The OMA Nationals returned to Dayton, Iowa, August 14-15, to complete the Lumpy XC, that was co-sanctioned with MXC and IERA. The Lumpy was washed out earlier in the year with torrential rains, but it was a completely different set of conditions this time around.
By John Gasso
The top 15 riders ultimately completed seven laps of the winding trail system, which included hills that would be impassible on the original race date.
The start saw Jayson Crawford (Yamaha) lead the pack into the woods, but hot on his heels was Tommy “Buddy” Fortune Jr. (Yamaha).
Fortune eventually picked off Crawford and spent the next two hours stretching out his lead through the dry and dusty woods. However, it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked for Fortune who survived early- and late-race crashes.
“I took a pretty good crash early on,” he said. “I just knew I had to get a good start with the dusty conditions today. I went into the woods second. Early on me and Jayson took a wrong turn. Third place got around me. That put me behind two riders, and that’s not where I wanted to be through the dust. So, I started picking things up, and I tried to get around them quick. Luckily, I got around them.
“After I got around those first two guys, I just felt really good and had a really good flow going,” Fortune continued. “It felt super smooth all day. I pretty much had a perfect race until the last lap. I bobbled and came out of a corner and hit a tree, and it threw me into another tree. After that I bounced off my Bark Buster and went smack dab right in the middle of another tree. It took me a couple seconds to get back up and going after that one. Other than that, I would say it was a pretty good day.”
At the end of the race, Lucas Hol (GasGas) came across the finish line in second, while Ben Ward (KTM) came home in third on his two-stroke, rounding out the Pro-Am podium.
Early leader Crawford slipped back to fourth.
“I got stuck behind another rider for about three laps, and I just ran out of time,” Hol said of his race. “I had a decent start, and it was pretty dusty, so I had to work through the pack.”
Third place Ward said, “The track was really good. It flowed well, but it was just really dusty out there. The first couple laps it was hard to see with all the dust. He [Fortune] pulled away from the start and he was just gone.”
The next OMA round is scheduled for October 30-31 in Fenton, IL.
Click here for all the latest Off-Road Racing news.
