Whibley Whips The Wolverine - Dirt Rider Magazine

At the Maxxis presented "Wolverine XC" OMA round 4 held in Mesick, Michigan, Paul Whibley (JG Offroad / Geico / Monster Energy / Kawasaki), always humble, stated "Things are going good. Hopefully I can just continue this pace and the results keep coming and hopefully keep it all together before the end of the season." After taking his 4th consecutive win this year Whibley commented on the race: "I got the holeshot, but I made a small, stupid crash in some tight stuff early on and Jimmy got past me. Then Jimmy must have made a small little crash, and I got past him. Then I crashed in the sand. My front end just hit a rock in one of the ruts and it just tucked under, so Jimmy led the first lap. After that I just couldn't really find a way to get past him. So we kind of just got in a good flow and guess we were riding together. Just before the fuel stop I tried to find some place to get around him and try to up the pace a little bit. I couldn't find anywhere. After the fuel stop I continued trying to make passes, and then Jimmy just let me go, let me around him. After maybe half a lap I didn't see Jimmy anymore. After that I got the pitboard that Jimmy was out. I didn't know what happened. So I drove the last lap nice, 'cruisy' and safe. It was pretty hard today. It was pretty humid out there and I guess the track was quite tight and slow, so there wasn't much air moving around. It was quite hot and humid in the trees. Overall it was a good day. The bike worked well, and everything went well. This is a lot more of a fresh, fun track to race. The same place here is a completely different track than last year, so it's pretty fun. "Jarrett (JG Offroad / Geico / Monster Energy / Kawasaki) would step it up and take the lead for the first four laps. Jarrett stated "After gas, I just started getting stomach cramps real bad and I didn't know what was wrong with me. Paul was all over me, so I let him by and I figured maybe if I followed him I'd calm down and maybe feel better, and then I only went a couple miles and I was cart wheeling myself. I'm not sure what I did, or what I hit, or what happened, but I knocked myself silly a little bit and I smashed my hand. Not one of my better races."So it was JG Offroad / Geico / Monster Energy / Kawasaki's other teammate, Scott Watkins who would step up and fill the second place podium position this round. "My start wasn't very good. I went down in the first turn and I was dead last. I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me today. It's super hot out. I just put my head down and some guys made some wrong turns on the track. I was able to pick up some time on them. I just rode as fast as I could. I didn't think I was able to run up there with Jimmy and Paul. Third, I was happy with, then I seen I was in second. Jimmy went down. I hope he's alright. It was a fun track. A little bit of everything. I think that was probably one of the hottest races we've had yet this year. Maybe not the roughest, but the heat, you just couldn't get away from it. The tight woods, you know, like there wasn't enough air and you were just out there being punished the whole time. Moving in and around them pine trees and over the logs and stuff, it was tough. The track was really good. It was just the heat. I think the heat was the hardest thing out there. But it was fun. All three of us on the Geico team are happy to be doing the series. It definitely keeps us busy between this series and the GNCC, but this one is good, a little more laid back. I've been chipping away at these all year. I knew I was fast enough to get here on the podium. Jimmy and Paul are a little bit quicker than me, but, you know, I still made it here to second today. So it looks like I can keep it on the box from here on out. He (Paul) is a good guy to follow around. Any time I'm training with Paul and Jimmy it's good. Those guys are really pushing me well. It's definitely good to have those guys on the team for me to kind of chase down in practice."Grabbing his first podium of the year was Pro Moto Billet / Fastway / Rekluse / Johnny Signs backed Aaron Wegner. It was double elation for Wegner, for this was also his hometown. "It was a great track once I got in the flow of things. I got off to an alright start. I ran with Adam (Bonneur) and Dustin Gibson and a couple other guys. I got around a couple of them guys, I was chasing Adam, and I went down pretty hard. I knocked the wind out of myself. I just told myself to get up and keep going as best as I could. It was a good, tight track and I felt like I was riding well. I had a just kind of mid pack start. I got in there with Dustin Gibson and Adam Bonneur, and we kind of just hung together for a while. Whibley and Jarrett kind of checked out early. I just kind of paced myself, because I knew it was going to be hot and I knew I was going to have to conserve energy. I got by Dustin Gibson, and Adam was a little ways ahead of me. I was kind of catching him, and on the second lap I went down pretty hard. I knocked the wind out of myself pretty good. I kind of hurt a little bit, but I told myself I had to get back up and just do the best I could. I kind of just fought through the pain and it went away pretty quick. I ended up catching Adam. I think he might have been getting tired or something. I liked the course. It was good and tight. A good mix of tight and open stuff. That's my kind of riding. I like the sand. I live pretty close here, about forty five minutes away, so it's good to do well for the people that come here to see me."Rounding out the top 5 in the Pro Class was Geison Motorsports / Pro Moto Billet / Moose Racing's Adam Bonneur and Pro Action / MSR / Rekluse's Jeff Melik.

