Louisiana Cross-Country Series
Round 1: Leesville Motorsports Park
Howell Strikes First
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By: Jenny Comeaux
Photos by: Bob Hatcher and Chris Shows
Leesville, LA
Round 1 of the 2012 Louisiana Cross-Country Series was kicked off under beautiful sunny skies at Leesville Motorsports Park. Well over 200 racers were able to enjoy a fun course with great ground conditions! The temperature was a little chilly but it didn't take long for racers to warm up on the rough course!
Vaughan has been getting front row holeshots in a few different race series. Shows Photo |
When the green flag was raised for the XC1 Expert class, KTM pilot Bryan Vaughan (Moose Racing/Asterisk Braces/Dunlop/Moto Tassinari/System Tech Racing) got the jump and carried it through the first turn to nail the holeshot with the hungry pack close behind. Vaughan ended up getting hung up on the optional FilterSolution.com cliff jump, so fell back a bit. Forrest Smith put his Yamaha YZ250 2-stroke in the lead with some very fast lap times, but then ran into some mechanical problems. Defending series champion Andy Beebe (HUS / Team 3/4 / MTA/Scott Equipment) was riding well on his new 310cc 4-stroke machine, but ended up waiving by a hard charging Martin Howell (KTM). Beebe was able to hang with Howell for a couple miles until getting a little hung up behind a |
lapper. Martin slipped away and stretched out a cushion taking the overall win. Beebe finished second and Vaughan rounded out the final podium position just 4 seconds behind.
Martin Howell put in an impressive ride to get the season kicked off with a win. Shows Photo |
Defending Champ Andy Beebe #1. Hatcher Photo |
Howell on his Round one victory: "It feels great to get the season started off with a win. The race didn't start off too good with me going down in the first turn, but I was able to make some quick passes and get into the lead on lap 3. I had a lot of fun and I'm excited for Round two. I would like to thank the LACC staff and workers for putting on a great event and also, JM suspension, SMS KTM, Answer, Motorex, FMF, and my parents."
Jason Harvey (SUZ) just missed the podium but put some valuable points on the board. Hatcher Photo |
Evan Shows kept his 150XC pinned to win the XC2 Lites class and finish sixth overall. Hatcher Photo |
In the XC2 Expert Lites class, young Evan Shows
(KTM/Mike’s Cycle/Pierce and Shows Attorneys) put in a solid ride
finishing 6th overall and taking the class win.
Clint Woods (KTM/Mike’s Outdoors/Woods Tank) finished second
followed by Corey Altazin (WPS/Fly Gear) in third. The Acadiana Racing LLC staff wants to sincerely thank the many folks who showed up to have some fun in the sun and our awesome new 2012 series/website sponsors listed below! As always stay tuned to the homepage/news section here for awesome coverage of this event and others.
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About the series:
The MTA Louisiana Cross-Country Series is a 10-round championship
series promoted by AcadianaRacing.com. Venues test each
rider’s overall ability by offering motocross sections, hills,
roots, occasional rocks, woods trails, grass tracks, extreme
obstacles, etc. In addition to pure speed riders must have the
endurance to push hard for over an hour and a half. The series
is brought to you by title sponsor MTA, Filter Solution.com, Gas Gas Offroad US,
Honda of Lafayette, Performance Cycles, Enduro Engineering, Spectro,
Transmissions Inc, Southern Trophy, Chiropractic Spine & Sports,
Team 3/4, Evangeline Specialties, API Control System Solutions,
Moose Racing, RidePG.com, Deb's Prints, KTM, OutOfBoundFilms, Dirt
Wise Schools and Instructional DVDs, SideLineFilms, Bayou
Fabrication, Honda, Bayou Suspension.com, MXPrints.com, and
Husqvarna.
