“Sitting out most of last year and watching these other guys was tough, ” said Natalie, who after winning the first two races last season was sidelined by a severely broken thumb. “I worked through the pain, tried to pick up where I left off, and I think I did that. It hurt more, sitting on the sidelines last year, than the actual injury.
“I taught myself not to look back, ” said Natalie. “I count on my mechanic to tell me what I’m doing. I try to use the philosophy of focus forward. “
West (No. 888 ITP Tires, Oil Boyz/Arctic Cat) was elevated to first in the QuadTerrain Challenge Pro Stock final when Scott Kilby (No. 207 Warnert Racing/Can-Am), who timed first, was penalized two positions for cutting the course. The penalty moved Daryl Rath (No. 67 Rath Racing/Arctic Cat) to second. Kilby placed third after winning the $1,000 Holeshot Technologies Rock’n'Roll Award for being first out of the track’s rock crawl section.
“I’m a little bit disappointed in the way it happened, but I had a clean race, and I did what I had to do, ” said West. “I’m in great shape and I feel great out there. I wish they’d bump it up to 20 laps.
“The holeshot winner usually doesn’t win in QuadTerrain Challenge, ” explained West. “Instead, the winner is usually the guy who makes the least mistakes. I bounced back from some mistakes I made at the beginning, and, luckily I got the win. ”
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