450 C Rundown: AMA Texas State Championship South Round 1

There are battles everywhere in the 450 C class, and sometimes you don’t even know where to look. The Texas State Championship South season opener at 3 Palms gave us plenty of that.

Landen Bass came into the weekend just about a week removed from racing at Loretta Lynn’s and wasted no time showing that speed in moto one. He looked to have things under control early and seemed to be headed toward a pretty good day.

First moto got going with Landen Bass, Kolby Shelton, and Noah Roy leading the field through the first part of the track. It didn’t take Bass long to open up a gap, and by the start of lap two he had about three seconds on Shelton and Roy.

Behind them, Caleb Plant was rallying in fourth and giving Roy some hell for that third spot. A little over halfway through the moto, Plant was still all over him, but gotta give it to Roy, he held him off.

There was some good racing going on behind them too, with Cadeyn Stephens, Holt Noland, and Grayson Plummer all battling for fifth. When it was all said and done, Bass took the win, Shelton finished second, Roy held onto third, Plant finished fourth, and Stephens rounded out the top five.

Plant came out swinging in moto two with a much better start and even led the thing for a moment on the opening lap. Bass was quick to change that, making his way around Plant and back to the front. Shane Steffens got around Plant too, putting himself in a much better spot than he was in moto one.

Three laps in, Bass had around a nine-second lead and looked to have the moto win and overall in his hands. Unfortunately, his chain had other plans. It came off twice, with the second time damaging the front sprocket and dropping Bass back to around 10th. He was able to salvage seventh despite the chain slipping, but after controlling most of the day, it was a rough way for it to end. Steffens took the moto win ahead of Plant and Roy.

That late bike issues for Bass ended up changing the overall picture, with Caleb Plant’s 4-2 finishes being enough to grab the 450 C overall on the weekend. Noah Roy’s consistent 3-3 motos were good enough for second, and even after finishing sixth in the first moto, Shane Steffens’ moto two win helped push him up to third overall.

We said it at the beginning, there’s always something going on in the 450 C class, and Round 1 definitely backed that up. From battles throughout the pack to the overall changing in the final moments, these guys gave us plenty to watch. Now we’ll see what they’ve got when the gate drops again for Round 2 at Irondog Mx, August 30th.