Fortune Wins OMA Grouch
Cross Country
T
he OMA Nationals returned to
Dayton, Iowa, August 14-15,
to complete the Lumpy XC, that
was co-sanctioned with MXC and
IERA. The Lumpy was washed
out earlier in the year with torren-
tial rains, but it was a completely
different set of conditions this
time around.
The top 15 riders ultimately
completed seven laps of the
winding trail system, which in-
cluded hills that would be impas-
sible on the original race date.
The start saw Jayson Craw-
ford (Yamaha) lead the pack into
the woods, but hot on his heels
was Tommy "Buddy" Fortune Jr.
(Yamaha).
Fortune eventually picked off
Crawford and spent the next
two hours stretching out his
lead through the dry and dusty
woods. However, it wasn't quite
as easy as it looked for Fortune
who survived early- and late-race
crashes.
"I took a pretty good crash
early on," he said. "I just knew I
had to get a good start with the
dusty conditions today. I went
into the woods second. Early
on me and Jayson took a wrong
turn. Third place got around me.
That put me behind two riders,
and that's not where I wanted to
be through the dust. So, I started
picking things up, and I tried to
get around them quick. Luckily, I
got around them.
"After I got around those first
two guys, I just felt really good
and had a really good flow go-
ing," Fortune continued. "It felt
super smooth all day. I pretty
much had a perfect race until the
last lap. I bobbled and came out
of a corner and hit a tree, and
IN
THE
WIND
P36
It wasn't exactly
smooth sailing for
Tommy Fortune at the
Lumpy Cross-Country
in Iowa, but he did
come away with the
win.
PHOTOS: JOHN GASSO
