#DofoArellano

Race morning started off really well with confident riders feeling good about their sections. The #1A Matlock Racing/Team Honda quad was the third quad to leave the start line. Wayne Matlock was off to a good start on the first 21 miles that is infamous for being full of booby traps and extreme dust and this year would be no exception. At one point, Matlock commented how surprised he was at how close he was to the quad in front of him without knowing it because the dust was too thick to see until he was right on the other quads rear bumper. At race mile 21, all the quads were coming through in the same order as they started.

Matlock handed the #1A Honda off to new team member Dofo Arellano. The rider change was very quick and it was a good thing because with the thick dust the quads were stacked up pretty tight. With Arellano off and running, Matlock jumped in the chase truck and head down to the Ojos Negros road crossing at race mile 39 to see Arellano come through. It did not take long for the lead quad team, #3A, to come through. Hot on their heels was the #2A Can-Am team, followed by the #5A Yamaha team. At that point, Arellano was missing and the team suspected that something must be wrong. After waiting for awhile a few more quads passed by and finally Arellano pulled in. He had come into an off-camber turn a little too fast, went off the road, and flipped the quad pinning himself under it. He first yelled for help from the nearby spectators then he realized that they could not hear him nor see him. He managed to get out from under the quad. Once it was right side up he was able to get it fired up after about 20 kicks. The quad was flooded from being upside down. Now with the quad running and back on course he had some time to make up. He had fallen back to sixth place. Arellano rode smooth and fast for the rest of his ride to race mile 100 and managed to push through the dust to fourth overall quad. He handed the quad off to Josh Caster at Honda pit 2 a little over eight minutes down from the #2A Can-Am team.