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AMA Mid-South Winter/SERA/SETRA Cross Country Series
MAPLESVILLE, AL, JAN. 10
he AMA Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scrambles
Series teamed up with SERA and
SETRA to form its first-ever Cross
Country Shootout at Perry Mountain in
Alabama, and it was Mid-South's Shad
Ricketts who claimed the overall.
There was a chill in the air as the
Cro s Coun try Shootou t greeted its 293
participants, who traveled from Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South
Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio
and Michigan to Alabama to face some
stiff competition.
The first wave of starters was comprised of 20 AA riders, but it was Gas
Gas pilot Frank Ramey who grabbed the
holes hot. Immediately thereafter,
.Ramey's bike cut off and he was stuck in
the middle of the pack.
F&S/Sinisalo/Fass Gas/Suzukibacked Blair Bersano rose to tl1e occasion and took the'lead away from the
unlucky .~amey. Bersano led the entire
first lap, until Ricketts passed Bersano
just seconds before passing the scoring
tent, but Bersano fought back and
regained the lead before Ricketts knew
what hit him.
Meanwhile, George Waller Jr.
slipped into third place, and Clay Boreing followed for fourth.
Ramsey's bike chugged along and cut
off two more times, but he still managed
to jump ahead of 11 AA riders to hold on
to ninth at the end of the first lap.
On the second lap, Bersano opened
up a 30-second gap on second-placed
Ricketts. The gap never got larger,
because BerSaJ10 made the fatal mistake
of d ismoun ting his bike.
"1 got behind a lapped ri-der and
fell," explained Bersano. "You really
can't afford to be crashing when the
competition is so stiff."
Bersano got up immediately, but not
in time to save his lead. Ricketts took
control and maintained the lead for the
remaining 2 1/2 laps to claim the checkered flag.
"I really like the ground this time of
year," said the AA winner, Shad Ricketts. "It's great to ride somewhere where
the ground is not frozen."
Ramey stopped for gas on the second
lap and finally found the cause of his illrunning motorcycle: a mud-clogged
vent hose. Once the mud was removed,
Ramey jumped from ninth place tg fifth
in one quick lap. During lap three, he
gained two more places, netting third
place overall at the end of lap four.
KTM-mounted Jason Chancey finished fourth, ahead of Allen Gravitt and
his Husaberg. The Kawasaki of Rod
Stuckey crossed the finish line to claim
sixth.
Waller and Boreing took seventh and
eighth, respectively, while Gary Hendricks topped all the A riders, finishing
nint.h. Hendricks' stellar finish netted
him the 250cc/Open A-class win as
well. Mitch McRee finished 10th overall
and second in class to Hendricks.
Hendricks, McRee and Lee Stephens
battled back and forth for much of the
race. On the third lap, Stephens was in
first place and McRee was in second, but
on the final two laps Hendricks made a
charge into the class lead.
Events
(Above) The Vet B class piles into the first turn at the Southeast Cross Country Shootout at Perry Mountain in Alabama.
(Below) All 293 competitors line up and await the dead-engine start of the Mid·SouthiSERAlSETRA Cross Country Shootout.
"On the la t lap, I got around Mitch
(McRee)," said Hendricks. "We were
going up a hill and there were so many
different lines. Someone fell in front of
Mitch, and 1 got around him there."
Mid-South's Clint Robinson got the
holeshot in the Four-Stroke A division,
and he continued to lead for the first
two laps. Harvey Whitaker pulled up
alongside of Robinson and the two riders battled for a lap until Robinson hit
something on the trail; he was sent over
the handlebars into a wire fence. It took
Robinson six minutes of downtime to
unravel the wire from his bike, but it did
not stop him from riding his YZ400 into
second place in class.
Greg Peterson won the Senior A class,
and SETRA's Steve Johnson won the
Su per Senior A class. Out of the nine divisions in the B ranks, eight were claimed
by Mid-South riders. Thomas Bennett
won the 250cc B class, while Alan Westerfield won the 200cc B division.
Holeshot winners for the B class
included John Giles in the Super Senior
class, Paul Allen in the Vet class, and
Ronnie Hackett in the Senior class.
