Jimmy Jarrett Wins Arkansas Round Of The 2006 OMA Nationals – News – Dirt Rider Magazine

The DP Brakes Wildcat 100 near Decatur, Arkansas, round two of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, showcased talent both new and old in nearly perfect conditions. When reigning series champion Jimmy Jarrett crashed in the first turn and restarted well after every other Pro rode away, many spectators wrote him off. But Jarrett channeled his anger at being taken out—and missing the $1000 holeshot bonus which instead went to Shane Watts—and quickly worked himself back into contention.In fact, by the second lap, he was in front again, and he and Watts would battle back and forth between themselves for the lead, a battle that ended just before the white flag lap when Watts ran out of fuel due to sticking floats in his carb. That let Jarrett ride the last lap comfortably out front and take the win uncontested on his Andrews Cycles/Maxxis/Moose RM250, well clear of Williamsonracing.com/Ten Racing/Kenda YZ250-mounted Justin Williamson and first-time OMA racer Jason Thomas, visiting from Great Britain, with his Fun Mart Cycles/PAR Homes/UFO CR250R.”I was kind of [ticked off], but there was nothing I could do about [the crash],” Jarrett said. “I got up and my bike was so bent, I had to stop at three different trees and straighten my front end out!”That still didn’t completely correct all the damage incurred in the crash with Kawasaki-mounted Tony Joiner (who would go to the hospital with a reported foot injury), but Jarrett rode like nothing was wrong.”If those guys get too far ahead and get comfortable, it’s hard to reel them back in so I wanted to get there as quick as I could,” he said. “Luckily, they weren’t too far ahead so it made it a little bit easier.”Though Jarrett caught and passed Watts to lead the second lap and collect $100 (each lap leader earned a $100 bonus, and the race winner would collect $1000), he couldn’t shake the Fun Mart Cycles/KTMHutt.com/M2R KTM 200 XC-mounted rider. In fact, they battled back and forth, and in the process pulled away from the rest of the field. Watts led laps one, three and five while Jarrett led laps two, four and six, plus the last one so both picked up $1300.”I think we both realized that we weren’t going to run from each other early so we kind of settle down then,” Jarrett observed. “For a couple laps we just rode together. Halfway through the next-to-last lap is when I planned on going so that’s when I went, and he ran out of gas about the same time as I took off so it worked out [for me].”Wattsy’s fuel shortage turned out to be a sticking float, but amateur racer Billy Yokum stopped and dumped some gas from his KTM 525 E/XC into Watts’ machine, allowing him to get to the pits for another splash and chase down a few more riders to end up fourth. Rookie Pro Adam Bonneur rounded out the top five on his Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/Moose YZ250.Arkansas OMA, Top 10 Pro Results
1. Jimmy Jarrett, Suzuki RM250
2. Justin Williamson, Yamaha YZ250
3. Jason Thomas, Honda CR250R
4. Shane Watts, KTM 200 XC
5. Adam Bonneur, Yamaha YZ250
6. Aaron Branham, Honda CR250R
7. Chris Robertson, Yamaha YZ250F
8. Alan Westerfield, Gas Gas EC 250
9. Tracy Bachman, Honda CR250R
10. Matt Dissell, KTM 250 XC