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the Kawasaki Team Green rider suffered
a high-speed get-off and was injured in
the spill. His injuries, though not serious, required medical attention and his
day was prematurely over. Andrews'
departure reduced the battle for the win
down to four riders: Watts, Edmondson,
Jarrett and Lafferty.
When the white flag came out, Watts
was leading the way, and he was beginning to put space between himself and
early leader Edmondson. Lafferty headed out onto the final lap in third place
but nearly four minutes off the leaders'
pace. He was, however, only 13 seconds
ahead of Jarrett and could not relax.
Jarrett was close enough to Lafferty
to mount a last-lap sprint, and his effort
was rewarded with a podium finish, as
he caught and passed the KTM rider.
"There was a swamp in the back with
a bunch of different lines," Jarrett said,
"so I went way to the left and came out
right wHere they had rerouted the track.
I didn't know if I had passed Mike or
not. When we started the last lap, my pit
crew told me he was still ahead of me,
so I really went for it and caught him."
Lafferty was disappointed about losing third place to Jarrett.
"I really wanted third today," Lafferty said. "I was there in third going into
the last lap, but Jimmy was flooring it
and he went by me like I was tied to a
tree. I wanted to try to go with him, but
I decided to settle for the fourth. I feel
great for KTM, with Shane winning and
.
all, and I really would have loved to get
up there on the podium for them."
Watts met the checkered flag with his
arm triumphantly raised, marking
KTM's first win in the series since former GNCC champ Scott Plessinger won
three years ago. Edmondson checked in 30 seconds
later.
'Tm happy to start the series with a
second," Edmondson said. "I've been
putting in the work during the off-season, because I wasn't pleased how last
year ended for me. I was kind of mentally worn out, because the results weren't
coming."
Jarrett came in third, three minutes
behind Edmondson, while Lafferty took
the checkered flag some 15 seconds
behind Jarrett in fourth. Hatch rounded
out the top five, finishing approximately
five minutes behind Watts.
"This is the first race of the year, and
everyone is amped up and fired up,
because it seems like they all want the
number-one plate at the first race,"
Hatch said. "It was one of those races
where anything could happen, as a lot
of people found out. My arms kind of
pumped up the first three laps, because
we were plowing so much through the
thick sand. Once my hands went down,
I was doing much better, but, even
though I was gaining some time on
those guys, I decided to take the fifth
that I had."
_
.
Bri ef~1 VI:Iii'
(Above left) Jim Jarrett (7) passed Mike
Lafferty on the last lap to grab third
overall.
(Above center) Bike problems put
defending champ Rodney Smith out of the
race.
(Above right) GNCC hero Scott Summers
was another nonfinisher. Back problems
forced his early retirement.
(Right) Torsten Bostrom receives pit
support from his brothers Eric and Ben.
Torsten finished a respectable 13th
overall.
Kirton Ranch
Okeechobee, Florida
Results: March 2, 1999 (Round 1)
O/A: 1. Shane Watts (KTM); 2. Paul Edmondson
(Suz); 3. Jim Jarrett (]