BY DEBBIE ALLEN

Dustin Gibson wreaked havoc as he pushed himself into the lead at the Cross Country Motorsports Championship. He rode smart and out smarted the 427 Fox Hollow racers finishing in first place in Overall. The Sarge’s Cycles / KTM / Enduro Engineering / Clarke / Maxxis backed Gibson made racing look easy as he swapped back and forth with the podium finishers, Jeff Cregg and Glenn Kearney.

Off the start, Gibson followed Team Green Kawasaki’s P.A. Allen into the woods with seven others riders trailing behind them. They pulled away from most of the AA pack, but Cregg and Kearney held tight and stuck close to them.

Near a creek section just before the finish, Gibson’s havoc struck as he plowed through some banners that were blocking the Youth trail. He spun back around, but Hayden Moore and John Maschino took it moved to the front, while Cregg, Kearney, Allen and Gibson cruised from the rear.

On the second lap, Cregg, Kearney, and Gibson freight trained to the front again. This time they swapped positions continuously until the finish. On the third lap, Kearney made his move for first place but got stuck in a mud hole and lost 24 seconds getting out. Needless to say, the podium GNCC finisher came to practice, and that’s exactly what he got, a good work-out. His day ended with him ricocheting off of a tree only to find himself stuck inside one.

"We were going so fast," said Gibson, "that sometimes, I would just let them by because I didn’t want to lead. Kearney caught me on the last lap and was riding way out of control and was hitting stuff. He gave it to me about two hundred yards from the finish. On the last down hill, he hit a tree, went sideways, then hit another tree. I cruised in from there."

Max Pitts Suzuki / Ben’s Performance Cycle / Johnnie Signs / M2R supported Cregg followed Gibson into second place in Overall. He had a good ride and led off and on throughout the five laps raced. He passed Kearney while he was trying to lift his bike out of a tree.

Team FMF Suzuki / Maxima / Dunlop / RG3 sponsored Kearney said, "It was perfect for me to come and practice because these are the conditions that I struggle with at the GNCCs. After I got out of the mud hole, I really pushed for the lead but was so warn out from trying to get unstuck and from pushing my bike up a hill."

Luckily, he had just enough strength to rearrange his bike onto level ground; he savored third place. Meanwhile Allen and Moore did not have such luck. Allen’s ride up front with the podium ended quickly on the third lap when Moore collided into Allen as two lines formed into one. Thankfully, both were all right. Allen finished in fourth place in the AA class while Moore was transported life flight because he thought he broke his femur.

Other riders who were on top of their game included Travis Green, Seth Summers, and Ryan Creasor. They mastered the course with a better than usual finish. Kawasaki mounted Green made fourth place in Overall and won 250A class. Summers and Creasor topped their class, making one additional lap than the rest of their pack. Summers finished the 250 B class in first place and came in 19^th place in Overall while Creasor out maneuvered everyone in the 300 4 Stroke B class.

In the C classes, Chase Bishop, Loupie Lambruno, Jason Burton, and Keith Robinson all had great rides. Bishop and Lambruno were the top novice riders. They out stretched their accomplishments by coming in 38^th place in Overall for Bishop and 44^th place in Overall for Lambruno. Bishop won 300 4Stroke C while Lambruno toughed it out in 200C class.

Burton and Robinson also had great rides because they finished their race with ten minutes lead on second place riders, Kelly McDonald and Daniel Newcomb. Burton won Open 4 Stroke, and Robinson won Senior C.