Jarrett Dominates Arkansas OMA

Mark Kariya | April 3, 2006

Jimmy Jarrett thought he had the $1000 holeshot money in hand, as he headed to the first turn of the DP Brakes Wildcat 100 near Decatur, Arkansas, April 2, for round two of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals. But he and Tony Joiner hooked handlebars and went down, which let Shane Watts and the rest of the Pro pack ride past. By the time Jarrett picked himself up and got back into the race, he was far back and seemingly without hope of adding to his series win streak and making it two for two this year.

“I was kind of [ticked off], but there was nothing I could do about it,” Jarrett said of the crash. “I got up and my bike was so bent, I had to stop at three different trees and straighten my front end out!”

While Watts walked off with the $1000 holeshot money and proceeded to collect an additional $100 for leading the first lap (each lap’s leader earns a $100 bonus, with $1000 going to the race winner), Jarrett channeled his anger into an amazingly quick comeback. By the end of the lap, only Watts and Great Britain’s Paul Edmondson were in front of him.

Lap two saw Jarrett leading the way, but Watts and his Fun Mart Cycles/KTMHutt.com/M2R KTM 200 XC latched onto Jarrett’s Andrews Cycles/Maxxis/Moose Suzuki RM250, and the two proceeded to walk away from the field.

Their battle appeared to promise a last-lap battle for the win, but when Jarrett took the white flag, Watts was nowhere to be seen. He’d run out of gas and ended up finally coming through in sixth place at the white flag.

Justin Williamson took over as runner-up but was nearly four minutes behind Jarrett on his Williamsonracing.com/Ten Racing/Kenda Yamaha YZ250. Visiting British racer Jason Thomas, on a Fun Mart Cycles/PAR Homes/UFO Honda CR250R, took third. Watts ended up fourth, while rookie Pro Adam Bonneur rounded out the top five on his Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/Moose Yamaha YZ250.