AMA Pirelli
/ Parts Unlimited / Moose / Maxxis
Mid-South
Championship Winter Hare Scrambles Series
Round
5: Cottonmouth Hare Scrambles
Gibson Bites the Snake
BY DEBBIE ALLEN
Greenville, KY,
December 5
Dustin Gibson made his first win this season at the Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scramble Series. During the fifth round in Greenville, Kentucky, he started out slowly. But on the last lap, he maneuvered himself into a first place victory that made the Cottonmouth Hare Scramble look easy.
Racing with ten other Mid-South AA riders, he encountered several obstacles that directly related to the Pirelli Tires, Moose, Parts Unlimited, and Maxxis Tire’s first ill weathered mud run. The first one took place off the start when two riders went down. Gibson was mid-pack with John Robbins blocking him and P.A Allen moving up from behind. Robbins slid out in front of him while Allen continued his charge. For awhile, it looked as if the dominoes were about to fall, but somehow all of the surrounding riders escaped, leaving Robbins and Allen in the mud. With that in mind, the riders could only imagine what troubles awaited them for the remaining six laps.
Gibson said, “I thought for sure I was about to go down at the start. P. A. hit me, and I almost ran over Robbins. I just spun out, they went down, and I didn’t. For the rest of the race, I just tried to ride as smooth as I could. On the last lap, I took the lead when John Maschino stopped for gas.”
Other obstacles were directly attributed to the mud, but the
Sarge’s Cycles / KTM / Smith / GPR / Moose backed Gibson simply bit the snake
and reeled it in leaving the mud holes behind him. In the process, he made the
fastest lap times for three laps with a top speed of
OffRoad Group / GasGas / Bridgestone / Leader Goggles sponsored Machino led most of the race, taking the lead on the second lap. He stayed out front for the next four laps and battled with Gibson on the remaining lap.
He said, “Dustin was riding good today and wasn’t making too many mistakes. I guess I made more than him. He got by me when I took a bad line going through a mud hole. It took me a while to get out of that, and then my pit crew stopped me for another gas stop. I really didn’t want to stop, but I guess I needed to since we ran six laps. After that, I lost too much time. I settled for second and was happy just the same.”
P.A. Allen was the next rider to complete the podium finish. He raced a lonely one, trying hard to make up the time lost from a poor start. The Team Green Kawasaki / Sarges’Cycles / Pro Circuit / Renthal / Twin Air / CTI supported rider said, “Off the start, I decided to hold it wide open, and my four-stroke kicked in right when Dustin was in front of me. Our tires connected, and I went down. After that, I was in the lead for only a couple of miles. I just couldn’t keep it.”
Cycle Shed / Michelin backed Robbins and Mullins followed in fourth and fifth place. While Robbins suffered from his dead last start, Plessinger Cycles / Maxxis backed Mullins garnered the AA holeshot. Like Allen, Robbins said that the lapped riders and mud were in their favor today. It was appreciated.
Michael Cornett proved to be the top rider in the A class. He said, “I love the mud!” He had an excellent ride. Riding in Senior A, his class was the last group to leave the A class line-up. He took the lead shortly after the green flag. Then he began his quest for the Overall A landslide, passing fifty riders in his path.
Klotz supported Nathan Alering took the B class win while Charles Cunningham was the top rider in the C classes. Riding his RM 250 Suzuki, Alering crashed off the start and ripped off his chest protector. After that, he caught the leaders and started a battle between second and third place riders, Michael Barnick and Hayden Moore. Cunningham was the Overall C rider. He made five laps and won Vet C class.
Currently, Maschino and Allen are tied for second place in Mid-South points. Gibson lags by one point, and Blair Bersano is in a distant lead. He has been tearing up the Mid-South trails this year, but today’s event caused some pain; he was unable to finish due to a back injury. With six more races to go, the Championship could belong to any one of these riders.