| July 16, 2018
Round four of the 2018 OMA ProAm Nationals, the Hawkeye XC, co-sanctioned with the MXC Series and Iowa Enduro Riders Association (IERA), took place on the Lundburg family farm in rural Dayton, Iowa, July 14-15.
Cody Barnes Wins Hawkeye XC in Iowa
Oppressive heat the Friday before the race was broken by a storm that moved through that evening. The upside was lower temperatures and humidity for Saturday. However, the system dumped three tenths of an inch of rain on the trails, which made an already challenging track a bit moist for the event. Participants in the morning events were treated to slick and muddy trails that left many struggling to complete just one circuit of the six-mile course. After a short delay to sweep the course of stranded C riders, the trails were in slightly better shape for the afternoon race, which included ProAm, A, and B class riders.
Cody Barnes (Yamaha/Moose/Kenda) captured the holeshot and held on to lead all seven laps of the grueling trail, tallying his fourth consecutive OMA ProAm victory this season. While Cole Zuidema (KTM/Moose/Kenda) was able to keep Barnes in his sights early, the teenager from Morrison, Illinois eventually dropped back to finish second with a four-and-a-half-minute deficit to Barnes on lap seven.
Rounding out the podium was Zach Sulzberger (Barbies Lawn Care and Snow Removal Yamaha). Chris Huffman (KTM) and Bryan Johnson (Kawasaki) were the only other riders, from a pool of 82 racers on the course in the afternoon, to complete all seven laps in the event, collecting fourth and fifth place, respectively.
According to Barnes, “It was good. I mean, it was kind of tight, technical, and the mud that we got I think made it a lot better. It reminded me of the older OMA races. It was tighter and slicker, with pretty big hills that were challenging. I didn’t really do so well (at previous events) when it was tons of dust and you really couldn’t see the ruts.”
Barnes added, “I really enjoyed the track today, unless a lapper was stuck on one of the hills, which happened a couple times. I didn’t really have any bad problems out there, so, it was good.”
John Gasso
2018 OMA ProAm Nationals
Dayton, Iowa
RESULTS: July 14-15, 2018
- Cody Barnes (Yam) ProAm
- Cole Zuidema (KTM) ProAm
- Zach Sulzberger (Yam) ProAm
- Chris Huffman (KTM) ProAm
- Bryan Johnson (Kaw) ProAm
- Chad Toth (KTM) ProAm
- David Stickel (KTM) ProAm
- Ben Ward (KTM) A Class
- Tobin Miller (KTM) A Class
- Luke Kaszynski (Yam) Vet A