Barry Hawk isn't a regular on the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals tour, but round three of the series in Wellsville, Ohio, which was presented by DP Brakes, fit the Am-Pro Yamaha/FMF/MSR YZ250 racer's schedule perfectly. And coming as it did a week after a disappointing GNCC race (the focus of his schedule)—also in Ohio—Hawk used the OMA event to confirm changes that he performed in the interim, changes that he hopes will carry him out of his recent slump and back to another GNCC title."I got a decent start," he said. "Shane and Jimmy and those guys were right there the first couple laps. Then it seemed like I got through a bottleneck or something; I don't know what happened, but it seemed like maybe I got through better than those guys. Once that happened, I got the pit board and I had, like, a 20-second lead, and I just kept it hammered from that point on to the finish to see how much I could pull away."Indeed, it seemed like Hawk rode effortlessly out in front, his pace carrying him far from a tight battle for the runner-up spot even though he crashed hard on the last lap and relinquished perhaps half of his lead.KTMHutt.com's Watts, Andrews Suzuki racer Jarrett, Rentoneonline.com's Brian Garrahan and YZ250-mounted Charles Mullins comprised the bulk of the group fighting it out for second place most of the way. As the two-hour race wore on, that duel eventually came down to Mullins, Jarrett and M2R RM250-mounted Doug Blackwell, who'd come from far back after taking wrong turns the first few laps.Jarrett, the defending series champion, pushed hardest on the final lap to edge Blackwell. Mullins came in about a minute later for fourth while Garrahan rounded out the top five."I felt good," Hawk said. "We made some changes from the Ohio race last week to this week—actually made some pretty drastic changes suspension-wise to my bike just to try. We came out here, and it works pretty good; it seems like I can be a little more aggressive now like I need to be."I'm happy and looking forward to winning some more races."In fact, Hawk said, it was only his third win this year, and he expects to use his new setup to add a few more to that tally, especially when he returns to the GNCC wars.Overall Results
1. Barry Hawk, Yamaha
2. Jimmy Jarrett, Suzuki
3. Doug Blackwell, Suzuki
4. Charles Mullins, Yamaha
5. Brian Garrahan, Suzuki
6. D.R. Atwood, KTM
7. Shane Watts, KTM
8. Justin Williamson, Yamaha
9. Chris Robertson, Kawasaki
10. Allan Westerfield, Kawasaki
11. Nathan Kanney, Yamaha
12. Ryan Rodgers, Yamaha
13. Christopher Bach, KTM
14. Tracy Bachman, Honda
15. Daryl Conner, Yamaha
16. J.T. Bennett, Yamaha
17. Joseph Scherer, NA
18. Joshua McLevy, Kawasaki
