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Offroad Motorcycle
and ATV Nationals
2010 OMA Racing Series
Round #2 - Rekluse Hangman XC
May 2, 2010 |
Photos and Story
By: John Gasso |
John Pitts Victorious
at OMA Hangman XC ATV National
2010
Parts Unlimited OMA ATV Nationals
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ATV Racing Links
Round 2 - Hangman XC
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John Pitts
takes the Round 2 Win aboard his Dirtworks
Motorsports Rekluse Honda TRX450R ATV
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Monterey, TN - The Parts Unlimited
OMA Nationals series held their round two, Rekluse
Hangman XC, just outside Monterey, Tennessee.
It was a typically tough Bill Gusse course with
hills and off cambers and twisty woods sections.
Then Mother Nature kicked in to up the ante. Gusse
joked before the race about ordering water for
the track, but nobody was really prepared for
the conditions that greeted this hardy bunch of
ATV enthusiasts.
After overnight rains had soaked the soil, the
green flag waved and the rain began again. John
Pitts blasted his Dirtworks Motorsports Rekluse
Honda over the K&N holeshot line and headed
for the woods with a pack of hungry racers in
tow. Nearly twenty nine minutes later Pitts emerged
from the woods with the Performance Super Cycle
KTM of Josh Beavers just four seconds behind.
The Moose Racing UM Performance Honda of Bryan
Hulsey trailed by three seconds, while Aarol Bright
placed his Santo Derisi Racing Maxxis KTM 525
through the scoring antenna just four seconds
later.
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| John
Pitts pulled the holeshot and never looked
back for all 5 laps of the 2+ hour race |
Two hours and fifteen minutes later Pitts completed
his fifth lap of the rain soaked and muddy course
with a victory. Aarol Bright collected second
place, while Craig Reed wriggled his ARS Exit
Honda through the pack from fifth place early
in the race to take the final Rekluse Hangman
XC podium spot. Hulsey had some problems and dropped
to fourth place and the Suzuki machine of Todd
Demaree rounded out the top five.
After the race, John Pitts was happy to survive
the difficult conditions. He said he only got
stuck once. However, “it took five of us
to get me out” recalled the Eureka, Missouri
racer. “So, luckily they all helped me out
and I was able to stay in the lead and finish
the race.” While Pitts and his Duncan Racing
Kal-Gard Honda crossed scoring in the lead on
every lap, he did not own the entire race.
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| Josh
Beavers was running up front until a rear
brake failure ended his day |
Josh Beaver and the Performance Super Cycle KTM
was a factor early on. “It started off pretty
good,” recalled Beavers. “I got into
the lead a couple times there and then made a
couple mistakes. We was all kind of back and forth
on the first lap. Then I ended up getting behind
John. He stopped for goggles and I got around
him. I pulled a pretty good gap, then all of a
sudden everything came to a screachin’ halt.
I didn’t know what was goin’ on. I
ran into some issues with my rear brakes. They
were locked so tight it actually killed the engine.
I kicked on it with my foot and beat on it with
a rock. I still couldn’t get it going. Luckily
Bill Gusse came and rescued me and give me a ride
back to the pits.”
Although Beavers and Pitts ran identical fastest
laps on the second trip around the course it was
fruitless for Beavers, since he finished his race
on a tow behind Bill Gusse. After Beavers dropped
out, Pitts increased his lead over the next three
laps to come away with a gap of four minutes and
twenty eight seconds over the Performance Super
Cycle HMF KTM of Aarol Bright. “I wish it
was a little drier, but, maybe it worked to my
advantage being a little muddy,” said Pitts.
“So I’ll take what I can get.”
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