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John Pitts lead
the first lap aboard his Duncan Racing
Dirtworks Motorsports
Honda, but fuel and brake issues landed
Pitts in third place at the end of
the day.
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Missouri racer number three, John Pitts, had a
good day but lost a good deal of time late in
the race due to a couple of unrelated mechanical
issues. The Moose Racing Smith ODI Honda lead
lap one and was dicing with the leaders until
an issue with the fuel cap vent began spraying
Pitts with gas. “The gas valve kind of fell
off the top of the tank,” he recalled. “So
I had gas coming everywhere. I had to pull off
and get that fixed. It was getting all over me
so I figured I’ve got to get that fixed.”
After effecting repairs on the vent hose, which
took two attempts and the related stops, Pitts
ran in to his next situation along the trail.
“I caught a root on the back brake, so I
lost all my brakes,” he recalled. “The
last two laps I was just running with front brakes.”
According to Pitts “that’s a little
tougher.” Pitts followed four minutes and
seven seconds behind Hulsey to claim the final
Maxxis Moonshine XC podium position.
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Fourth place overall
went to A class racer Dan Schaefer aboard
his Jefferson City, Missouri based No
Toil Pivot Works Honda.
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Fourth place went to another Missouri racer, Jefferson
City based Dan Schaefer. The Dirtworks Motorsports
Pivot Works Honda of Schaefer has been at this
event for the last two years and left with second
place in the A class. This year Schaefer finally
went to the head of the class. He said “it
was nice. I always love it here. This is the third
time I’ve been here. I’ve always come
in second. Now I can finally say I got first out
of the deal. It was a good day. A little dusty,
but that’s to account for this time of year.
All in all it was a nice race.” Meanwhile,
plus thirty racer Aaron Venters managed a first
in his class and eight place overall with seven
laps completed in two hours, two minutes, and
twenty seven seconds. The privateer racer had
this recollection of his race day. “The
course got rough as the race went on but I can’t
complain. I finished, everything stayed together,
and it was actually kind of lonely. I didn’t
really see anybody until the pros came and lapped
me. You couldn’t ask for a better day. Polaris
Outlaw – it ran great. I’ve got almost
all the kinks with my new jet kit worked out.
I still couldn’t keep up with any of the
pro guys, but I suppose that’s why I ride
plus 30. It was a good day. I didn’t break
anything, didn’t hurt myself; that’s
great.”
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The Maxxis Moonshine
XC was another bad day for the Moose
Racing Lonestar
Honda of Shane Gaunt. After recovering
from a huge crash early in the race,
Gaunt's machine stopped running, sending
him to the trailer with a dnf.
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One race remains to be run in the two thousand
nine Parts Unlimited OMA Nationals series. In
this series they really do save the best for last.
The venerable race known as The Moose Run will
close the season at Bill Gusse’s home in
Fenton, Illinois. The legendary event is a unique
challenge with terrain varying from tight woods
and peat whoops to wide open corn fields that
will test the courage and skill of everyone that
steps up to the challenge. Bryan Hulsey and John
Pitts will be battling for second and third place
in the series, as Pitts holds only a three point
lead over Hulsey when factoring in the one throw
away. Shane Gaunt could also figure in the equation,
as the youngster is very capable of pulling off
a top three finish if he can run the entire race.
Kyle Martin owns the championship, but he is not
one to show up at a race and not give one hundred
percent effort toward winning. It should be another
exciting race to wrap up the season. Check out
omanationals.com
for further information on the series that takes
pride in doing things different than everyone
else. This is offroad racing.
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The Parts Unlimited
OMA Nationals Johnny Signs XC podium
featured from left to right John Pitts,
third, Kyle Martin, winner, and Josh
Beavers in second place.
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Rnd
9 - OMA Maxxis Moonshine XC Pro Top Five: |
- Martin, Kyle Pro ATV Honda
- Hulsey, Bryan Pro ATV Honda
- Pitts, John Pro ATV Honda
- Schaefer, Dan A ATV Honda
- Keaton, Matt A ATV Honda
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