OXC Season 2, Round 1
October 4, 2008
Lincoln, MO
Written by: Shellie Robertson
OXC Season 2 began on a rough and rocky start- Literally!!
One hundred and twenty five racers joined together at Lincoln, Mo to start off Season 2 of the Ozark Cross Country ATV Racing Series. Mother Nature could not have provided better racing conditions, with temperatures reaching the high 70’s. Although lack of rain over the past few weeks made the dust fly!!
As racers went out to test out the terrain on the practice lap, “ROUGH” was the consensus as they all returned. The trail may look familiar from last year, but this time they are experiencing it backwards. What was the uphill Stairway to Heaven last year is now being called the Escalator to Hell among the riders. The 7 ¼ -mile track offered wide open drag racing opportunities, tight sections through the trees, creek crossings, bottlenecks, and several open sections through the woods that were very deceiving due to boulders the size of small children. The rocky terrain provided several opportunities to test your racing skills by offering multiple lines, both easy and hard for those up for the challenge.
Eleven pro and 12 pro-am racers lined up to tackle the five-lap race and a chance to stand on the podium. When the OXC Racing Trophy Girls dropped the 15 second card, it was Duane Johnson aboard his Teixeira Tech and Dirtworks prepped 2007 Honda 450R, who gained the holeshot award and moved to the front of the pack.
After the end of lap one, Duane Johnson was still in control of the lead with Carson Coffman a little less than a minute behind in second. Last years OXC Pro champion, Kyle Martin found himself out of the race at the 6-mile marker with a broken spindle. Josh Roberts closed out the top three after the first lap on his Dirtworks sponsored KTM. The battle continued into the second lap as Devon Jarrett made his way on his Honda 450R from last place off the starting line to second behind Johnson, but would run out of time to put a charge in on the lead. Third and Fourth place battled for several laps until the fourth lap when Coffman clipped a tree which allowed Todd Senger the chance to maneuver into the third position.
Johnson took first place as he came through the scoring lane with a 55 second lead. Devon Jarrett was able to maintain his second place position ahead of Todd Senger with Carson Coffman only 4 seconds behind, and DJ Shrum rounded out the top 5. On the podium Johnson reported he was having a hard time out there trying not to get bounced off the trail from all the rocks, and Senger stated this was one of the roughest tracks he had run in a long time.
Patrick O’Neill, Ron Bloodworth, and Kendall Webb raced their way to the top three spots on the podium in the Pro-Am class.
Thirteen women and youth class racers tackled the terrain in the morning class. Season One first place champions Joslyn Mueller, Preston Robertson and Travis Gromowski were able to maintain their first place status in the pee-wee beginner, intermediate and pro classes respectively. Kerri Roberts took the holeshot and began her lead over the remaining women riders. It was a tight race at the end between Hannah Payne and Shellie Robertson for second place until Payne secured the position at the halfway point in the final lap resulting in Roberts first, Payne second, and Robertson third.
2008/2009 OXC Racing Schedule
Round 1 October 4 Lincoln, Mo
Round 2 November 1 Westphalia, Mo
Round 3 February 7 Mountain View, Mo
Round 4 March 7 Summersville, Mo
Round 5 April 4 Lincoln, Mo
Round 6 May 2 Holt Summit, MO
Round 7 June 6 Westphalia, Mo
Round 8 September 5 Trenton, Mo
Round 9 October 3 Eugene, Mo
For complete rules, news and information on the series, to reserve your riding number, and rider forums, check out the OXC website at www.oxcracing.com or e-mail oxc@oxcracing.com to be added to the OXC e-mail list.
