AZOP Christmas Grand Prix and Team Race

2018 AZOP Season Finale

Arizona Offroad Promotions hosted its final event of the season in Peoria, Arizona, at Canyon Motocross Park. The Christmas Grand Prix and Team Race, presented by RideNow Powersports and Kennedy Air, was held on December 8, 2018.

Video | 2018 AZOP Christmas Grand Prix at Canyon MX

The following is an excerpt from a race report provided by AZOP/Story by Kelly Zimmer. Photos by Kelly Zimmer and from AZOP Official Video

It was a perfect day in the green desert; it rained the two days before which made the track in excellent condition. Riders and fans came out in Christmas outfits to the one-day event to celebrate the year-end of the racing series and to celebrate the holidays.

Photo by Kelly Zimmer

In the PeeWee Quads, Tavin Hall took first overall, and 1st in his class, with a two-second lead. In the same class as Hall, ATV 50-79cc 4-6 year old, Emma Martinez won second. In the 80cc+ Beginner, Kaiden Lee was able to win first. In the ATV 80 cc+ Advanced, Brayden Earleweine flew into another first-place win.

With the Big Quads, Noah Harris wowed the crowd with his first-place win in the Expert class and overall, with Lynn Prosser taking second in the class. In the Pro class, Evan Spooner had a big finish while taking second overall and first in his class. In Sportsman class, Layne Fryar took first in the class and third overall. In the same class, Sportsman, Drake Edwards took second while Ashley Liable-Butler won third. The three-wheelers also came out and came to impress. Ed Hicks took first with his ATC and Paul Airey took second, while Tim Coulson went home with third.

Lastly, the UTVs ended the day with a bang. In the 1000cc Non-Turbo, Logan Jesperen took first while Zachary Means took second. With the 1000cc Turbo class, Bruce Kennedy went home with the first while Jared Thomas and Kirk Sutherland battled for second. Thomas ended up taking second and Sutherland, third. Jared Todd Waling was able to take his first place respectfully in 850cc.

Photo by Kelly Zimmer

Photo by Kelly Zimmer

The final event of the 2018 AZOP series was a great way to celebrate the ending to a great year. Racers from all over the state ended it with a bang. Next year, AZOP will be coming back with 16 races stretching out from the Southern Arizona Desert to the Northern Arizona Mountains, including New Mexico and California.