Page 68 - MPG-AUGUST

PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA
CANYON RICHARDS
After a first place overall finish in the 51cc (7-8) class at the Baja Brawl and the Kawasaki Race of Champions, Canyon Richards was coming into the 2017 Motoplayground Race at Ponca City hoping to continue his streak of wins. The New Jersey native made the twenty plus hour trek from his home state to compete in the heartland of the United States, contesting the 51cc (7-8) Open class, the 51cc Open class, and the 65cc (7-9) Limited class. Richards didn’t find the same success on the 65 as the 50, but that’s only because he set an incredibly high standard on his Cobra CX50, winning four out of four motos in dominant fashion. He often shared the spotlight at the front of the field with Cobra Elite rider, Nathan Hummel, as the two of them diced it up at the for race wins on multiple occasions. In the first heat race of the Open class, Richards found himself behind the Missourian throughout
the opening lap, but he was able to make a move for the lead while setting the fastest time of the race, subsequently putting the hammer down as he set off to an eight second win. In the second moto, the two of them started in the same fashion and Hum- mel stepped up his pace, but he was only able to keep the New Jersey native at bay until the third lap, conceding the lead with two to go. Richards withstood the late race pressure after overtaking the lead and held on by the skin of his teeth for the moto
win, clinching the championship with a flawless score. In the (7-8) class, he shared the spotlight with another Cobra Elite rider
-- Mikah Carpenter. He was able to battle back from a third place start in his heat race and work his way around Carpenter by the halfway point of the race, setting the fastest time of the moto on the very next lap as he separated himself at the front of the field. In the second race, he put together another exceptional moto after starting second yet again, passing Hummel for the lead on the penultimate lap as he remained undefeated on his CX50 throughout the weekend, therefore wrapping up both championships with ease. Richards has been on a tear as of late and he’ll definitely be looking to continue his streak when the final race of 2017 gets underway at Mini-O’s.
68 MPG • AUGUST • 2018