"I grabbed a good start and just edged out Nick Fahringer for the holeshot honours," Whibley said.
"Leading the way into the woods we were sent up a pretty challenging hill. It was not unclimbable, but at the top was a rock that was super slick. If you lost any momentum lower on the hill there was no gaining it back, and making it across the rock became tough. The rest of the loop was pretty fun with some faster sections and a lot of off-camber single track.
"The track was a little short, though, with only seven miles and lap times at around 12 minutes.
"I led the first half of the race and as I approached the fuel stop had opened a lead over everyone except Kailub Russell, who was firmly latched to my rear wheel. [Wife] Katherine, and Bret from Carb Sport, handled the pit stop, although I lost the lead as Kailub elected to not stop that lap.
"I now had to regain contact with Kailub to have a shot at regaining the lead when he stopped for gas.
"Luck wasn't on my side, as problems on the hill climb cost me some time. The lost time allowed Kailub to come in and out of the pits the next lap with a safe lead.
"I continued to push and tried to regain some time but another mistake on the rock on the hill cost more time on the last lap.
"I was a safe distance in front of third but was disappointed to make the two mistakes that cost me a shot at the win.
"A real battle was going on for the final podium spot between Jordan Ashburn and Russell Bobbitt. On one of the last corners Russell snuck up the inside of Jordan to cement his position in third."