Spencer Cooks Mid-South
By DEBBIE ALLEN
Iuka, MS, Dec. 19
The sixty Youth racers at the Mid-South Hare Scrambles Series found the Battle of Iuka to be one cold race. Its bitter temperatures may have sent thirty of its usual ninety racers into retreat, because twelve degrees made the sixth round of the Cross Country Motorsports Championship quite the challenge for those who decided to head South into the deep trenches of Mississippi.Spencer Cook was the top rider in Junior A. The Cordova, Tennessee, native cooked on his KTM and finished with a minute lead over Mid-South’s number one guy in points, Jordan Ashburn. There was really no battle fought between them since Cook was hot from start to finish. He got the holeshot and never looked back at the eleven other racers in his class.
"I had a little bit of trouble with the roots and the ruts," said Cook. "And, the temperatures didn’t help much, but it was a fun race." Cook rode an impressive race, overcoming a broken wrist from earlier in the season.
Ashburn did not appear to be his usual self. He mostly struggled with bike problems and may need to spend some of his Kawasaki bucks on maintaining his machine. Thus far, he has earned a whopping $800 from his four wins this season. Surely that can be put to good use for Mid-South’s largest upcoming race, the Triple Sanctioned Cross Country Shootout in Maplesville, Alabama.
He said, "I don’t know what’s wrong, but something’s not right. My bike quit on me three times and I fell once."
In Junior B class, Tyler Carter and Zach Nash were the front runners. They swapped the lead several times before Carter got the better end. Carter was in the lead until he hit a tree. Later it was Nash’s turn to move into second place. With the two riding side by side, he took a bad line behind a lapper when Carter made the right move into first place.
DP Brakes /Pro Taper / Thor / Pro Action backed Nash said, "I really enjoyed it. It was kind of a difficult track, and you had to make sure you picked your lines correctly to avoid the lappers."
Richard Brewer got third place and wanted to thank DC Cycle Racing and Smith Goggles.
Cole Kirchoff and Sam Thurman were the fastest among the Pee Wee’s. Kirchoff said, "I was the fast man in Austin Smith’s class."
Racing in Pee Wee 7-8 bracket, Kirchoff took his second win this season. He is making a strong effort for the fast guy, Austin Smith, who currently has four wins, a DNF, and now a second for the Iuka event.
Samuel Thurman, winner of 5-6 bracket, overcame plenty of obstacles. He got second off the start, got tangled in some banners, crashed on a hill, and was almost a lap down before he shook off all his troubles.
Tyler Bottoms is currently winning their class by four points, and he was not about to give it up that easily. They were neck to neck all the way to the finish.