Casey Sims Takes the Win in Taft, California
The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WORCS series had the final round of racing in Taft, California, at Honolulu Hills Raceway. Beau Judge wrapped up the championship for the second season, but his son Braden Judge is right behind him as racing is only getting better between them. In Pro Stock, It was a winner-take-all fight between Sebastian Marquez and Casey Sims, as whoever won between the two would come out on top in this year’s championship.
The day’s final race on Saturday was quite the spectacle as Marquez and Sims lined up side by side with the championship on the line. As the green flag dropped, they came into the first turn with Marquez sliding into the lead, running on two wheels around the first turn. They ran hard into the first off-road section of the course, but Marquez made a slight mistake, causing him to roll over in a corner, fending off Sims for the lead. With Marquez behind, Sims could back it off a little, keeping his car on the track on his way to finish in third place. Marquez fought back to finish in 4th and caused them to finish tied at 199 points in the championship.
Because of Sims’s five wins to Marquez’s three wins, Sims locks up the championship in the 2023 season. In his first Pro Stock race, Cruz Worley, stepping up from his spot in the 1000 class, showed his speed leading into the 2024 season as he started from the second line and finished first on corrected time and first physically. He put the fastest lap down at 8:22 as he goes into the next season with a win. Another racer with her first pro stock race of the season at WORCS but no stranger to racing, Shelby Leaverton, comes in second as she battled with Worley and Sims and, with corrected time, landed herself in the second place position on the podium.
For the final race of the 2023 season, Pro Production lined up, and it was the father-son boxing match we had hoped to watch all year. Beau and Braden Judge came up the start together, with Braden grabbing his 1st holeshot over the champ and his dad as he led for the first lap while his dad kept him close and in reach. After the first turn, Beau gave his son a bit of a love tap, getting him out of the way before the doubles in the motocross portion of the course. Braden said, āI wanted to wait till we got to the top so I could show everyone I let my dad around me, but he got around me pretty early after a quick move.ā Once Beau made the pass, they both got into a groove, putting almost identical times up throughout their race. Iām sure this will be a battle for many more years to come, and when Beau is ready to pass down the torch, it will be in great hands.
This position also locked Braden into the #2 position for the year in championship points. Jeremiah Wagner settled into the third-place role and rode his Polaris to a third-place finish in the books. It fell just short, allowing him to slide into the third point in the championship, but that award goes to Larry Heidler.
