2020 AZOP Season Launches in Wickenburg

2020 AZOP Rowley White RV Series, Round 1, Wickenburg, AZ January 18-19, 2020

Written by: Miller Truby, All images © Miller Truby (February 2020)

After a month-long break to celebrate the winter holidays, the Arizona Offroad Promotions Rowley White RV Series has returned in 2020 to kick off what will certainly be another busy and exciting year of premier off-road racing! The packed schedule for this year features no fewer than 15 events - most of which will be points-paying full weekend races. Competitors will return to several of the favorite locations from previous seasons while adding a handful of totally new courses (Yuma, Globe, Winslow, Bagdad) which should provide new racing and spectating opportunities for those who haven't participated in an AZOP event previously. The new season also sees a few class rule changes for the UTV's which are aimed at evening the field for the sportsman classes; namely the classes have been simplified and split into Pro Turbo, Pro NA, 1000cc Turbo, and 1000cc NA. The 570cc and 170cc UTV's also get some new rules, splitting the 170cc group into three classes: Beginner, Advanced, and Modified and splitting the 570cc UTV's into Beginner and Advanced classes.

The season got off to a beautiful start in the hills west of Wickenburg, AZ in the now-traditional fashion with Todd Peterson's Vulture Mine Hare Scrambles. Sponsored by RideNow Powersports and SinFab Industries, the ever-popular January race was graced by typically excellent weather and a typically large turnout; especially in the UTV classes. The AZOP crew really put in some extra hours in order to bring something different to this race, working closely with BLM to add about 6 new miles to the already very long track for a total course length of 36 miles. The quintessential desert course featured plenty of rocks, cactus, dust, sand, and whoops and the new sections added some technical rocky climbs and descents just to challenge drivers and riders even more.

Saturday featured the bikes and quads as well as the three peewee races (bikes, quads, and UTV's), with the kiddos competing on a 1.5 mile loop near the pits in the morning before the mini bikes and quads ran their races on a 7-mile loop, followed by the adults on the full-length track. The 170cc/250cc UTV race was especially exciting with the new rules having attracted a number of new competitors bringing a total of 21 entrants to the starting line and out onto the crowded peewee course. Once the younger racers had cleared their courses, the 57-deep field of Big Bikes headed out onto the long track to face the dust and rocks and chollas. Open A rider James Clark (#824) finished the 2019 season strong and came into 2020 intent on setting the pace. He quickly reeled in the handful of riders who started ahead of him and got onto the back wheel of Pro rider Tate Dyer (#970), eventually wearing down the pro and getting past him and into clear air at the start of the second lap. Clark eventually took the overall with a comfortable 4.5 minute cushion over Dyer. The Big Quads/ATC’s finished off the day with two laps of their own as Pro rider Tristan Jones (#11) jumped out to a big lead that he never relinquished.

Sunday's action started off with the 570cc UTV's racing on the 7-mile mini course. Grace Vinagro (#1910) - who had won the mini bike race on Saturday - took her second win of the weekend. Once the course was clear, the Big UTV’s headed to the line and took turns heading out onto the course to battle over 3 laps on the brutally difficult terrain. With 35 total entries on course at the same time, there were some inevitable pile-ups and mishaps; no fewer than 7 cars either DNF'ed or were forced to retire after the first lap. Overall winner Dean Wheeler (#027) got out into clear air early and proceeded to put on a clinic in consistency and pace, eventually finishing a full 10 minutes ahead of second place. The story of the race was Bill Nash (#3262) who brought out a nearly stock Kawasaki KRX to compete in the 1000cc NA class and proceeded to finish 5th overall behind 4 turbocharged cars - ahead of every single Pro NA car! Due to an uncharacteristically low turnout, the decision was made to run the Truck/Buggy race concurrently with the UTV’s, which added another dimension to the already busy track. Eric Pruett II (#1333) eventually took the top podium spot.

AZOP next heads to Shorty's Sports Park in Blythe, CA February 15-16 for the Blythe Grand Prix. The weekend will include a races for Bikes, Quads, and UTV's. Registration is open now!

As always AZOP would like to thank all of the sponsors, staff, volunteers, racers, and spectators for making this another successful and fun weekend of racing. For full race results, videos, and photos or to find out about upcoming events go to www.azopracing.com

Motorcycle Results

Big Bikes - Overall:

1. #824 James Clark
2. #970 Tate Dyer
3. #219 Jesse Romer

Pro:

1. #970 Tate Dyer

Open A:

1. #824 James Clark
2. #021 Jake George
3. #590 Matt Dally

Open B:

1. #202 Chris Otero
2. #415 Tate Van Voorst
3. #249 Dylan Manning

Open C:

1. #026 Edward Burdeno
2. #255 Matthew Romer
3. #025 Jeff Saenz

125-250cc A:

1. #700 Anthony Luna

125-250cc B:

1. #023 Ryan Grizzle

125-250cc C:

