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Parts unlimite~orld Off-Road Championship East Series Round 4: Spring Creek MX Park AfTER ~OiN~ 20 MONTHS WiTHOlJT A THE AlJssiE ENds THE dROlJ~H T wi Ty Davis led most of the race before getting run down by Watts late in the race. WATTS STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE DEMAREE MllLVllLE,MN,JULY20 erhaps best known for its National motocross races, the Spring Creek MX Park hosted its first World Off-Road Championship Series round and, as always, produced yet another entertaining National event, only this time the off-roaders got the chance to be the headliners. The Spring Creek facility, owned and operated by a former off-roader himself, Johnny Martin, a past Hare Scrambles Champion, laid out a challenging course for the WORCS East competitors, who have seen three different winners in the first three rounds of their region. The tight battle for the championship is up for grabs, with three of the top off-road racers in the country all trying to stake their claim to the firstever WORCS Eastern Championship. Ty Davis is unquestionably on a mission to secure his first WORCS National Championship. Davis has a firm grip on the WORCS Western Series and is doing his best to track down Gbrothersracing.com's Brian Garrahan, who is leading the Eastern Series by a slim margin over Funmart Cycles' Jimmy Jarrett. Garrahan has been the most consistent in the East and is in control of the points lead without having won a race. Jarrett has matched Garrahan in consistency and going into Millville was only four points shy of the leader. KTM's Shane Watts also made the trek to Millville, perhaps to steal some of the glory from the WORCS regulars. Watts, who has been hammered by injuries for quite some P 46 AUGUST 13, 2003' cue • is BACk time, was itching to get back on the top step of the podium. He got a taste of that a week before when he finished third at an earlier National Hare Scrambles and was hoping to end his winless drought here in Minnesota. And hoping to get his first major off-road win since making the switch from triple jumps to single-tracks was Team Green's Scott Sheak, who also got the taste of victory by finishing second at the last Western WORCS race at Washougal. So, as you can see, there were many riders who came to Spring Creek hungry for a win, but only one would come away with his palate satisfied. And that rider was the speedy Aussie, Watts, who appears to be recovered from all of his injuries. Watts was looking like his old self again as he threaded his way around the wooded Spring Creek facility. The Spring Creek track consisted of about five miles of single-track that cut in and out of the hills surrounding the motocross track. The tight trails were challenging in some spots, with rocks and roots scattered about to keep things interesting. The singletrack then dropped onto the motocross course, where the extremely energetic fans could watch the racers tear up the MX track, seemingly as fast as the National boys. The traction was perfect, and considering this was the heart of Minnesota in the middle of July, the humidity wasn't too bad, and the mild temperatures actually provided pretty good racing conditions. Davis, on his Montclair Yamaha/ Zip Ty Racing YZ250, nailed the holeshot off the dead-engine start. As the pack settled into positions after the first tum, it was Davis still in front, followed by Jim Jarrett, Sheak, young up-andcomer Tony Joiner and Nathan Woods. Also getting away near the front were Garrahan, Watts and Kyle Nelson. KTM hopeful Josh Weisnfels got a bad start but was already making progress toward the front. Davis began doing his usual - pulling away. Sheak came around in second after the first lap, followed by Jarrett, Joiner, Woods, Watts and Garrahan. "It started out really good," Davis said. "I got the holes hot, then the first few laps just stayed that way. Jarrett and the guys started to have a good pace, and I didn't know what Jarrett was going to do. And then the second lap, I expected Jarrett to really pick it up, so 1 charged even harder and put a little time on him. I felt comfortable. It was a good pace, and it's not like I could go much faster anyway, [but] it didn't feel like I was killing myself." The mixture of a wide-open motocross track and a tight, gnarly single-track trail made passing difficult, especially in the trees. Davis, however, seemed to have everything in hand. He had pulled out a 20-second lead by the midway point, and it didn't seem as if anyone was going to be able to catch him. Jarrett, meanwhile, had sneaked passed Sheak, who stayed right on the Yamaha's rear fender. But the rider picking up steam was Watts. The KTM rider was running in stealth mode, picking off riders one by one. His smooth riding style makes him look as though he's on a Sunday traiJ ride, when suddenly he's up front with the leaders. When Wattsy is on, he's poetry in motion. Seemingly out of nowhere, Watts was right behind Sheak and Jarrett, but that didn't last for long, as the former ISDE overall individual winner was in second and hunting down Davis. When Watts got around Jarrett, his ribs that he had broken a week earlier while practicing were bothering the Yamaha rider. "Everything was going good," Jarrett said. "I got a good start behind Ty. Sheak passed me up on the motocross track where we kind of got together when we got in the tight stuff, and I was able to get by Scott. 1 tried to reel in Ty, and it just wasn't happening. I cracked a couple ribs this week, so I was a little sore and just starting to fade out there. Sheak got by me. and Shane caught me and passed me. and, on the last lap, Brian [Garrahan] caught me and passed me, so it went kind of downhill after halfway point, but I was just happy to get through today. "I wanted to be up front from the get-go and try to just follow those guys and see how I was feeling, see how the day was going to go, but it didn't happen that way. Ty got away from me, and I pretty much tried to push all day long." After getting by the fading Jarrett, both Sheak and Watts pitted for gas at the same time. Watts got out earlier, making a pivotal pass on Sheak. Once out in front, Watts had clear sailing