Am Pro Racing’s Charlie Mullins earned that long-expected first win when he sped away with the ITP Moonshine Cross-Country, round six of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, near Memphis, Missouri, July 31.
“It feels good to finally win a race this year,” he said while waiting for his prize money in the 100-degree heat. “I’ve been in second and third place all year. I wasn’t feeling my best – I felt kind of tired – but I just didn’t give up.”
Mullins completed the four 11-mile laps in one hour, 43 minutes and 49 seconds on his Factory Connection/Bridgestone/MSR-sponsored YZ250. That put him 1:09 up on eventual runner-up Justin Williamson, who went down in the third turn off the start and had to storm back, securing second place on the third lap aboard his Williamsonracing.com YZ250.
“I was right there in second place right behind Mullins, and that’s where I wanted to be,” Williamson reported. However, KTM-mound Shane Watts snuck by in the second turn, and when he hit the brakes for the third turn, Williamson hit the KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles/M2R racer and fell over.
“From there on, I was sucking dust. I tried to get by a lot of those riders as quick as possible. It would’ve been nice to be with Charles the entire time; I think I could’ve given him a run. But that’s the way it goes. I’m still really happy with second and finishing pretty close behind Mullins. I had fun.”
Jason Thomas showed up on a Yamaha for the first time this season, and the Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/Moose YZ250-mounted Brit would end up third after running in second for a while. He lost the use of his drink system when a tree branch hooked the delivery tube and put it out of reach, so the only time he got a sip of water was during his brief pit stop. “It was hard without a drink; it was hard work,” he said. “I just tried to finish after the second lap. I just tried to get to the end.”
Adam Bonneur finished fourth on his Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/Moose YZ250 with Watts claiming fifth. Jimmy Jarrett, the winner of four rounds this season and the series points leader, did not compete; he reportedly is recovering from a knee injury.
Mullins admitted he was nervous in the closing stages of the race, saying, “Today, nothing really got to me, but it was in the back of my mind, so I was waiting for something [bad] to happen – maybe something would go wrong and I’d end up second or something – but I couldn’t be happier with my win today. It’s a confidence-booster, and hopefully I can win [the next round at] Millville, [Minnesota], and a couple other races coming up.”
