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bles leader Brian Garrahan, and Team Montclair Yamaha's National Hare & Hound and Enduro Series leader Russell Pearson closely in tow. Ex-motocrosser turned off-roaderturned rnotocrosser Guy Cooper got a midpack start but was able to catch up to the lead pack fairly quickly. Garrahan, who was riding a borrowed KTM 250 SX from his good buddy Shane Watts, took advantage of the tight conditions and was able to take the lead in front of Jarret and Calkins. Pearson, aboard a YZ250F, has been on fire as of late, making the podium in every race he has entered in 2003. Pearson was able to get by Jarret and Calkins and was hounding Garrahan at the beginning of the second lap. "I could hear Russ behind me coming and then felt him as he was bumping me in every corner," Garrahan said. "I've been riding a KTM 450 for the last two months and wasn't used to the 250, so I started to get a bad case of arm-pump. Russ was pinning it, so I figured I better let him by." When asked how Pearson was able to pass so easily on the tight track on his 250cc four-stroke, he simple stated with a classic Pearson sideways grin, "I'd just hit 'em. I had to keep up my speed so I would just go in to a turn hot and use them as brakes. It really works well." Once Pearson was in the clear, he opened up a considerable lead on the rest of the field. Jarret and Calkins looked like a freight train of blue and orange as they streaked by Garrahan, who still had bricks for arms. After the second lap, it looked like Pearson was on his way to another victory. He had opened up a 30-second lead and was riding really smooth. Unfortunately for Pearson, his luck was about to take a turn for the worse at the end of the third lap. "Man, I was feeling really good and then I just started to make dumb mistakes," Pearson said. "First I got aJUlI and sat there forever S (Above) Russ Pearson nearfy extended his winning streak, but a mud hole put an end to that. He stili finished fourth. (Right) Guy Cooper was superfast in the woods. He ran up front earfy then settled into f"rfth place where he would finish. spinning up the thing going nowhere, and then I did a really dumb thing. I know that you are supposed to get into a rut and then motor out of them, so of course I just pinned it through, and my front wheel stuck in the mud, and I went over the bars. I'm pretty unhappy that I let those mistakes happen." At the beginning of the last lap, Jarret had taken the lead from Pearson, and Calkins was within spitting distance of Jarret. Garrahan had recovered from his iron-arms syndrome and was on a last-lap charge that put him past Pearson and on Calkins' and Jarret's heels. The three front-runners were going flat out, and one of them was bound to make a mistake. Two miles remained in the race when Jarret ended up going down. job laying out the course; it was truly one of the best tracks I've ever ridden. I had so much fun riding with Jarret. I just tried to keep the pace of these guys and not make any mistakes. I really want to thank Shane Watts who helped me pit and has been helping me train. It's really paying off. I can't wait for the rest of these WORCS races. I'm going to do them all. They're a blast." eN "I came around a corner and got ripped off my bike by a tree," Jarrett said. "I was pretty bummed when Calkins and Garrahan went by, but that's racing." Calkins stopped to make sure Jarret was okay. With a reluctant thumbs up, Calkins blasted away, and now all he had to do was hold off his hardcharging teammate Garrahan. At the checkered flag Calkin bested Garrahan by a mere six seconds. Jarret came in nine seconds after Garrahan, with Pearson finishing fourth, 27 seconds behind the WORCS Eastern National winner Calkins. Cooper ran a lonely race in fifth and stayed there from start to finish. Calkins was stoked to win his first national. "This race was awesome," Calkins said. "The WORCS crew did a great Bamwell Moamia Recreation Area Silmer, Texas Results: February 22-23 [Round 1 af 6J PRO: 1. Cole Calkins (KTM); 2. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 3. Jimmy Jarret (Yam); 4. Russell Pearson (Yam); 5. Guy Cooper (KTM); 6. Josh Weisenfels (KTM); 7. Lance Smail (Yam); 8. Robert Naughton (5u,); 9. Ben Hale (KTM); 10. Steve Leivan (Yam); II. Josh McLevy (Yam); 12. Kyle Nelson (KTM); 13. Caleb Wohleru (Yam); 14. Man Stavish (Ko",); 15. Nathan Kanney (Yam); 16. Tony Joiner (KTM); 17. Sam Wosh (KTM); 18. Eric Boney (KTM); 19. Sean Reddish (Suz); 20. Craig Holosek (KTM). ct cue I e n e _ S • MARCH 12,2003 39