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Offroad Motorcycle
and ATV Nationals
2010 OMA Racing Series
Round #9 - Moonshine XC Race
September 18th, 2010 |
Photos and Story
By: John Gasso |
Kyle Martin Takes Win
at OMA ATV Nationals Muddy Moonshine Race
2010 Parts Unlimited OMA
ATV National Racing Series
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OMA
ATV Racing Links
Round 9 - Moonshine XC
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Kyle Martin, coming off a win just
one round prior, came out & won the
SIDI Moonshine XC race by just over 30 seconds
& no sits just 1 points ahead of defending
champ Bryan Hulsey |
Memphis, MO - With round nine
of the Parts Unlimited OMA Nationals series scheduled
for Memphis, Missouri it appeared we would miss
the stifling heat from years past. However, this
round turned into a mud fest, following early
week rains that left pockets of mud scattered
throughout the course. The trail system included
about six miles of varied terrain including woods
and hill climbs, a two way creek crossing, and
some high speed grass track sections. All of it
was interspersed with mud holes that stayed wet
and sloppy throughout the event. This was a good
day to get in the lead early, and that is exactly
what Kyle Martin managed to do.
After a great battle for the K&N holeshot
bonus with Bryan Hulsey, the Dirtworks Motorsports
Moose Racing Honda of Martin took the lead and
hung on for one hour and fifty five minutes to
finish atop the Sidi Moonshine XC podium, claiming
his third OMA Nationals victory this season. Hulsey
kept the pressure on Martin and collected second
place with the Duncan Racing Rekluse Honda just
thirty two seconds later. Third place overall
went to the new OMA Nationals A class ATV champion
Brandon Symmes aboard his Beechmont Motorsports
HMF Yamaha with a time of two hours, five minutes,
and twenty nine seconds while John Pitts took
third place in the pro class after dropping out
early due to brake failure on the Moose Racing
Dirtworks Motorsports Honda.
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Martin would
take the holeshot & lead for the entire
race, playing a guessing game with his
fuel tank, he made the right decision
not to pit for fuel & would go on
to take the win by over 30 seconds
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According to Kyle Martin “being up front
didn’t make much of a difference. There’s
a lot of holes out there, and every time you come
around they’d just fill back up and make
a mess out of everything.” He said “it
went well from the start. I was able to get the
hole shot. It was pretty close coming into the
first corner, but Bryan was nice enough not to
push me out and slam me into the trees. I was
able to run a good race and deal with mud a little
bit, but everybody else did too. I fought my way
through it, didn’t drown out, didn’t
get too much on the bike, and didn’t overheat,
so I was able to pull off a win.” Martin
was happy with the performance of his Maxxis Moose
Rath Racing Honda and especially happy with his
decision not to pit for fuel. “I knew that
I had enough fuel, or it felt like I did,”
he said with a smile.
“It was a gamble, but it paid off.”
Martin had a hint of the white flag timing when
he noticed some activity on lap six. He said “I
could tell they were going to do the white flag
because they were fiddling around with it as I
came through so I was like, alright, it was one
thirty three, so I knew they were going to white
flag it at one forty something. Usually, the only
time I need fuel is if we are going to bumping
around two hours. There was a lot of wide open
stuff, but, when you were in the woods you weren’t
on the throttle hard. You weren’t using
that much fuel, so I was pretty confident in my
choice.”
The gamble paid off for the defending series
champion and his first place finish put Martin
a single point ahead of former series champion
Bryan Hulsey for the title chase. Martin summed
up his day saying “I had a pretty decent
day. I finally started to get things working right
and everything meshing together and working well.
I’m starting to feel a little bit better
on the bike. That very last lap I put my head
down and charged pretty hard and come in with
the win.
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