otorcycle and ATV Nationals
t to have things finally start to
for me," Watts said after w in-
j I Wildcat 100. "I'm still not at
ent yet , but this win definitely
e some good confidence and
tum.
The [knee] injury came at just the
nning of the season , less than six
,,&0," Watts added. "It's bee n real
, let alone ride. This was a
Y of his past w ins when
y, the Wildcat 100 victory
e easily for Watts . The factoKTM rider was co nstantly
d throughout the two-hour race ,
ially by Yamaha rider Jimmy Jarrett
d Kawasaki Team Green's Cole Calkins.
the finish, Watts finished just ahead of
kins and Jarrett, and only four seconds
arated the top three riders.
Watts started off the race in third, but
didn't take him long to get to the front.
The holeshot went to Jarrett, but Watts
got him just a few turns into the eightmile-a-Iap race.
"Shane just outbraked me at the start,"
Jarrett said.
Jarrett stayed right beh ind Watts until
he fell and momentarily lost sight of the
leaders on the second lap.
"It was just like a freight train," Jarrett
said. "I was running second with [Tony
Joiner, Calkins and Nathan Kanney] right
behind me; then I went down , and those
guys we re gone."
Joiner moved into second when Jarrett
went down, and he continued to kee p
Watts honest for a while.
"I got a fair start and was third for mos t
of the first lap until Jarrett cras hed,"
Joiner said. "For the next coup le of laps , I
always had Watts right in front of me , but
then we started running into traffic, and
Watts just checked out."
Watt s admitted that he felt Joine r 's
relentless nagging.
"Having con stant pressure kept me on
y
o u know the saying : If It
weren't for bad luck , you
wouldn 't have any luck at all.
If the re 's someone who
knows that adage better than
anyone else lat ely, it's Shane Watts. It
seems just as th e Australian is about to
change things around, something - usually
an injury - knocks Watts back down . But
Watts is hoping t hat he can now st art
putt ing all that bad luck behind him after
scoring his first major off-ro ad win since
last year. St ill riding w ith a so re knee ,
Watts traveled to Arkansas to compete in
the opening round of Bill Gusse's (who is
best known for putting on the Moo se
Run) newly form ed Part s Unlimited OffRoad Moto rcycle and ATY Nationals, sort
of a Midwe st vers ion of the GNCC (East)
and WORCS (West) off-road series.
at a new cross-country series and his Wildcat
Shane Watts hor~~ t~in will change his luck around
';:;::~~~~-
.
