Part-Timer Completes His Sweep of Series

Doug Dubach thought his career as full-time motocross racer was over, but when he saw the shortened schedule for this year’s U.S. Off-Road Championship series, he figured it was worth a full-time commitment.

Dubach, who was raised in Orange County and now lives in Tustin, won the third and final stop of the series before about 25,000 at Edison Field Saturday night, taking the hole shot in the Thunder Bikes class and holding off three-time points champion Brian “Spud” Walters of Sun City for the third consecutive week.

“I put my head down and I knew I was going to run the whole series this year and so I wanted to win every race.” Dubach said. “Before the race I decided if something came up I might have to hang back, but that’s not what happened, I got the start I wanted and I went for the win.”

Dubach, a five-time veterans’ champion and two-time world four-stroke champion, raced both Supercross events in Anaheim and San Diego last year, but now spends most of his time testing new products for Yamaha and tending to his young family, which includes 6-month-old and 2 1/2-year-old daughters.

Between races, Dubach relaxed by playing with his kids in the back of his trailer, which was littered with children’s toys.

“It only helps to have them here,” Dubach said. “It relaxes me in between the heats and the main, and I was able to come out and do it today, which is really great. I won in Houston, I won in Phoenix, but now I won here in front of my home crowd in Anaheim.”

Dubach, 36, was content to earn his money testing motorcycles instead of racing them, but when the USORC shortened its series from 10 races in 1999 to three this year, it fit perfectly into Dubach’s schedule.

“It’s obviously a different style of racing than Supercross is,” Dubach said. “It’s a much simpler track to navigate and it appeals to a wider variety of riders.”

The Sports Trucks class provided the best final of the evening as Chris Brandt of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Jason Crowder of Tallahassee, Fla., traded the lead before Crowder tapped Brandt on the rear and spun him out with two laps remaining, giving Crowder the lead for good and the points title.

Tim Farr of Canal Fulton, Ohio, also completed his season sweep in the Pro Quads class. Farr, who switched to a four-stroke engine after dominating the class with a two-stroke last year, took the lead on the eighth lap when Travis Spader of Brick, N.J., blew his right rear tire while holding a three-second lead.

Alta Loma’s Beau Briggs won the Stadium Lites class after taking the lead on the fourth lap. Briggs’ father, Bob, won the same class in Anaheim last year.