldn’t make it to Vegas for the EX finals action, catch the replay on the Lucas Oil Motorsports Hours on the Versus network December 19 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 23rd at 5 p.m. The Denver round also airs December 12th and 15th at 5 p.m. (All times Eastern.)

E3 Spark Plugs racing congratulates all the winners and finishers and looks forward to another action-packed year of EnduroCross.

2010 Las Vegas, NV GEICO EnduroCross Expert Class results:

1. Taddy Blazusiak, KTM
2. Geoff Aaron, Christini KTM
3. Cody Webb, Gas Gas
4. Mike Brown, KTM
5. Colton Haaker, Kawasaki
6. Justin Soule, Kawasaki
7. Kyle Redmond, Kawasaki
8. Jamie Lanza, Kawasaki
9. Cory Graffunder, Husqvarna
10. Kevin Rookstool, KTM
11. Destry Abbott, Kawasaki

2010 GEICO EnduroCross Expert Class final points:

1. Taddy Blazusiak, KTM
2. Geoff Aaron, Christini KTM
3. Justin Soule, Kawasaki
4. Cory Graffunder, Husqvarna
5. Kyle Redmond, Kawasaki
6. Gary Sutherlin, Kawasaki
7. Colton Haaker, Kawasaki
8. Kevin Rookstool, KTM
9. Cody Webb, Gas Gas
10. Mike Brown, KTM

With the 2010 GEICO AMA EnduroCross presented by E3 Spark Plugs finals still a week away, 21-year-old Colton Haaker (Lucas Oil/Kawasaki) has clinched his second consecutive win for the E3 Spark Plugs EnduroCross Pro Junior Championship title. It’s a sweet victory after a tough season. Haaker racked up 65 points thus far in the series and currently holds 8th place in the overall pro class standings. That’s well shy of where he’d like to be, but given his young age and substantially less seat time than veteran competitors in the EnduroCross field, it ain’t bad.

Colton Haaker is the 2010 E3 Spark Plugs EnduroCross Pro Junior Champion.

“Hey, it’s cool to still be young and doing as well as I’ve been doing in EnduroCross,” Haaker said. “This year has for sure been harder and things haven’t gone as well as they have in the past.”

Haaker left the nest just over a year ago, leaving his family home for his own Murietta, CA digs, and feels that much of his trouble this year (He finished 4th in the standings last year) can be attributed to the transition. Indeed, it’s an exciting but tough time for any young man. But despite the challenges, Haaker’s passion, persistence and pure talent took him to the top spot as the GEICO EnduroCross circuit’s best young rider this year.

“I learned a lot more about the sport this year and really want to do well in Vegas to close out the season,” he says.

Rounding out the E3 Spark Plugs EnduroCross Pro Junior Championship (open to pro class riders ages 16 to 21) this year are 19-year-old Jacob Argubright from Northridge, CA in 2nd place and 18-year-old Keith Sweeten of Oregon City, OR in 3rd place. E3 Spark Plugs, maker of the patented DiamondFire engineered performance spark plugs, congratulates each of these young racers on a job well done and a promising future on the tracks.

Got your tickets yet? The GEICO AMA EnduroCross finals are set for November 20 at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena. Doors open at 6 p.m. and racing begins at 7:30.

Defending champ Taddy Blazusiak got off to a fast and furious start in round five of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs at Denver’s National Western Complex this weekend. But when the dust settled, it was 10-time AMA National Trials champion Geoff Aaron of KTM who would cross the finish line, taking his first win of the year and keeping his title hopes alive. Kawasaki riders Justin Soule, Colton Haaker and Kyle Redmond would take second, third and fourth places with Blazusiak taking a hard-fought, but disappointing fifth.

Geoff Aaron, round five winner of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Series Presented by E3 Spark Plugs.

Blazusiak and Aaron both hit the tracks hard early in the day, winning their respective heat races. And Blazusiak made an aggressive start to the main event, handily winning the Girardi Wealth Management $750 Holeshot award. But things soon went downhill for the defending champ, as he fought off a quick-starting Redmond who snatched the lead for half a lap. Once Aaron caught up and took the lead, it looked as if he and Blazusiak would battle it out for the win – until a piece of debris lodged in the front brake caliber of Blazusiak’s ride, rending the brake useless and allowing

“I knew as soon as I lost my front brake that I was in trouble, Blazusiak told reporters.

Meanwhile, Aaron kept his eyes on the blocking the battles behind him and his sights on the finish line.

“I knew that Taddy was not directly behind me,” he told media just after the race. “I had a small fall and was able to remount quickly, but I knew that I didn’t have a ton of breathing room. Luckily, I kept charging while Soule and Colton kept Taddy at bay, and I was able to take the win.”

From the Podium, second-place rider Soule revealed a pre-race jab that prove his motivation for a strong round five ride: “My team manager told me that I was riding around like a girl at the last round, I I had to prove him wrong.”

