Randy Rocks Tulsa Town and Takes 2009 ABA Title
The battle for 2009 ABA Number One Pro title was a three-way throwdown that ended as if written by the best Hollywood screenwriters. After a contentious weekend of racing from the first gate on Friday, it all came down to the final 40 feet, of the final AA lap of the day.
Going in to the three-round pro main event, six points separated Maris and Randy (who had 2403 and 2397, respectively), while Kyle had 2274. Thus, between Stumpy and Maris, whomever beat the other in the overall would win, and Kyle had to beat the winner of that lot by at least one place to best them in the title chase.
The first two pro mains threw the deck in the air, with Stumpy out of the top three in the first round (which came in Strombergs, Stein, Willoughby with Bennett in fourth), and Maris with a seventh in the second round (finished Bennett, Stumpy, Willoughby). The final main would decide the overall and, with it, the title.
At the first jump, it was Strombergs with the inside, Randy about a half a bike back next to him, and Kyle about a half a wheel ahead of Maris shooting through the middle (which is the way they came out of the gate).
In the end, they came across the line Bennett, Stumpy, Strombergs, which is ironically how the overall for the day went as well. And because kyle did not beat the other two by at least one place, it went to Randy.
Quite aside from the fact that he said as much, this would have been among the best weekends of anyone’s life—-getting the “Golden Crank” honors as Pro of the Year on Friday Night, and the winning the title in such a grand way on Sunday night. This situation was somewhat reversed a few months ago when Maris was the one holding the big check after a down-to-the-wire points win for the 2009 NBL Pro title.
Randy’s acceptance speech was very eloquent, as he thanked his family, sponsors, fans and the Good Lord above. We are anxious to see him gate up with the Skinny digit on his bike in a mere 39 days when the 2010 ABA series gets started in Reno on January 9.
