Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

raci ng, Woodfo rd took t he checkered flag going away and with a 54-second cushio n over the next -best rider, Yamaha-mounted Jimmy Jarre tt . Woodford, however, didn't lead the race from t he ge t-go; instead it was Jarrett and KTM's Brian Garrahan who go t out in front early, but there was nothing they could do to stop the nying Kawasaki rider. Jarre tt and Garrahan battled back and forth for a while before Woodford ran them both down, passed them , and rode off with an impressive win. "I felt comfortable after the first couple of laps," Woodford said. "I didn't get a chance to ride yesterday 's practice session, so I just let them [jarrert and Garrahan] lead the way. At the en d of lap two, I made my move . From that point on I had a perfect day. I never had any trou bles at all. I just relaxed an d le t things happen ." Everyone knew they were in for a wet on e after heavy rain drenched the area ea rlier in the week, and conditi o ns were made even worse (or in Wo od fo rd 's case, bett er) w he n it started to rain just minutes before the green nag dropped . "Even by Ohio standards this was an extremely muddy race," Woodford said. "The ground was oversaturated to start with , and it only took a little rain to make it interesting." After getting a midpack start in the 21-rider Pro-class field, Woodford qu ickly moved into third place before entering the woods following a halfmile-long motocross/grasstrack start. The Kawasaki rider soon got into second and stud ied jarrett's line for a while be fore taking over the po int. "I got a good start and held it until Chuck got by me ," Jarre tt said . "When he took the lead, I just locked onto him, and it was pretty much a two-man race until Garrahan caught us." Garrahan , who is also known for his mud-riding prowess, caught and act ually passed both Jarre tt and Woodford. "I left the MX track in third with Jarrett and Woodford leading as we ente red the first woods section," Garrahan said. "We played follow the leader for a while. Eventually I passed both of them. I held the lead for most of the next two laps untilWoodford passed me : ' Garrahan , howeve r, retaliated. "I tried to pass him back," Garrahan said, "but th e n I made a series of mistakes, and Jarrett passed me . I tried to get back into it, but then I tw isted my knee, and [Nathan] Kanney got by me . It was all over for me . I just put it into tracto r mode and rode it home. " Yamaha pilot Kanney had sneaked up on the lead trio after running into problems right after the start. "I got a good start, but I got held up behind a fallen rider, " Kanney said . "It too k almost the w hole first lap to work my way back ." Kanney st ruggled as he climbed to the fro nt , getting into third and eve n passing Jarrett for seco nd for a whi le. " By then [afte r catching up to third] I was just to tally mudded o ut fro m crashing and picking myself up over and over again," Kanney said . "I tossed my gog gles somewhere on the se co nd lap and just went to work. Ove r the next couple of laps, I was able to move up and e ven rode in second ahead of Jarre tt for a while until I crashed . Once Jarrett passed me back, I just couldn't get any closer to him, and that's the way we finished ." Kawasaki rider Bret Zo lfchak got in on the fun at about the halfway point when he caught up and got around Garrahan fo r fourth . "I got a so -so start and moved up to be hind Co le [Calkins] and just fo llowed him for th e first lap just to see how the co urse was going to develop ," Za lfchak said of his race. "The n he pulled out with clutch problems, and I was on my ow n. Event ually I caught up to Garrah an." Za lfchak finished out the race fifth overall. "It was to ugh making good line choices ; every lap it would change," Zalfchak said . "lt was tough to just stay o ut of trouble. As soon as it stopped raining, the mud got real bad . For the first cou ple of laps there were ruts everywhere. Eventually It got hard to make good line choices witho ut getting stuck or falling down ." Sixth overall ended up going to Yamaha rider Justin Williamson , who po ked his fro nt wheel up there with the leade rs for a bit. "Fo r th e first couple of laps, I was t right up there," Williamson said. ':A one point, I was actually right be hind Jarrett . Eventually, I fell off the leaders' pace and sett led into a race w ith Daryl Conner. It was a battle all day. Neit her o ne of us could shake one another. First I'd get stuck, and he'd get by, and then he'd take a muddy route, and I'd find a dry line and pass him back. It went back and fourth like that all day." The Gas Gas-mounted Conner ended up seve nth . "I had a great start and went into the first corner banging bars with Jarrett fo r the ho leshot ," he said . "T he n going into the second corner, I slid out and found myself in almost in last place . It was an uph ill climb from there . eN My OWN RACE Shane Watts 13th ShaneWaltS, who won the series opener in Arkansas, did not have near that success in Ohio. Hisday went from bad to worse rightoff the dead-enginestart. "When the nag flew, Igassed it too quickand flooded the engine," WaltS said. ':,4, I O-kick start is never the perfect wayto beginany race. Then I got held up for ages tryingto work my way through the pack. Finally, as Istarted to make progress towards the top fIVe, some wire fence got tan gled up in my rear wheel. It didn't really take that longto untangle it, but I knew I was done right then. I cruised for the remainder of the race." Cole Calkins DNF Team Green Kawasaki rider Cole Calkins, who finished second in Arkansas, had even worse luckthan WaltS did in Ohio. Calkins, aboard a KX250F, was sent to the sidelines with a bad clutch. ':About halfway through the second lap, I lost myclutch," Calkins said. "With all of the mud, I could barelyget to the top of the hills." Dick Burleson 14th Eight-time National Enduro ChampionDickBurleson had a solid ride in the Pro-class. ''All inalii reallydidn't expect to do much bette r than I did," he said. "Igot to ride yesterday and had my fun for the weekend. Yesterday's conditionswhere excellent. Today it was a Iitdeugly When it started to rain, all I wanted to do was just stay out of trouble. Looking at . the talent at the starting line, it was obvious I wasn't goingto be a factor," Jarrett ended up se co nd. THU N DER VAu n XC E. RO CHESTER, OHIO R ES ULTS: A PRIL 2 5, 20 04 (ROUND 2 OF 6 ) O/A : I. Chuck Woodford (Kaw) ; 2. Jimmy Jarrett (Y ; l . Nathan Kanney (Y m) ; ... Brett ZoIfchak (Kaw ); am) a S. Brian Garrahan (KTH); 6. Justin Williamson (Yam); 7. Daryl Conner (GG); 8 . Tony Joiner (Yam); 9. J.T. Bennett (KTM); 10. John (GG); I I. Charl ie Deuu

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