News
Photos by Blue Groove Photos
Keith Little Wins Extreme Dirt Track in Ohio
July 26, 2005 – Keith Little (#12) pulled the hole shot on his Yamaha YZF450 in the first Pro qualifier and, after a rained-out main event, won the Pro class at the FMF Extreme Dirt Track ATVA Nationals at Pine Lake in Ashtabula, Ohio, July 23-24.
Bud
Fischer and his dedicated staff at Fischer’s Cycle team up every year with a
friendly, energetic army of volunteers to host the largest Extreme Dirt Track
race in the world, even breaking last year's attendance records.
In the first Pro qualifying heat race, as the riders roared down the wide, long straight, it was Little pulling the very important holeshot and taking the lead. In hot pursuit were Harold Goodman (#708), Daryl Rath (#67), Shane Hitt (#5) and Scott Morris (#43)
Goodman would challenge Little at several of the hairpin turns, but Little would quickly accelerate out of striking distance. Lap after lap, Hitt would pull alongside Rath on the straight, gaining a slight advantage, but Rath would out-corner Hitt and recapture his third-place finishing position. Morris rounded out the top five.
The second Pro qualifier was just as exciting, with Daren Ogden (#2) launching his Honda TRX450R into turn one in first place, followed by Shane Smith (#79), Tim Farr (#4), Nathan Dallas (#45) and Brad Covington (#22).
Farr made the pass on Smith only to go wide in turn one. Farr continued to press and moved past Smith.
Farr then set his sights on Ogden, but Ogden appeared to have just a little more speed down the front straight and stayed out of Farr’s reach as time ran out and the checkered flag dropped.
The second Pro qualifier finish was: Ogden, Farr, Smith, Covington and Dallas.
Sunday morning rain was in the forecast and all eyes were on the skies, praying for the rain to hold off. The Fischer track crew went to work and scraped off a layer of slippery clay. Then it started to sprinkle, then rain.
Racing was postponed while racers and fans waited for the rain to stop. As soon as there was a small break in the weather, every ATV, golf cart or utility vehicle available started rolling the track in to possibly reclaim the racing surface.
The
track came around and riders fired up their engines ready to race. But Mother
Nature was determined to rain on their parade just as the riders launched off
the starting line.
Thoroughly soaked clay and wide smooth tires don’t allow for racing as riders went spinning off the track.
The good news was that all qualifying heats and last chance qualifiers were completed on Saturday. Each qualifier is timed and the winner of the fastest qualifier is declared the winner. Little was awarded first place.