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Illinois based Shane Gaunt was in the
lead pack at the Maxxis Wolverine XC
until a stump destroyed his front suspension,
leaving the Moose Racing Hinson machine
unable to continue.
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Fellow Missouri racer John Pitts rounded out
the pro podium after stopping one lap early
due to overheating. Pitts was disappointed to
not finish the final lap aboard his Dirtworks
Performance ODI Honda, but a soaring temperature
gauge and boiling coolant indicated another
lap might be fatal for the machine. Pitts reflected
on the day, saying “it was hot out there,
and then getting a little bit of the mud and
sand, I guess it was clogging up the radiators
a little bit. It was all in all a great day.
The dust stayed down luckily from the rain we
had yesterday. I had a great time.”
The Aupperle Racing Scott Goggles Honda of
Shane Gaunt was only seven seconds off the lead
on the first lap, but disaster struck early
in lap two. According to Gaunt “I got
a pretty good start and It was Kyle Martin,
Me, and Hess.” That was the good part
of his race. Soon young mister Gaunt would be
picking himself up off the ground after a broken
quad sent him over the bars. “After the
first lap we were all out front and I hit a
stump. It cracked my A arm and completely snapped
my shock, so that put me out for the rest of
the race.” Gaunt observed “there
was lots of stumps. It was pretty wicked.”
Shawn Hess also put in some great lap times
early in the event, but the Hess Motorsports
Houser Racing Maxxis Honda succumbed to the
heat after a situation with the rear sprocket
and a stick caused him to push the limits of
his machine to re-gain lost time. “Something
was popping like crazy over here in the rear
end,” Hess recalled. “I ended up
having a log wedged in my chain. Unfortunately
I had to pull over, and we got it out, and it
was too late. We already broke some sprocket
teeth.” Hess felt that his sprocket would
hold up even with the missing teeth, so he was
on a mission to reach the front of the pack.
He said “I thought, well, I’ll go
ahead and try to make up time the best I can.
Well, trying to make up time I just started
flying through those mud holes faster and faster
to make up time, and I ended up overheating
my bike. Fortunately enough some other riders
had to drop out and I knew I wasn’t going
to gain or lose any positions so I chose to
pull off before and save the motor.” Hess
finished the day with twenty second overall
while his father, Glenn Hess, picked up a Plus
Thirty class win and sixth place overall.
This OMA Nationals event was tough on riders
and machines. But then, they all are in their
own individual way. Bill Gusse creates race
tracks that are a challenge for the best racers
around. Those racers always contend that the
race was tough, but they also say it was fun.
That is what the sport is all about. At the
end of the day you can say you survived, or
maybe didn’t survive, the Gusse challenge,
but you had fun doing it. Welcome to the OMA
Nationals. If a real challenge on an old school
race course sounds like a good time, then this
series is for you. Check out omanationals.com
for more information on the series that keeps
the offroad in offroad racing.
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A group of smiling
Missouri racers stood atop the Maxxis
Wolverine XC podium in Michigan. pictured
left to right are second place Bryan
Hulsey, winner Kyle Martin, and third
place John Pitts.
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Rnd
4 - OMA Wolverine XC Pro Top Five: |
- Martin, Kyle - Honda
- Hulsey, Bryan - Honda
- Pitts, John - Honda
- Hess, Shawn - Honda
- Gaunt, Shane - Honda
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