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Offroad Motorcycle
and ATV Nationals
2010 OMA Racing Series
Round #8 - Maxxis Hoosier XC Race
August 29, 2010 |
Photos and Story
By: John Gasso |
Kyle Martin Takes Maxxis
OMA Hoosier XC ATV Pro Win
::Continued::
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John Pitts
squeaked into the last spot on the podium
by beating out Bryan Hulsey by only 9
seconds after fighting his way through
the thick dust, which moved him within
1 point of the points lead
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Third and fourth place were also closely contested
and the dust had an impact on the outcome there
also. John Pitts and his Pivot Works ODI Honda took
the final podium spot by only nine seconds over
the Dirtworks Motorsports Honda of Bryan Hulsey.
According to Pitts “It was like riding with
the blindfold on. You couldn’t see anything.”
Pitts said “it was brutal through the powdery
dust. If you were behind one person you could almost
see, but if there was two you couldn’t see
anything.
You were just hoping they didn’t stop and
you didn’t hit anything. In those wide open,
seventy, eighty mile an hour fields you were just
hoping you didn’t come up on a lapper or
something like that because you had no clue where
you are. As long as you weren’t in the beans
you were still on the track.”
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Bryan Hulsey
got off to a terribly rough start with
a get-off near the beginning but would
come back to take home a respectable 4th
place finish to preserve his points lead
by a slim margin
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While Pitts managed to keep it on the track Bryan
Hulsey had an early race incident that set the tone
for his day. After the start everyone was pressing
for the front. Trying to catch up early was not
good for Hulsey. “I had a horrible start to
begin with,” he said “I was behind Sloan
and the dust was just so thick I clipped something
with the rear end and sent me over the bars pretty
hard. The dust was so thick. It was so hard to fight
through.” After picking himself up and shaking
out the cobwebs, Hulsey pushed on and picked up
his pace.
According to Pitts, “He was pushing me.
He was on it. I kept seeing him through the switchbacks.”
Fortunately for Pitts there was still a nine second
gap at the finish line and Hulsey would be denied
a spot on the podium.
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Brandon Symmes
was hoping for an extra lap at the end
of the race as he was fighting hard in
2nd place but ran out of time before he
could put a move on the race leader
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Although they were now one lap down, the A class
boys were having another tight race within the
race. Jay Humphrey completed lap number ten with
his Bloomington, Indiana based Galfer Honda just
twenty two seconds ahead of the highest placing
Yamaha machine, piloted by Brandon Symmes. Slightly
disappointed that the race was not a little longer,
Symmes also stated “I wish I would have
had a sixth gear.”
The field sections were so fast that sixth gear
would have been handy today if you had clear air
ahead of you. “I lost a good minute from
the leader at the beginning and tried to catch
him all day,” said the friendly racer from
Cincinnati, Ohio. “It seems he wasn’t
wearing out and I ended up about twenty two seconds
behind him at the end. I was hoping for one more
lap.”
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Kyle Martin
currently sits in 3rd place in the points
chase but is within extreme striking distance
of the win by being within 4 points of
series leader Bryan Hulsey
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The OMA Nationals Maxxis Hoosier XC was an exciting
event for spectators as well as racers. The dust
added a little more challenge to the Bill Gusse
designed race course that would have been tough
with clear air. Everyone struggled in the conditions,
and when the dust settled it was defending OMA Nationals
champion Kyle Martin on the top step of the Maxxis
podium. The series points battle is now so close
you can cover the top three positions with four
points. Hulsey holds the lead while Pitts is a single
point behind. Martin is just three points behind
Pitts, and they have all used their throwaway.
Check out omanationals.com
for more series information and a schedule of
upcoming events including round nine in Missouri
and the round ten season wrap up at the venerable
Moose Run held on Bill Gusse’s home turf
in Fenton, Illinois. The races are still exciting
and unpredictable in the series that maintains
a tradition of trail systems designed to challenge
the best racers in the sport. This is offroad
racing.
OMA
Nationals Motion Pro Mizzou XC ATV Top Five |
- Kyle Martin
- Honda
- Ryan Lane -
Honda
- John Pitts -
Honda
- Bryan Hulsey
- Honda
- Sloan Jackson
- Honda
photos
by John
Gasso
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