Top 10 Overall
1 - Paul Whibley Kaw 2:29:22
2 - Scott Watkins Kaw 2:33:16
3 - Aaron Wegner Yam 2:36:56
4 - Chris Bach Kaw 2:39:02 Open
A5 - Chase Bishop Yam 2:39:50 Lite A
6 - Adam Bonneur Yam 2:40:20
7 - Tyler Tischler KTM 2:44:19 Lite A
8 - Zach Klamfoth Yam 2:45:17 Open A
9 - Jeff Melik Yam 2:47:18
10-Steve Leivan Yam 2:50:06 30-39 AChris Bach
Open A winner, fourth overall
Spastic Designs, Shift Racing, FMF, Fastway, RTT, Kawasaki 450,
It was good. I actually got a good start, which is phenomenal. I never get a good start. I kind of had this thing in the back of my head where, if I could get a good start, and get up front early and check out, I could get a really good overall. That was kind of the goal. As soon as I knew I had the lead, I put the hammer down and sprinted as hard as I could for the two or three laps. Then I had a little issue with my front brakes and I had to come in and pit. I stopped and got gas, and just put the hammer down. I got out front and knew that I had a good enough cushion between whoever was behind me that I could kind of slow down a little bit and just make sure I cleaned every section and rode pretty much mistake free all day. I didn't have any crashes or hang ups, or anything like that. It was good. It was a nice, nice day, and phenomenal to get fourth overall. It was awesome.Chase Bishop
Tennessee, YZ250F, MSR, Johnny Signs, Scott goggles, FMF, Mid State Motorsports,
Lite A winner. Fifth overallAdam Bonneur
Yamaha 250 2 stroke
Gieson Motorsports, Sidi boots, Scott goggles, Shoei helmets, Moose Racing, Pro Moto Billett Fastway,
Fourth place pro, sixth overall
Man, it was a hot one. I had another top three start. I was up there with Paul and Jimmy again. I tried to hang on as long as I could. I stayed in third for a lap, and then Scotty Watkins come by me. He kind of pulled away from me a little bit. Then Wegner caught and passed me, and it was all I had to just hang in there. That's all I did. I ended up with a fourth place. The track shaped up really nice. I really enjoy sand tracks. But it was rough, and it was a hot one. Yamaha 250 2 stroke - worked awesome in the woods, and was running great for the open stuff. She's runnin' strong.You were awfully hard on us today. For me, it just didn't flow as well as I'd hoped. I didn't keep cool, and I think I overheated myself.Zach Klamfoth
Yamaha YZ250, SCR, Motorex, Kenda, Alpinestar, Moose, FMF
Open A second, eighth overall
It was good. The track was fun. It was tight, open, a little dangerous. Some spots had some stumps sticking up.Jeff Melik
Fifth pro
Yamaha YZ450. Pro Action, MSR, Rekluse.
It could be better. It's just an off day. I kept moving, that's about it. It wasn't at any rate of speed. I had some close calls and, just a bad day.Steve Leivan
30-39A winner, tenth overall
Yamaha WR450, Dunlop, Race Tech, Answer, Silkolene
Not a real good start. Kind of hard to pass. We got to the first straightaway and I got past a couple guys there, and I got behind Andy Brannon. We were just kind of in a train. We already caught some Open guys and lites guys. There's only so many places you could get around. Then I fell, hit a slick tree root. The fender went on one side of the tree, and the tire on the other. It was aimed downhill, and I had to swing the bike all around. I lost several spots. I caught back up again and got to that rock section, and the way I went around yesterday was to the left, so I went to the left and I ended up right in the middle of the rocks, hung up, lost more time. Then I kind of just calmed down after that. I think probably by the end of the third lap I caught up to Brannon. We went back and forth a couple times. And there was a guy on a KTM 250, a local guy, I don't know what his name is, and he was haulin'. He gassed. I passed him. I stopped and got gas. He passed me back. Dad said that's the leader there. He was really fast in the tightest stuff. I was just trying to survive through it and he was really on the gas. I got back ahead of him, which was good, because I kind of was probably holding him up. Then we got where it flowed a little bit better and I kind of got a little bit of a gap. I guess he and I just got out on that last lap. I wasn't really wanting it that bad, but we got out and I didn't see him anymore, but he was going good. He made me ride hard. I feel like I worked hard today. That's why we do it, I guess.Jimmy Jarrett
Monster Energy Kawasaki Geico Powersports, Moose, Sidi, Smith.
After gas, I just started getting stomach cramps real bad and I didn't know what was wrong with me. Paul was all over me, so I let him by and I figured maybe if I followed him I'd calm down and maybe feel better, and then I only went a couple miles and I was cart wheeling myself. I'm not sure what I did, or what I hit, or what happened, but I knocked myself silly a little bit and I smashed my hand.I was kind of happy with that. We were kind of pushing each other, but not too hard. It was hot today and I don't think anyone wanted to go too fast today. It was alright. Not one of my better races.