Andy Beebe and the Number 1
Husqvarna 310cc 4-stroke were turning some heads at this spectator
friendly event. Beebe was happy to finish in second without having
much time on the bike over the winter break. Hatcher Photo
Results:
OVERALL: 1. Martin Howell (KTM); 2. Andy Beebe
(HUS); 3. Bryan Vaughan (KTM); 4. Jason Harvey (SUZ); 5. Hutton
Woods (KTM); 6. Evan Shows (KTM); 7. Ryan Breaux (KTM); 8. Clint
Woods (KTM); 9. Jonathan Plunkett (KTM); 10. Brett Fontenot (KTM);
11. Corey Altazin (KTM); 12. Dakotah Smith (KTM); 13. Kevin
Hutchinson (KAW); 14. Kelly Crenshaw (KTM); 15. Al Cravens (KTM);
16. Brad Warren (KTM); 17. Chad Colvin (KTM); 18. Christopher
Roberts (KTM); 19. Greg Bryant (HON); 20. Tyler Mandino (YAM)
XC1: 1. Martin Howell (KTM); 2. Andy Beebe (HUS); 3. Bryan Vaughan
(KTM); 4. Jason Harvey (SUZ); 5. Hutton Woods (KTM)
XC2: 1. Evan Shows (KTM); 2. Clint Woods (KTM); 3. Corey Altazin
(KTM); 4. John Beauchamp (SUZ); 5. Lance Ford (KAW)
SENIOR A: 1. Kelly Crenshaw (KTM); 2. Al Cravens (KTM); 3. Chad
Colvin (KTM); 4. Greg Bryant (HON); 5. Edmund Herrington (KTM)
INT: 1. Brad Warren (KTM); 2. Christopher Roberts (KTM); 3. Tyler
Mandino (YAM); 4. Corey Mouton (KTM); 5. Dusty Neuville (KTM)
NOVICE: 1. Brian Griffith (KAW); 2. Michael Elshout (HON); 3. James
Winn (SUZ); 4. Shawn Hrubes (KTM); 5. Cody Griffith (HON)
NOV LITE: 1. Blake Plonsky (KTM); 2. Josh Bennett (HON); 3. Chad Roy
(KAW); 4. Sullivan Van Way (KTM); 5. Scott Altazin (KTM)
JUNIOR: 1. Braeden Van Way (KTM); 2. Daltyn Kennedy (KAW); 3. Johnny
Demoura (KTM); 4. Caleb Kennon (HON); 5. Blake Voisin (YAM)
SENIOR B: 1. Doug Kennedy (HON); 2. Payton Wilson (KTM); 3. Joel
Negrotto (KTM); 4. Chris Van Way (KTM); 5. George Bofinger (KTM)
SENIOR 50: 1. Johnny Rhodes (YAM); 2. Mark Jamroz (HUS); 3. Donny
Graham (KTM); 4. Jim Hillburn (KTM); 5. Gary Mccrary (KTM)
BEGINNER: 1. Cody Carrico (KTM); 2. Carl Hill (KAW); 3. Craig
Soileau (KAW); 4. Jeremy Dellafiora (KTM); 5. Richie Howard (HON)
BEG LITE: 1. Blake Toms (HON); 2. Matt Alexander (KTM); 3. Jesse
Whittington (KTM); 4. Trenton Greenwood (HON); 5. Will Chanler (YAM)
BEG 4-STK: 1. Tristan Bryant (HON); 2. Trey Forman (KTM); 3.
Nicholas Hess (YAM); 4. Danny Self (HON); 5. Corky Thompson (KTM)
BEG 40+: 1. Gregg Kirk (KAW); 2. Gerald Bello (KAW); 3. Randy Marcil
(HON); 4. Wayne Varnado (HON); 5. Jay Bryant (HON)
KIDS VET: 1. Shane Foto (YAM); 2. Philip Demoura (HON); 3. Seth
Hopkins (KTM); 4. Heath Barstow (KTM); 5. Noah Shaw (KAW)
WOMEN: 1. Madeline Pipkin (KTM); 2. Carrie Breaux (KTM); 3. Sherri
Baker (HON); 4. Jeanie Hill (KAW); 5. Jenna Ford (HON)
KIDS INT: 1. Thomas Bofinger (KTM); 2. Greg Harmon (HON); 3. Jacob
Freeman (KTM); 4. Walker Shows (KTM); 5. Trey Pipkin (KTM)
GIRLS: 1. Jessica Delee (SUZ); 2. Kristen Gautreau (KTM); 3. Gracie
Barrett (KAW); 4. Bethany Ardoin (KAW); 5. Ellen Herrington (YAM)
PEEWEE: 1. Austin Bradford (KTM); 2. Coty Woods (KTM); 3. David
Weaver (KTM); 4. Cameron Herman (YAM); 5. Ethan Comeaux (KTM)
BEG PW: 1. Travis Randle (KTM); 2. Pete Comeaux (YAM); 3. Trenton
Brashier (YAM); 4. Lincoln Woods (KTM); 5. Caity Kennon (SUZ)