Quadcross title on his YFZR
Yamaha riders dominate top 5
Dustin Nelson won the 2010 Yamaha ITP QuadCross Pro Production championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif. on Sunday, Nov. 14. Despite riding in pain with an injured tailbone, the Yamaha Factory Racing star swept both motos aboard his YFZ450R in a thrilling duel with series runner-up Beau Baron to take his fourth ITP QuadCross title in five years. Better still, Yamaha-mounted Justin Noss, Jason Dunkelberger and Jason Fife finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the championship. Dunkelberger added even more laurels for Yamaha on Sunday by winning the Open Pro championship with a perfect two-moto sweep aboard his own YFZ450R.
Nelson had a big enough points cushion going into the final round that technically, all he had to do was start the first Pro Production moto to claim the series title. But this was anything but assured after getting injured just two weeks prior to the Glen Helen finale. Fortunately, after open practice on Saturday, Nelson found he could tolerate the pain well enough to race. And race he did. Though rival Baron beat Nelson to the first turn in Sunday’s first moto, he soon dropped one wheel over a berm, giving Nelson the opportunity to grab the lead. Nelson then led the rest of the moto, but not by much – at the flag he had only a two-second advantage over Baron. More importantly though, Nelson had clinched the title.
With the championship assured, Nelson powered his Yamaha to the holeshot and led every lap of the second moto, once again over rival Baron. This time the battle was even closer, with Baron trying to steal the last race of the season and Nelson refusing to give in. When the checkers waved Nelson took the win by just half a bike length over Baron. Making matters even sweeter, Nelson’s 1-1 moto sweep and fourth ITP QuadCross championship came on his 33rd birthday. “My YFZ450R had strong, durable power all year long and the handling was epic at every track,” he said later. “That combination of great power and handling is rare in ATV racing, and it totally made the difference for us this year.” Yamaha off-road racing coordinator Donnie Luce added, “It’s very impressive that after sustaining a painful injury and being unable to practice or train, Dustin was able to come out and do what he had to do to win the title.”
