| Offroad
Motorcycle and ATV Nationals
2007 OMA Racing Series
Round #1 - Short Creek, Kentucky
Maxxis "Rough River Run"
March 17, 2007 |
By: Andy Lagzdins |
Andy Lagzdins Wins in OMA
Pro ATV Racing Debut
Short Creek, KY - To fill the gap
between rounds two and three of the GNCC Series, I decided
to race the Rough River Run- the first round of the
2007 Parts Unlimited OMA Series in Short Creek, Kentucky.
The OMA (Offroad Motorcycle and ATV) Series is similar
to the Grand National Cross Country Series, with long
loops through a varied terrain of woods, fields and
streams for two hours. The series consists of ten races
located between Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Minnesota.
Events such as "The Race" in Morrison, Illinois
and The Spring Creek GP in Millville, Minnesota are
very popular annual events, with great courses laid
out by OMA head honcho and enduro expert Bill Gusse.
Bill has a history of challenging course building, and
has put together many WORCS events in the past.
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#1
Rob Zimmerman has been the reigning OMA Pro Champion
for the past three years, and he is back again
for 2007 on a Honda TRX450R |
#12
Andy Lagzdins is currently top 10 in the GNCC
Overall ponts, and he decided to make his debut
in the OMA Series during a GNCC off weekend. |
The Rough River Run course was a seven mile loop laid
out at the beautiful Triple E Ranch. We had driven out
of Baltimore, Maryland in a blustery snow storm that
was so treacherous that the side of Rt 68 looked like
they had just got done filming all of the car stunt
scenes for the next Dukes of Hazzard movie. When we
hit the Kentucky border there was no snow, and by the
time we got to the track we realized that Mother Nature
had blessed all those in attendance with a sunny day
and temperatures near 50 degrees. Rain during the week
before the event eliminated any dust, but made a quagmire
out of some of the low lying areas. The Kentucky soil
was heavy and hard packed.
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Ken
Cornwell edged out Todd Gilham for the Overall
win by only three seconds |
Dwight
Embry Rounded of the Top Three Overall in the
UTV Rhino Race |
A new addition to the OMA Series is the UTV race, which
is run on part of the ATV track before the main event.
It was a blast to see a pack of Rhinos bumping and grinding
around the grass track, them going full speed into the
woods trails with what appeared to be absolutely no
concern for their well being. The woods were tight for
the machines, and it was impressive that they were going
through the trees with such speed. I've got to try it!
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#9
Derrick Schrock grabbed the Pro Holeshot on his
Yamaha YFZ450 |
Twelve Pro riders lined up for the start of the ATV
race, with two-time defending champion Rob Zimmerman
ready on his trusty Honda 450R. Todd Krupinski, the
2006 series runner up, had switched to riding a Utility
quad and was no longer contesting the Pro class. Derrick
Schrock made the trek from Missouri to compete on his
YFZ450. The 10 second call was made, and when the green
flag waved it was Schrock with the holeshot.
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