Steward Baylor Triumphs at the Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals (OMA) round one, the Beaman Monster Cross-Country National.
Story and Photos by Mark Kariya
Steward Baylor rattled off five consecutive overall triumphs (including seven straight moto wins) to start last year’s Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV (OMA) Nationals, easily earning the championship in his first full year following the series.
After another 1-1 day to kick off the new season, it’s clear the SRT KTM racer intends to make it two OMA championships in a row.
It was a lot more difficult than simple results might indicate, however. For one thing, he’d suffered a knee injury a few weeks ago and his race schedule didn’t allow any time to let it heal before rolling up to the starting line of the Beaman Monster Cross-country National in Sedalia, Missouri, for the OMA opener.
“I haven’t been able to ride, I haven’t been able to practice since the Wednesday before [the] Big Buck [GNCC last week],” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to race [it, but] I lined up for the GNCC and turned over one of the fastest laps on the last lap. It’s good and bad. It’s good during the week, but on Monday after a race, it’s definitely tough. It’s tough to ride with, but as soon as you get that adrenaline pumping, you forget about everything and you’re good to go.”
Apparently.
After a pair of less-than-stellar starts, it would’ve been easy for him to settle for second-place points, but Baylor’s no settler and hates losing more than riding in pain. So, when he saw only Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Mike Witkowski in front of him in both motos, Baylor kept charging, though he had to rely on his younger competitor to make a mistake before he was able to make the race-winning pass in the second 45-minute moto.
“Right before the finish almost—maybe a mile before—the front end washed on an off-camber. That was it and Stew got away,” Witkowski lamented.
Still, the young man who got his start racing minis in the OMAs proved to be the most competitive against the champ on this day, leaving no doubt that he’ll get a win sooner or later.
Adam Bonneur earned a 3-3 third on his new Fun Mart Cycles Suzuki. His new bike reflects his change of focus this year as he concentrates on National enduros and OMAs, sort of returning to the beginning of his career as another who got his start in OMAs as a mini racer.
“I think Stew was kind of slow-playing us there for a little while,” he observed. “He likes to ride comfortably and get comfy before he drops the hammer so I was hanging on to Stew there for a little while. Mikey kind of got out in front of us late in the second moto so I think Stew kind of quit playing around. As soon as he dropped the hammer to go catch Mikey, I was trying to hang on, but it was all I could do to see him in some of the longer field sections.”
Baylor’s SRT KTM teammate and former Pro 2 champ Mark Heresco went 5-4 for fourth, trading spots with AirGroup/Radiant Racing Husqvarna’s Nick Fahringer who carded a 4-5 fifth.
In the hotly contested Pro 2 category, Logan Lowrey took a fairly comfortable win in the first moto aboard his Nishna Valley Cycle KTM with Cody Barnes—last year’s overall A-class champ—claiming second after a spill left him around sixth.
Moto two saw Barnes ride a cleaner race, staying closer to the front the whole way before passing Lowrey on the penultimate lap for a winning Pro 2 debut aboard his Barnes Family/FMF Yamaha. Obermeyer/MCS Racing Suzuki’s Duell Murphy took third with his 3-3 day with Kyleer Vance (5-4) and Jeremy Smith (4-5) rounding out the top five in class.
Results can be obtained at www.omanationals.com.
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