Jimmy Jarrett won for the fifth time this season, making him a virtual lock to wear the number-one plate for three seasons in a row.
After the better part of two hours alternately chasing and leading teenaged rival Justin Williamson, Jimmy Jarrett was once again in the role of chaser. A little less than two miles remained in the Scott/Acerbis Coyote Cross-country, round nine of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, and it appeared that Williamson was headed to the top of the podium for the first time this season.
But nothing is a sure thing when it comes to off-road racing, especially on the 13-mile-long course near Waukon, Iowa, with its fast field sections, rocky gullies and tricky off-cambers in the trees.
Jarrett watched almost in disbelief when Williamson went down, effectively handing him the victory. "I kept pressuring him on the last lap, and finally he made a mistake and fell down. I was able to go around him," Jarrett remembered, "and it was only about a mile from the end so I kind of got lucky, but I'll take it!
"We had a field section at the end [of the loop] so it could've come down to that, but it was so dusty and so fast that I don't know if I even could've got him [there], but I really didn't have a place picked out [to try a pass] so, luckily, it happened that way."
Jarrett would win for the fifth time this season--though for the first time since injuring a knee during a photo shoot after round five--and virtually assure himself of a third consecutive OMA crown on his Andrews Cycles/Maxxis/Moose RM250. He completed the four laps in two hours, 17 minutes and 19 seconds.
Jimmy Jarrett got the start over Jason Thomas (14), Justin Williamson (2) and the rest of the field. The three Js would distance themselves with Jarrett winning.
Williamsonracing.com/Kenda/Dirt Tricks YZ250-mounted Williamson revealed more of that last lap, saying, "We came into the pit area here [on the last lap], and it was kind of a strange deal: My bike almost died. It made a pretty loud noise so I think something in the engine went on me, but Jimmy was riding really well.
"I was thinking about pulling off because it was so bad, but I thought, `Well, I'll ride it out a little bit and see how it goes.' It seemed like in all the field stuff, it worked really well, and I was right on Jimmy. We got in the woods, and the bike almost felt like a 125--no bottom end.
"But I actually passed Jimmy back in the woods, and I started pulling a little lead on him. We got into an off-camber section and my bike died and I slid off the side of the hill. Jimmy managed to get around me there; I had some trouble trying to get out of that little spot. Jimmy was riding well; he knew he had it at the end there. He was pushing hard so there was no way of catching him, but it was a real good race between the three of us."
Yes, three battled for the lead--at least for the first half of the race. Jason Thomas put his Fun Mart Cycles/Maxxis/Moose YZ250 into the lead a couple times in the early going, and the front three pulled away from the rest of the field. The young man from Wales made a mistake just after the halfway mark, however, losing contact with the front two and finishing a solitary third.
Aaron Branham notched his best finish to date by riding to a strong fourth.
Aaron Branham enjoyed his best ride to date in the series to end up a strong fourth on his Marysville Honda Motorsports/Cycra/MSR CR250R, and Texan Matt Crouch proved to be stronger over the last half than travel companion Cooper Bailey, with Crouch emerging fifth on his PMP/Zip-Ty Racing/MSR YZ250.
The series finale comes at the end of the month near Morrison, Illinois, and Jarrett basically has enough of a lead so that if he simply starts the race, he's assured of the championship. Likewise, Williamson has a virtual lock on the runner-up spot for the second year running. The remaining positions could change, however.
Fastest Five Pros
1. Jimmy Jarrett, Suzuki RM250
2. Justin Williamson, Yamaha YZ250
3. Jason Thomas, Yamaha YZ250
4. Aaron Branham, Honda CR250R
5. Matt Crouch, Yamaha YZ250
After chasing fellow teenager Cooper Bailey, Texan Matt Crouch put in a strong final lap to secure fifth. | 
From left: runner-up Williamson, winner Jarrett and third-place Thomas. | 
Matt Dissell leads a lapped rider down through a field to what will become a technical gully filled with rocks en route to his 10th overall finish. |