Offroad Motorcycle and ATV Nationals 2009 OMA Racing Series Round #1 - Millerstown, KY Indian Bluff XC May 9-10, 2009

Photos and Story By: John Gasso

OMA ATV Racing Round 2 - Indian Bluff XC Shawn Hess Honda Shane Gaunt Honda Kyle Martin Honda Chris Moore Honda John Pitts Honda

Shawn Hess had his Elka Suspension Blingstar Honda looking clean for the pre-race photo op. Two hours later everything was brown, but Hess collected his second consecutive OMA Nationals victory.

Round two of the Parts Unlimited OMA Nationals series took place at the Royal ATV trails near Millerstown, Kentucky on Saturday May ninth. Heavy rain during the week preceding the event along with widespread tree damage from a winter ice storm left the track in less than perfect condition. Bill Gusse spent the week trekking through the woods with a chainsaw to clear some of the trails system and cut new paths through the woods. By race day it was turned in to a respectable course with some challenges. Clouds threatened early, then it turned in to a warm, sunny day, but the damage was already done. This would be another mud fest, with survival being the order of the day. Race winner Shawn Hess said it was “brutal,” but the Houser Racing Maxxis Honda racer was still smiling at the end of his two hours and sixteen minutes of Gusse induced agony. Surprisingly, second place finisher Shane Gaunt said he was “kind of excited that it was muddy.” The Aupperle Racing GT Thunder Honda of Gaunt seems more at home in the muddy conditions, and Gaunt was very happy with his day. Kyle Martin rounded out the podium with his Dirtworks Motorsports Roll Design Honda, happy with taking the holeshot, but glad the race finally over. “Obviously the mud was a huge issue,” said Martin. “It was survival out there today.”

It was Kyle Martin out in front again for the start of round two OMA Nationals action. Martin finished his day in third place after getting stuck on the last lap.

Hess and Martin finished lap number one with the same time of fourteen minutes and forty three seconds to complete the course of roughly five miles. “We had some good battling going on,” recalled Hess. “I mean, every time I looked back he was right there. Actually, he got around me one lap there, the third lap from the end.” Fortunately for Hess, bottlenecks throughout the day kept Martin from making a break for the lead. According to Hess “lappers were playing a big, big, role in the passing and the racing out there. I ended up getting stuck four times due to lappers and he was able to sneak around me. I really wasn’t sure he got around me at first, and then I come through and they said you don’t have much time to catch him if you’re going to do it.” The young man from Muenster, Texas put his head down and pressed the Elka Suspension Pivot Works Honda to the front. “We got back in there in some muddy areas and I was able to work back around him,” said Hess. “Lappers really come in to play out there with all the mud. I mean, it was more a survival thing than it was a race. It was just who didn’t get stuck, when and where. Who could get around who.”

Blasting his way out of the woods past a lapper, Shawn Hess was headed for victory at the OMA Nationals Rekluse Indian Bluff XC.	Shane Gaunt overcame a flat tire and braking issues to capture second place in the OMA Nationals round two event in Millerstown, Kentucky.

Second place went to eighteen year old Shane Gaunt riding a TORC Scott Goggles Honda. The youngster from Morton, Illinois really enjoys the mud, so he was having fun. Things looked bad early in the race when a tire issue cropped up, but fast work by his pit crew and smart riding put Gaunt on his first OMA Nationals podium for 2009. Gaunt said “I think it was like the second lap, I came through the check and I got goggles. I took off, and about five minutes after I took back off I realized I had a flat. I made it around the whole lap without getting passed. I got back, changed the tire, and just had fun.” The Rekluse Honda racer said “I didn’t know what place I was in or nothin’. I was just riding. I got a flat tire and my front brakes quit working for a whole lap. I think I’ve got a bent rotor, but I made it through.” This kid never stopped smiling the whole day.

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