No one had a good idea of what to expect at the Sidi Mizzou Cross-country National, round seven of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals. That’s because there had never been a race at the property outside of Festus, Missouri. In fact, there weren’t any trails at all before Bill Gusse and his crew arrived earlier in the week and cut nearly eight miles through the woods and around the big hill that dominates the end of Truman Road next to the railroad tracks.
Actually, the riders had an idea and as they expected, Paul Whibley kept his OMA win streak going with his seventh triumph of the season. As happened at the previous round, though, his closest challenger rode a 250F; this time, it was his JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports/Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate, Scott Watkins. In fact, Watkins made a strong mid-race push that found him lead the so-far-unbeaten Whibley and his KX450F.
In the end, however, Whibley prevailed yet again, thanks in large part to his fitness on a very warm, humid day. “I knew I could probably last a little longer [at that pace],” Whibley said, “and I was pretty comfortable with the pace I was running. I actually went to sleep a little bit and slowed down a little bit too much in the middle of the race and allowed Scotty to get back in [the mix]. When he passed me, it fired me up a little bit again.”
Watkins would end up just 24 seconds behind Whibley at the finish and was buoyed by the improvement in speed he generated in keeping Whibley honest. “After today, I feel that I have at least a shot at, maybe, winning one of these,” he opined. “Just to be able to run out there up front, you finally say, ‘Wow, I’ve got the pace.’ It’ll boost your confidence.” It marked the third runner-up for Watkins this season but the first time he’s led.
Husaberg’s Nick Fahringer continued his recent run of improvement as well, garnering his first OMA podium just a week after his first podium in an AMA National enduro. However, he was not third overall. Lite A winner Jake Fiddler took that honor on his Johnnysigns.com KX250F while Open A victor Chris Bach was second A and fourth overall on his Spastic Designs KX450F, edging Fahringer by two seconds in total time after coming from the third row.
Pros Adam Bonneur and Shane Klimek took sixth and seventh overall followed by Open A runner-up Darin Downs, Pro Justin Williamson and Lite A runner-up Chase Bishop.
