LAKEVIEW, KY

Lakeview Lodge played host to one of the wettest starts to the Mid-South Youth Cross Country Series in history, as for the opening round of the Mid-South Youth Cross Country Series, presented by Pirelli, Answer, MSR, Pro Taper and Maxxis, some 11 inches of rain in 10 days made some parts of the track look more like an extension of the Lodge's lake!

KTM/Performance Supercycles/Johnny Signs/K100-backed Sam Thurman (53, above) grabbed the holeshot in the 65cc Mini A class, but he had his hands full right away, as just a few turns later Team Green rider Brett Gourley had put a wheel in on Thurman and made the pass for first. The race was on, with both riders swapping the lead back and forth throughout the first lap. Thurman finished lap one with the lead, though, and never looked back.

Putting pressure on Gourley now was R.J. Cook, on his Champion Cycles/Powerband Racing/Oakley/FCA/MX Trader.net-backed KTM. Cook and Gourley fought each other through the mud while Thurman began to inch away from the pair lap by lap. Forty minutes into the race, Thurman held a one-minute lead over Cook, and Cook was putting time in between himself and Gourley.

When the checkered flag fell, last year's Mini B champion, Thurman, had his first win of the season. Cook and Gourley rounded out the top three.

"Man, Gourley and I battled back and forth that first lap," Thurman said. "That was a great race!"

"It was brutal at the end, with big roots and ruts," said motocrosser Cook of his first woods race.

Performance Supercycles' Cory Jordan finished fourth on a KTM, and Ben Jones from Lawrenceville, Illinois, came in fifth.

Last season's Junior B-class champion, Austin Lee, decided to move up and race the Junior A class for the new season. By the end of the race, that would prove to be a wise decision. Team Green's Brandon Gourley, who normally races motocross, took a break from his heavy schedule to try his hand at cross-country racing. Gourley jumped out to an early lead, with Lee, Luke Chilman and Jake Froman right behind. Gourley held the lead for the first five laps and appeared to be on his way to a win. Staying within striking distance was the KTM-mounted Lee.

As the race was winding down, Lee was only a couple of seconds behind Gourley and hungry for his first win in the Junior A class. Like a home run in the bottom of the ninth, Lee put a last-lap, closing-seconds pass on Indiana's Gourley when Gourley got held up by a lapped rider. Lee took a different line and sneaked past them both for the win. Gourley finished second. Cominskey, Indiana's Chilman, on his Kawasaki, fought through the mud for a third-place finish. Froman came in fourth, and Logan P'Pool rounded out the top five.

Results

P/W (4-6): 1. Austin Sullivan (KTM).

P/W (7-8): 1. Nathan McCoy (KTM); 2. Hunter Plaster (KTM); 3. Ty Gallimore (KTM); 4. Dusty Bass (KTM); 5. Garrett Elrod (KTM).

MINI A: 1. Sam Thurman (KTM); 2. R.J. Cook (KTM); 3. Brett Gourley (Kaw); 4. Cory Jordan (KTM); 5. Ben Jones (Kaw).

MINI B: 1. Cruz Sampson (Cob); 2. Matthew Harris (KTM); 3. Landon Morrison (Suz); 4. Leighton Tittle (KTM); 5. Wesley Hardin (Kaw).

JR A: 1. Austin Lee (KTM); 2. Brandon Gourley (Kaw); 3. Luke Chilman (Kaw); 4. Jake Froman (Kaw); 5. Logan P'Pool (KTM).

JR B: 1. Andrew Clark (KTM); 2. Blake Rinch (KTM); 3. Hunter Hutchinson (KTM); 4. Kelly Adkins (Yam); 5. Tanner McCoy (KTM).