"1 got the holeshot into the second
curve," explained Hackett. "Then someone went through the ribbon and
rammed me."
,
Because of the run-in, Hackett
dropped back to third place, but he
regained his lead and won the division.
Perry Mountain MC club members
laid out a great course, with just about
every type of terrain imaginable for the
22 classes that made up the resu.Jts. It
was a fast but wide-open track, and,
overall, the trail held up very welL Club
members rerouted some sections of the
race to avoid bottlenecks, and everyone
seemed to be pleased with the outcome
of the combined event.
_
Perry Mountain
Maplesville, Alabama
Results: January 10, 1999
O/A: 1. Shad Ricketts (Yam); 2. Blair Bersano (Suz);
3. Frank Ramey (C-G); 4. Jason Chancey (KTM); 5. Allen
Gravitt (Hus); 6. Rod Stuckey (Kaw); 7. George Waller
(KTM); 8. Clay Boreing (G-G); 9. Gary Hendricks (K,w);
10. Mjtch McRee (KTM).
250/0PEN A: 1. Gary Hendricks (Knw); 2. Mitch
McRee (KTM); 3. Lee Stephens (Raw); 4. David
McWilliams (Suz); 5. Jeremy Ketchum (KTM).
200 A: 1. Chad Froman (Kaw); 2. Robbie King
(Hon); 3. David Durkee (Hon); 4. Kevin Creekmur
(K,w); S. Zach Ivey (KTM).
.
.
VET A: 1. Rob Patterson (Suz); 2. Timmy Pool
(Knw); 3. Jode Boiley (Yom); 4. Dwight Rudder (Han); 5.
Phillip Barker ()-ton).
SR A: 1. Greg Peterson (Suz); 3. Paul Michels (Hon);
4. Terry MeaJer (Yam); 5. Jerry Castleman (Kaw).
S/SR A: 1. Stev:e Johnson (Hon); 2. Frank Nelson
(Kaw).
4·STRK A: 1. Harvey Whitaker (Kaw); 2. Clint
Robinson (Yam); 3. Jim Parsons (Hon); 4. Jeff Stoess
(Yam); S. Marty Michels (Hen).
OPEN B: 1. Thomas Bennett (KTM); 2. Buzz Dyer
(Yam); 3. Blair Jackson (KTM); 4. Chris McMillian
(KTM); 5. Blake Couch (Ynm).
250 B: 1. Mark Wood (Han); 2. Jason Dickey (SU;Jf);
3. Mark Barton (Kaw); 4. Tim 'Baker O(TM); 5. Robert
Blalock (Y,m).
200 8: 1. Alan Westerfield (!<.1W); 2. William Young
(Kaw); 3. Adam McKillip (Han); 4. Carsten Caste (Kaw);
S. Dovid Keith (KTM).
125 8: 1. Dustin Gibson (Yam); 2. Derek Bratcher
(Kaw); 3. Mid\ael Kirby (Han); 4. Joel Byron (Yam).
VET B, 1. Ricky Whitely (Yom); 2. Ronald Skippe'
(Kaw); 3. Lee Nichols (Yam); 4. James Malone (Yam); 5.
Kenneth Potts (Han).
SR B: 1. Ronnie Hackett (Suz); 2. Brynn Wesson
(Yam): 3. Tommy Todd (Han); 4. Bill DiGiorgio (KTM);
5. Charlie Singley (Hon).
S/SR B: 1. John Giles (Yam); 2. Leon Parker (Yam);
3. Larry Still (Han).
MSTR: 1. Steve Huggil\s (Hon); 2. Rich Patterson
(KTM); 3. Fronk Amos (KTM); 4. Jim Foro (G-G).
4-STRJ< 8: 1. Michael Westerfield (Kaw); 2. Trent
Ashby (Yam); 3. Steven Holoom (Yam); 4. Billy Morton
(Kaw); 5. PhiUip Hughes (Kaw). OPEN C:'1 Kevin Wcis (KTM); 2. Todd Gill spie
(Kaw); 3. Eric Chapell (Yam); 4. David Summers (Yam);
5. Keith Hinsen (Kaw).
200 C: 1. 5..1m elson O