VOLUME 57 ISSUE 21 MAY 27, 2020 P17
"I got off to a good start," said
Barnes. "I got the holeshot and
just kind of rode my own race."
Pre-race planning told Barnes he
would need to create some extra
time for himself, as he was run-
ning a stock tank on his Beta ma-
chine, which would require more
frequent and lengthy fuel stops.
"I knew I had to put a little dis-
tance between myself (and the
pack), because I was running a
small tank. I had to gas every two
laps. So, that was kind of one
of the things I knew. I had to get
out front and push to open up a
gap, because I knew we were
going to gas on that second lap.
I ended up able to get out front
and get a gap built up."
Indeed, with a gap of one min-
ute and 15 seconds over second
place on the first lap, it seemed
young Mr. Barnes was right on
top of his race management.
"We pitted every two laps, and
everything worked out," he said.
"I was able to build up a pretty
good gap and stay out front."
With a winning time of two
hours, five minutes and 10 sec-
onds, Barnes amassed a gap of
three minutes and four seconds
over second place. Barnes said,
"My Beta 250RR ran great today.
So yeah, I'm happy. There is a
bunch of people behind me this
year that I had last year, and I am
just really thankful for the sup-
port."
Minnesota racer Logan Kittock
exceeded his pre-race goals,
putting his 2020 Husqvarna
TC125 on the podium for second
place with a very solid ride. Kit-
tock was the only other racer to
clock any laps in the 17-second
range, with laps two and five dip-
ping below 18 minutes.
"It was fantastic," said Kit-
tock. "The soil was super soft. It
didn't get as rough as I thought
it would. A lot of ruts developed,
though."
Happy with his race results
for the day, Kittock said, "I ac-
complished my goal of keeping
Barnes within four minutes, so I
am pretty happy about that."
Rounding out the podium was
Colt Converse, who finished
just two minutes behind Kit-
tock. Converse put his Yamaha
YZ125 on the box after holding
on through some great battles
throughout the day. A group of
racers consisting of Converse,
Tanner Whipple (KTM), Tommy
Fortune Jr. (Yamaha), Matt Mc-
Donald (Husqvarna) and Colten
Zuidema (KTM) diced back and
forth throughout the race. Pulling
away from the group with a gap
of 54 seconds at the finish line,
Converse was able to take the
final podium position. CN
OVERALL
1. Cody Barnes (Bet)
2. Logan Kittock (Hus)
3. Colt Converse (Yam)
4. Tanner Whipple (KTM)
5. Tommy Fortune Jr. (Yam)
6. Matt McDonald (Hus)
7. Colten Zuidema (KTM)
8. Devon Jirik (KTM)
9. Ben Ward (KTM)
10. Easton Morgan (KTM)
Easton Morgan
was the top
A-class rider in
10th overall.