1. #727 Jaeqen Peterson
2. #303 Nicholas Lizza
3. #543 Christopher Boyles

Vet 30+ A:

1. #219 Jesse Romer

Vet 30+ B:

1. #991 Jared Meyer
2. #209 Jerod Kunzweiler
3. #815 Dan Cordova

Vet 30+ C:

1. #88 Mike Royce
2. #79 Keith Tobin
3. #813 Edgar Madrano

Senior 40+ A:

1. #43 Jeremiah Schnurpel

Senior 40+ B:

1. #254 Andrew Smallhouse
2. #248 James Manning

Senior 40+ C:

1. #46 Samuel F. Hedz
2. #5 Juan Rivas
3. #129 Matt Gurtler

Master 50+ A:

1. #59 Gary Peterson
2. #311 Richard Heyer

Master 50+ B:

1. #625 Ron Simpson
2. #128 Dan Diemer
3. #022 Brent Grizzle

Super Senior 60+:

1. #75 Richard Green
2. #1946 Ron Kenyon

Mini Bikes - Overall:

1. #191 Grace Vinagro
2. #48 Danny Baca
3. #71 Danny Carter

Mini 65cc B:

1. #44 Bryce Petrie

Mini 80-150cc B:

1. #48 Danny Baca

Mini 80-150cc C:

1. #71 Danny Carter
2. #233 Mason Sabatina
3. #188 John Smallhouse

Women's C:

1. #191 Grace Vinagro
2. #18 Noel Ojeda
3. #93 Ellie Koester

Pee Wee Bikes

1. #151 Jeron Kunzweiler
2. #9 Luke Johnson
3. #994 Mason Milacki

Pee Wee 50cc 4-6 years:

1. #203 Radley Konkright
2. #1 Zaria Kessner

Pee Wee 50cc 7-8 years:

1. #024 Todd Torgesen
2. #299 Cayden Kleck
3. #918 Logan Ford

Pee Wee 65cc C:

1. #151 Jeron Kunzweiler
2. #9 Luke Johnson
3. #994 Mason Milacki

Quad/ATC Results

Big Quads/ATCs - Overall:

1. #11 Tristan Jones
2. #555 Vladimir Medina
3. #102 Ron Suor

Pro:

1. #11 Tristan Jones

Vet Pro:

1. #102 Ron Suor
2. #24 Fimbres Arnold

Expert:

1. #27 Ian Sessions
2. #76 Michael Tsosie

Sportsman:

1. #555 Vladimir Medina
2. #351 Michael Lanham
3. #99 Luis F. Moreno

ATC:

1. #208 Ed Hicks
2. #71 Paul Airey

Mini Quads

Mini 91-300cc 10-15 Years:

1. #17 Brayden Earlewine
2. #100 Aydan Cavazos

Pee Wee Quads - Overall:

1. #44 Tavin Freeman
2. #200 Cutter Gehrts
3. #31 Kaiden Lee

Pee Wee 50-79cc 4-6 Years:

1. #89 Zane Gehrts
2. #6 Emma Martinez
3. #711 Kyle Wade

Pee Wee 80-150cc Advanced:

1. #44 Tavin Freeman

Pee Wee 80-150cc Beginner:

1. #200 Cutter Gehrts
2. #31 Kaiden Lee
3. #88 Tyler Wade

UTV Results

Big UTVs - Overall:

1. #027 Dean Wheeler
2. #952 Jonathan McVay
3. #2020 Jeremiah Scott

Pro Turbo:

1. #027 Dean Wheeler
2. #952 Jonathan McVay
3. #2020 Jeremiah Scott

Pro NA:

1. #1980 Robert Bradford
2. #1952 Mark Milne
3. #80 Hayden Thomas

1000cc Turbo:

1. #26 Payton Herder
2. #602 Neil Carse
3. #5150 Richard Epperson

1000cc NA:

1. #3262 Bill Nash
2. #1805 Anthony Capovilla
3. #805 Dan Harmon

570cc UTVs - Overall:

1. #1910 Grace Vinagro
2. #14 Ryan Bedoya
3. #809 Jaxen Gibson

570cc Advanced:

1. #1910 Grace Vinagro
2. #14 Ryan Bedoya
3. #1566 Damien Rockhill

570cc Beginner:

1. #809 Jaxen Gibson
2. #566 Alexia Leaming
3. #225 James Thomas

170cc/250cc UTVs - Overall:

1. #866 Jaxon Leaming
2. #55 Carson Greco
3. #871 Mark Queen

250cc:

1. #871 Mark Queen
2. #116 Erik Alvidrez
3. #765 Presley Ladin

170cc Modified:

1. #918 Izzy Ford

170cc Advanced:

1. #866 Jaxon Leaming
2. #55 Carson Greco
3. #979 Kenzey Graham

170cc Beginner:

1. #86 Allison Furnell
2. #31 Evan Atkins
3. #153 Ryder Wilson

Buggy Results

Limited Buggy - Sportsman:

1. #1333 Eric Pruett II
2. #1623 Bruce Johnston