WILSON, LA

Around 170 participants gathered in Wilson, Louisiana, for round five of the MTA Louisiana Cross Country Series, at Spring Hill Plantation. The weather was mild for July in Louisiana, and rain earlier in the week settled some of the dust in the wooded sections of the fast, open 5.3-mile course. Many riders fell victim to the first 2-mile, flat, hard-packed, slick section of trail that ran alongside the Comite Creek. Packs of bruised-up riders then battled back and forth through the rolling hills and beautiful, grassy pastures of the plantation.

The current XC1 Expert-class points leader, Suzuki City's Stephen Reed, grabbed another flawless holeshot and kept the lead for the first lap of the race with ProFlow KTM rider Nathan Knight, Honda jockey Jason Harvey (9, above), and KTM-mounted Kyle Henderson close behind. Reed quickly attacked the Bridgestone Log Crossings, cleared the first one, but then crashed on the second one. This allowed Knight, Harvey and a few other riders to get by, and they never looked back.

Harvey settled in behind Knight for lap two and then made an aggressive pass on a fast section of the course to get the lead during lap three. He then maintained that lead for the remaining five laps and came through the checkers very excited about his first LACC Series overall victory. Knight held on for second, with Henderson close behind in third. XC1 Expert Lites-class winner Jason Reine, on a KTM, and Reed rounded out the top five.

Reed remains in the points lead with 96. Harvey is inching closer with 90, and Reine is keeping his hopes alive with 79 points. Kawasaki's Bryan Vaughan was running with the pack but had unfortunate mechanical issues toward the end of the race that dropped him from fourth back to ninth overall. Honda of Lafayette's Ryan Breaux put some serious pressure on XC2 Lites points leader Jason Reine for four laps but just couldn't make the pass and landed his fourth second-place finish. Third in the XC2 Lites class went to KTM pilot Wesley Burks of Gulfport, Mississippi.

"First off: Whoo-hoo! Finally!" overall winner Harvey said about his first LACC win. "The race was great, with a strong turnout and a lot of good competition. The course was very fast, with some tricky, slick spots and rooted off-camber hills. I got another crappy start, which has been all too regular for me throughout the series, but I managed to work my way up to third, behind Knight, by the end of the first lap. Reed lost it on the second log of the test section, and Knight and I were able to get by and move into the top two spots. Knight and I had an awesome battle for several laps before an all-out drag race through an open grass section, where I was able to make the pass and was able to check out to the finish. It was a blast! It was a great win, especially since it was my dad's birthday. He has really been there for me through the races, so I was excited be able to pull a win on his birthday. My hat's off to all the LACC staff for putting these events together so that we can all get together and have some good fun in the sun. Thanks to all that helped and participated, making the races possible."

Harvey won the $200 cash prize for the overall victory, and Husqvarna jockey Mark Jamroz won $100 for his win in the Senior class, which was a randomly selected money class. Shortly after the race, Jason Reine and Jardy Ordoyne took on the Moose Racing 5-Foot Stump-Clearing Contest. After a few entertaining failed attempts, Ordoyne finally cleared the stump and received the $50 reward, while Reine put on a great show on his pit bike and received a free entry for his efforts. The crowd enjoyed the show, and both riders will now have a little cash to put toward repairing their handlebars and controls.

As usual, full results, points standings, detailed lap times, action-packed photos, and race footage can be found at www.AcadianaRacing.com.

The LACC Series is promoted by www.AcadianaRacing.com and made possible by title sponsor MTA, Deb's Creative Photography, Open Throttle Moto-Parts & Accessories, Performance Cycles, Powersport Grafx, KTM, City Cycles of Baton Rouge, Moose Racing, Honda of Lafayette, Supersprox, RK Chains, Billy's Inc., Jester Designs, AOK Services, Cajun Tie Downs, and Cornerstone Glass.

Results

BEG P/W: 1. Jessica De Lee (KTM); 2. Grayson Knight (Yamaha); 3. William Walerius (KTM).

P/W: 1. Walker Shows (KTM); 2. Riley Louviere (Yamaha); 3. Hayden Colvin (Yamaha).

KIDS INT: 1. Evan Wiggers (KTM); 2. Cameron Reed (Suzuki); 3. Grant Broussard (KTM).

KIDS VET: 1. Evan Shows (KTM); 2. Brennen Reed (Suzuki); 3. Chase Joubert (KTM).

BEG LITES: 1. Brett Fontenot (KTM); 2. Reed Bonvillain (KTM); 3. John Beauchamp (Suzuki).

BEG: 1. Chris Fontenot (KTM); 2. Daniel Cross (Yamaha); 3. Danon O'Kelly (KTM).

NOV LITES: 1. Ty Jones (Honda); 2. Jacob Wheat (Honda); 3. Andrew Iverstine (KTM).

NOV: 1. Chad Colvin (Yamaha); Dustin Harwood (Yamaha); 3. Andy Chance (KTM).

XC1 EX: 1. Jason Harvey (Honda); 2. Nathan Knight (KTM); 3. Kyle Henderson (KTM).

XC2 EX LITES: 1. Jason Reine (KTM); 2. Ryan Breaux (Honda); 3. Wesley Burks (KTM).

WMN: 1. Shelia Monk (KTM); 2. Madeline Pipkin (Honda); 3. Julie Broussard (KTM).

JR (14-16): 1. Jake Haddox (Yamaha); 2. Russ Wiggers (KTM); 3. Hutton Woods (Kawasaki).

SR 40+: 1. Mark Jamroz (Hus); 2. David Hall (KTM); 3. John De Lee (Honda).