Close Calls And Stuff Legends Are Made Of!

A weekend of close calls is a good way of describing how the weekend would play out. OMA’s round three would be presented by a long time sponsor of our racing series, Motion Pro, The Coal Miner XC held in Rio Grande, Ohio. With two OMA mud runs back to back, not to mention the mud runs the GNCC’s have been having, Old Bill Gusse got soft and decided to swallow some pride and cut the racers an easy, fast track. So get your card box signs made up and hit the streets! The world is coming to an end.

Due to the expense of fuel, this event I would have to travel via airplane. As I was waiting outside for Mark “Kato” Kariya to arrive via airplane, I would find myself grateful for large curbs, as a very elderly lady in a large, older model Cadillac came cruising thru the arrival lane plowing over a “stop for pedestrian” sign, dragging it under her Cadillac for 400 feet, she would swerve, bounce off the curb, and continue on out to the freeway. I have a new found respect for the engineer who invented curbs.

Kato and I would hop in the rent a Kia, no GPS system, for Kato would state, “I don’t need one, I don’t get lost.” Note this for later entry.
Mmm Wendy’s…
A non-nutritious, high fructose fat, high preservative, wholesome joint, would be my pick for dinner, Kato politely obliged, but if you know Kato, you know he was cringing at the thought of what he was just about to put in his disciplined abdomen. Super Size Me!

Gusse a Legend?
Yes, this is a subject we have to confront. All weekend long everyone heard how a gentleman would pull into the track and make the statement that we would all pay for. “Why yes I know you Bill! You are a Legend!” Greeeeat, as if his head wasn’t big enough for us peons who work under him. Well.
My old man forgot to mention “whooo” was this “Knighter of Legends”. Oh yes, he conveniently forgot. Well. This is where I come in… It was the Port-a-John guy. Mhmm… So much for his reference.
Close call? I think soooo.

The Amish support OMA…
The Amish would come out and support the OMA’s and they were a delight for everyone attending this past weekend. Many of had the notion that the Amish could not interact with us, but this is not the case. They were astounded with the racing and had as much of a great weekend as we did.

Banner thieves…
As anyone knows who has had to put up banners, it’s all day event. The banner thieves would strike with a vengeance. Now this is not a common scenario at the OMA’s, however, the banner thieves at this event would do enough damage to make up for all the events where it’s not a scenario. I would like to thank them publicly; it was not the fact we had to re-decorate the track. So here is my statement to them…
“I hope each time you glance up and reminisce on that great evening at the OMA when you so morally went out late that night and enjoyed yourself sooo dearly on such an accomplishment. So that the next morning the kids who ran the mini class could not enjoy a heavily decorated track as you did. Good Job on ruining it for the kids!” Applaud sign lights up. Mo·ron –noun 1. A person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment.

Here is where we flash back to Kato. Kato got lost. Kato was late for he and Adam Bonneur were yakking on the way to the track and missed his turn. GPS Kato, GPS.

M/C racing at its best…
Twenty-three Pros would line up Sunday afternoon. Many recognized names, see Pro Results below.
This is fact, Team Suzuki is HOT! Whatever Mike Webb is putting in the drinking system of these boys is working. This Team is bringing back great racing in the off road industry. Referees, amateurs, and spectators out on the track stated how Whibley and Jarrett were masters of the terrain, making it seem effortless. The Vemar helmet award would go to Jarrett. Jarrett would go wide, Whibley would go to the inside, and Whibs would be nudged out due to the angle of the line. However Whibley got the “big” present under the Christmas tree, his first OMA win!

Nate Kanney, Team KTM mounted would make an OMA appearance and give the Suzuki boys some challenged; ultimately he would take the 3rd position on the podium. The top three pulled away from the rest of the pack by 6 minutes.

Cut backs…
These are common words these days, similar to high fuel prices. And due to some needed cut backs we must endure as well as many in this industry, I will be missing the next few events.

Congratulations to Rd 3 winners! Thank you all for a great weekend of racing! Special congratulation to Paul Whibley on his first OMA win! And Brandon Sommers 2nd consecutive OMA win! OMA would also like to thank Motion Pro – Parts Unlimited, all sponsors, ALL racers, fans, AWRCS, and especially the LANDOWNERS (Justin Fallon & the entire Fallon family)!

~Darcy