It appears that Paul Whibley’s run of bad luck is over. After a bumpy start to the year, the two-time and defending champion of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals got his first win of the year at the FMF Whiskey Run Cross-country National, June 13 at Mountain Parkway Off-Road in Clay City, Kentucky. In fact, the race felt a little a déjà vu, with four-time series champ Jimmy Jarrett second and Scott Watkins third – the same as last year.
“I knew we could do it, but it’s been little things that have held us back in the first part of the season,” Whibley said. “Hopefully, I’ve got all my bad luck out of the way and I can kind of continue moving forward from here and get some more good results.”
Whibley signaled his intent from the start, following only Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Jordan Ashburn, who collected the $200 K&N Filters Holeshot Award for the third time this season. Unfortunately for the young KX450F-mounted racer, he lost the front end in a high-speed right-hand bend shortly after the start and went tumbling; he counted himself lucky that only Jarrett ran over him (albeit lightly).
From there, Whibley grabbed the lead, though with temperatures in the mid-90s and humidity to match, no one wanted to make an early break from the pack. Instead, a lead group of five developed and traded positions frequently. Besides Whibley, it included Jarrett, Watkins, Husaberg’s Nick Fahringer, Whibley’s Am-Pro/FMF Yamaha teammate Thad Duvall and, remarkably, Ashburn, who wasted no time in catching up.
But as the race wore on, attrition pared the group. Ashburn broke a chain on the third lap, ending his day as a spectator on one challenging hill. Round three winner Duvall got a small but sturdy log wedged in his back wheel and he’d eventually finish fifth Pro and seventh overall. Fahringer caught a stump with his right foot later in the race and the pain wrecked his concentration, slowing him to an eventual fourth place.
Whibley took control in the last half aboard his Kenda/Motion Pro/Monster Energy WR450F with JG Off-road/GEICO Powersports/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jarrett lurking an average of 10 seconds behind, waiting for a mistake that never came. Their battle eventually carried them away from Watkins with Fahringer an equally lonely fourth.
Open A winner Zach Klamfoth earned fifth overall followed by Michael Williams–the only Lite A winner so far this season–Duvall, Kawasaki-mounted Pro Adam Bonneur, Open A runner-up Jake Fiddler and Pro Shane Klimek on his self-sponsored RM250.
Whibley’s triumph tightened up the points considerably. While the ever-consistent Watkins remains the leader with 92, Duvall and Jarrett are now tied for second with 85, Whibley is fourth at 84 and Ashburn’s 67 gives him fifth. Round five is in Michigan in four weeks.
