JCR Honda’s Chris Bach took his career-first Moose Run win at the 40th running of the event, commenting that he “forgot how gnarly this race was.” Photography by John Gasso
Story by John Gasso
JCR Honda rider Chris Bach claimed the overall win at the 40th running of the Moose Run in Fenton, Illinois, October 25. The race marked the final round of the 2015 OMA National Cross-Country Championship, and it was a double points-paying round, since it also doubled as a make-up race that was cancelled earlier in the year.
The shotgun start saw Pointview KTM/Moose Racing/JJR’s Jimmy Jarrett take holeshot, followed closely by both the entire Pro and Pro 2 classes. Nearly four hours later, it was Bach, on the Lucas Oil JCR Honda/Fly/Maxxis CRF450R, claiming his first Moose Run victory of his career, finishing just three seconds ahead of ARR Husqvarna/Moose Racing’s Nick Fahringer. Jarrett ended up taking third place, followed by KTM/Fly Racing/Kenda’s Steward Baylor, who also locked up the 2015 OMA Nationals Championship.
SRT Off-Road KTM’s Mark Heresco topped the packed Pro 2 class, followed by Chase Robinson and Jeremy Smith. Privateer Shane Klimek and his trusty Suzuki RM250 finished fifth in the class and clinched the Pro 2 Championship.
Although Bach was not out front early in this race, the day played out well for the JCR Honda rider from Indiana.
“The first lap, Jimmy [Jarrett] was leading,” said Bach. “I think everyone knew that if [Nick] Fahringer got up front the first lap it was going to be pretty tough to do good. Once Fahringer got around Jimmy, he kind of took off. He was pushing pretty hard the first lap in the woods. Obviously his Enduro skills are pretty keen in something like this. He made use of them and pulled a nice little gap on Jimmy and me.
“Baylor got around me, and he was on a mission,” Bach said. “He was going a good pace, so we just latched on to him, followed his pace, and we actually caught back up to Nick; where we could at least see him. I could use my skills and catch him, but when you get in to some super tight, twisty stuff with some logs, his 300 two-stroke suits that stuff, and so do his enduro skills. Once we got through the river clean, then it was wide open all the way back. I could get a run on him, but once I caught up to him we were dead even. There was nothing you could do but sit there wide open and eat the roost.”
After sitting behind Fahringer for most of the race, Bach decided to take action at the last minute in order to steal the win.
“We came on the moto track and I knew I had to do something,” Bach said. “Nick did the smart move—the same move that I would have done. He went to the inside on the corner to protect the line. I went outside and just slingshotted off the berm. I just went for it wide open. Nick was forced to drift wide and give me the inside. It was cool, it was fun that you raced for almost four hours, and the win comes down to basically two straightaways from the checkered flag.”