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Offroad Motorcycle
and ATV Nationals
2010 OMA Racing Series
Round #9 - Missouri XC Race
September 18th, 2010 |
Photos and Story
By: John Gasso |
Kyle MartinTakes Victory
at OMA ATV Nationals Moonshine XC Race
::Continued::
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Defending
series champ, Bryan Hulsey was on the
rear bumper of Martin for much of the
race but would slip back & take a
respectable 2nd place finish
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Bryan Hulsey captured another second place finish,
his third of the year, after a good battle and a
conservative pit stop that may have factored into
the outcome. “I think at one time I got down
to around ten seconds, someone told me out in the
woods. I got a little scared and thinking I wasn’t
going to make it for fuel,” he recalled. “I
pitted and lost a little time on him. I found out
he didn’t pit. I thought maybe we would stay
about the same on pitting time, but it didn’t
work out.” Hulsey was also battling John Pitts
early in the race as well as Martin, so it was a
great show for the spectators. “Me and John
battled back and forth,” he recalled.
“I missed a line out in the woods and John
got by me. I pitted for rags on my hands and that
gave me a good lap to get behind him.” Clean
hands made a huge difference for Hulsey and he
noticed Pitts having some of the same issues with
muddy hands. Hulsey said “I could tell he
was struggling with the mud on his hands so he
was going to have to pit or something the next
time. When he pitted, that’s where I got
by him and battled for a little bit again, and
then I guess he had the brake problem after that
while he was behind me.” With Pitts out
on lap five Hulsey focused his efforts on Martin
for the next three laps. He said “it was
a good battle. I think towards the end I was gaining
a little there on Kyle, but not enough to make
anything stick.”
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John Pitts
would come in strong for a 3rd place finish
in the Pro class after he ran into some
rear braking issues with his ATV which
caused him to slow the pace considerably
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Third place in the pro class went to the Moose Racing
Rekluse Honda of John Pitts after a tough battle
early in the race with Bryan Hulsey and a massive
brake failure that ended his day early. “It
was a lot of fun,” recalled Pitts. “I
got to battle with Bryan for a while and finally
got my way around. Then he pitted and got dry hands
and caught me and passed me. So I decided to pit
and as we were trying to run together again I had
bike problems and that’s what got me messed
up.”
Nobody is exactly sure what happened next, but
John Pitts and his Powermadd Precision Honda suddenly
missed a turn on a high speed fire road. After
coasting his machine to a stop Pitts discovered
some destruction below the machine. “I got
off to figure out what all the squeaking and noises
were,” said Pitts. “Come to find out,
the brake caliper was under the swing arm and
the rotor was all bent up, so that was my day.”
Pitts stated “I don’t know what happened.
All of a sudden I hit the brakes, it squeaked,
and then I had nothing. I went flying through.
Luckily we were turning off of a fire road, so
I kept on going down the fire road.”
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Brandon Symmes
was able to walk away with the A ATV class
win at Moonshine & always come away
with the overall series championship!
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A ATV class rider Brandon Symmes also put in a great
day with his Cincinnati, Ohio based Beechmont Motorsports
Moose Racing Klotz Yamaha, taking third place overall
in the event. His efforts on the day clinched the
class win along with the series points chase title.
According to Symmes “it was probably one of
the funnest tracks I’ve ever been on.”
He said “I really like the Missouri mud. It
tacked up real nice and was a lot of fun.”
Muddy conditions made racing the Sidi OMA Nationals
Moonshine XC more challenging than Bill Gusse
had intended, but the combination of Mother Nature
and Bills Gusse can be a nightmare for racers.
The track was awesome, the weather on race day
was wonderful, and it was a great race. What more
could a racer ask for. Nothing in life worth doing
is easy. The OMA Nationals series makes sure that
racers remember that, with challenges at every
event. Now, as the series winds to a close, we
are left only with the immortal Moose Run for
the season finale.
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| 2010
OMA ATV Nationals Overall Pro Racing Podium
(left to right)
John Pitts (3rd) , Kyle Martin (1st) , Bryan
Hulsey (2nd)
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The season championship will be decided with
the results of the venerable event, and nobody
will be slacking. Kyle Martin currently holds
a single point advantage over Bryan Hulsey for
the 2010 title. John Pitts cannot be counted out
either, as he is only six points behind Martin.
This one is going down to the wire. Join us on
October 16th for the one and only Moose Run. It
is an event unlike any other, and one you will
not soon forget. This is offroad racing.
OMA
Nationals SIDI Moonshine XC ATV Top Five |
- Kyle Martin
Honda Pro
- Bryan Hulsey
Honda Pro
- Brandon Symmes
Yamaha A ATV
- James Evans
Honda B ATV
- Jeremy Dotson
KTM C ATV
photos
by John
Gasso
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