Aaron no doubt will be jacked up on confidence when he revs up at the starting line of the GEICO AMA EnduroCross Championship race set for Nov. 20 in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. But Blazusiak will show up with an intensified resolve to defend his championship title. And with both Soule and Haaker proving legitimate threats themselves, anyone’s guess who the last man standing in AMA GEICO EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs will be.

If you haven’t already, get your tickets for the final race in this year’s EnduroCross season. And if you want to a power and economy boost from your motorcycle, be sure to pick up a set of E3 performance spark plugs.

2010 Denver, CO EnduroCross Expert Class results:

1. Geoff Aaron KTM
2. Justin Soule Kawasaki
3. Colton Haaker Kawasaki
4. Kyle Redmond Kawasaki
5. Taddy Blazusiak KTM
6. Gary Sutherlin Kawasaki
7. Cody Webb Gas Gas
8. Cory Graffunder Husqvarna
9. Kevin Rookstool KTM
10. Jamie Lanza Kawasaki
11. Ryan Sandoval KTM

Taddy Blazusiak wins Round Two of the GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Image courtesy of EnduroCross/Source Interlink.

Round Two of the 2010 GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross series presented by E3 Spark Plugs delivered a dramatic show this past weekend at Guthrie, OK’s Lazy E Arena. Bets were on KTM racer Mike Brown, who dominated much of the race – until the checkers flew. After an exhausting battle across the biggest track of the series, KTM teammate Taddy Blazusiak pulled out all the stops for a spectacular come-from-behind win. After also taking the series opener at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena July 17, Blazusiak thus far has a firm grip on the championship lead.

Brown and Blazusiak traded leads throughout the event, with Brown hitting triples and scrubbing speed in the straights and Blazusiak, true to form, holding the advantage in the technical rocky turns. In fact, it was one rock in particular that ultimately took Brown out of the running for the win. Wet sand had made the river rock 180-degree turn incredibly slick and it was there that Blazusiak made the pass that stuck. Several laps later, Brown’s KTM stalled and never fired back up, saddling its rider with a disappointing DNF.

Taddy Blazusiak wins Round Two of the GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs. Geoff Aaron (right) took second, Justin Soule (left) third. Image courtesy of EnduroCross/Source Interlink.

Brown’s exit handed second place over to GEICO Christini rider Geoff Aaron, a ten-time National Trials champ. For a moment, it looked as if he may take the win when Blazusiak nearly performed an endo across a double jump on the last lap, but held on long enough to finish first. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Justin Soule took third place, making his first podium finish in only his second main event. The turn of events pushed Soule’s Kawasaki teammate Ricky Dietrich further away from regaining his AMA EnduroCross championship. Dietrich raced despite debilitating pain from a compound fracture of his pinky toe suffered just two weeks prior. The pain and a bent shift lever on the opening lap of the main left him with a modest ninth-place finish.

Next up: Round Three of the GEICO EnduroCross series presented by E3 Spark Plugs in Indianapolis, Indiana Friday, August 27 during MotoGP weekend. Be sure to check the E3 Spark Plugs blog for all the latest racing news. And to boost your own racing performance, pick up a set of E3 Powersports Spark Plugs at one of our licensed dealers with stores online and nationwide.
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Defending EnduroCross champion Taddy Blazusiak of Poland raced to a hard-fought win, opening the E3 Spark Plugs-sponsored 2010 GEICO EnduroCross Series at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena July 17. Touted the sport’s “premier showman,” Blazusiak rode his Red Bull KTM to victory over Geoff Aaron and Cory Graffunder.

Poland's Taddy Blazusiak, winner of the 2010 GEICO EnduroCross Series' Las Vegas opener.

Ten time National Trials champ Aaron kick-started race day by setting the fastest time in the Pioneer Hot Lap, which determined the gate picks for the evening heat races. When the dust settled, Blazusiak, Graffunder and Mike Brown were awarded the best gate picks for the main event. Blazusiak wond the $750 Girardi Wealth Management holeshot award, but it proved a short-term victory when Aaron quickly passed him by. The two riders ran neck-and-neck during the first half of the race, until a mishap sent Aaron tumbling into the GEICO rock garden. That gave Blazusiak a small lead that he managed to hold for the rest of the race.

The competition for third place proved to be a nail biter. Graffunder, Brown, Justin Soule, Gary Sutherlin, Cody Webb and Kyle Redmund. Each had a shot at the podium at various times during the race, but all bets were on Webb until he crashed into the Monster water hole. Brown and Soule followed closely for fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich provided the biggest shock of the day when he crashed during the Last Chance Qualifier, knocking him from the main event. Lucas Oil rider Colton Haaker, last year’s E3 Spark Plugs Junior champion also sat out the main event on the bench.

Next up for the GEICO EnduroCross Series presented by E3 Spark Plugs, maker of the top-rated E3 motorcycle spark plugs: Round Two at Guthrie, Oklahoma’s Lazy E Arena August 14.
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