EVENT: 2022 WORCS RACING

On Nov 10, 2022

Halfway through! By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Connor Moore

**Ageless quad deity Beau Baron has a perfect record in the Pro ATV class in the 2022 WORCS title chase. He has a 40-point lead over second place on his Honda TRX 450R.**

With the 2022 WORCS season halfway through, racers have faced a variety of tough courses and conditions, as well as tough competition from dedicated challengers. Of all the ATV and SxS classes, veteran Beau Baron and his Honda TRX 450R continues to click off wins with the precision of a machine. His score for five races is five wins!

You can’t say that all five venues suited him. They were just too varied. The season started at Primm with a mix of twisty, rough desert mixed with some stadium areas and a huge rock pile. From there it went to the speedy chop of Glen Helen, then back to Arizona for the heat and extreme rough of Lake Havasu and its diabolical lagoon jump. The jump is across water to flat soil if you jump far enough. Landing short is to be avoided. Then, it was on to the packed course at Taft in the oil and farming country of California. The fifth race was the WORCS version on Supercross mixed with EnduroCross for ATVs and UTVs. Part of the race is run inside the Orleans Arena and half is outside. It requires highly specialized UTV setup.

**Some of the WORCS rounds have special sections for the advanced classes. This rock pile was one of them. Travis Tarno is second in the Pro-Am class.**

Kenny Sanford from Tacoma, Washington, was second in the series with fast, steady riding and not missing any rounds. Sanford podiumed round two. On the other hand, Travis Damon and Roberto Villalovos have been on the podium for every round they completed. Damon, who like Baron at times, rides motorcycle and quad classes, did not finish at Glen Helen and Villalovos didn’t make the Orleans race. Alexander Ortiz is another rider with consistent finishes and no missed races. He is fifth in the series so far. Second through fifth place is a mere five-point spread, and Damon and Villalovos are tied at 84 points.

Baron’s five wins have him a nice 40 points ahead of Sandford in second place. Baron knows what it takes to win, and he and his Hondas are up to the task.

**Braydon Baker is winning the Pro Stock SxS class for Polaris. The class is for non-turbo cars, so Polaris dominates with the single-seat RS1s. Many drivers race the RS1 in Pro Production as well.**

PRO-AM CLASS

Braxton Grosse from Ramona, California, like Baron in the Pro class, has a perfect score of five wins and 125 points for the year so far. He is tailed by Surprise, Arizona’s Travis Tarno with a single podium finish but no major mistakes or missed races.

It is common in the WORCS championship to see multiple members of families racing, and to see racers competing in two or more classes. The Pro-Am class has both. Lake Havasu’s Torey Matajcich is third in points with 76 points, while Surprise, Arizona’s Layne Fryar is fourth with 74 points. Torey and Layne are first and second in the Women’s Pro ATV class as well.

Neither of the ladies have a Pro-Am podium so far but are close, but Layne’s brother Cole finished third at Havasu. He is down in the point standings with a DNF and a missed race. Fifth in points is pro Kenny Sanford’s brother, Cody Sanford, with two podiums but an unfortunate DNF.

**The Lake Havasu round has water views from the track, but it is brutally rough, as Cayden MacCachren shows here. MacCachren is fourth in both Pro Production and Pro Stock.**

**Polaris’ RZR RS1 is popular as a WORCS racer. The normally aspirated 1000cc machines can run with the turbo cars. Cody Winiecki (903) and his brother Clayton both run in Pro Stock.**

WOMEN A

Dakota Hibler and Heidi Colman are battling hard in the Women A class. Hibler has the points edge with three wins and two seconds, while Colman has two wins and two seconds but was fifth at the Primm opener. Santana Michel of Las Vegas is third in points with four podium finishes.

**The Havasu round has water in the background, but it can be hard to pass there with these ruts, as seen in the SxS classes. Jeremiah Wagner (POL) is second in Pro Production.**

INSIDE THE ROLL CAGE

It appears to be much tougher to be consistent winning in SxS classes, though Beau Judge and his Can-Am haven’t finished off the podium with three wins and two third-place finishes for the season. The final win was at the Orleans Arena where Judge made the most radical setup changes to his Can-Am to set it up for the unusual conditions. He even swapped to what looked like street tires!

Jeremiah Wagner is second with two podium finishes but no DNFs or missed races. Cayden MacCachren (POL) is currently third with two podium finishes. Taylor Cox (CAN) and Tyson Leaver (POL) are fourth and fifth in points. Cox and Beau Baron won the races that Judge did not.

**Travis Damon (22) started in WORCS motorcycle classes but has branched out to racing a quad with excellent results.**

**Cody Sanford (363) comes from Washington state to race the WORCS series. He nailed a start here. He is fifth in the Pro-Am class. His brother races in the Pro ATV class.**

***Torey Matajcich (YAM) is currently running first in Women Pro ATV ahead of Layne Fryar (YAM). The pair holds the same order in third and fourth in the Pro-Am class against men.***

PRO STOCK SXS

Pro Stock at WORCS requires that cars be normally aspirated. That means that Polaris dominates the results in this class that is a mix of single-seat Polaris RS1s and XP 1000s. Brayden Baker of Anaheim Hills, California, has the points lead. Like Judge in Pro Production, he has been extremely fast and consistent with two wins, two seconds and a third in five races. Clayton Winiecki is second with one podium finish and consistent finishes. Back in third place is Trey Eggleston. Second through fifth place are separated by three points! Cayden MacCachren and Chris Johnson each have a single win, and they won the races that Baker did not. They are tied with 85 points in fourth and fifth respectively.

**Can-Am pilot Beau Judge has a strong lead in the Pro Production SxS class. He chose a very interesting tire setup for his last win in Vegas at the Orleans Arena.**

RESULTS:

PRO ATV

1. Beau P. Baron (HON)

2. Kenny Sanford (HON)

3. Travis Damon (YAM)

4. Roberto Villalovos (HON)

5. Alexander Ortiz (YAM)

PRO-AM

1. Braxton Grosse (HON)

2. Travis Tarno (YAM)

3. Torey Matajcich (YAM)

4. Layne Fryar (YAM)

5. Cody Sanford (HON)

PRO PROD SXS

1. Beau Judge (CAN)

2. Jeremiah Wagner (POL)

3. Cayden MacCachren (POL)

4. Taylor Cox (CAN)

5. Tyson Leaver (POL)

PRO STOCK SXS

1. Brayden Baker (POL)

2. Clayton Winiecki (POL)

3. Trey Eggleston (POL)

4. Cayden MacCachren (POL)

5. Chris Johnson (POL)