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Overall Winner
Brandon Higgins

Parsons, WV – Brandon Higgins has made it two in a row after taking the overall this past Sunday at Pheasant Run in Parsons, WV. Heading into this week, Brandon Whipkey had a 111 point lead on Zach Nolan for the Youth Bike Overall. It was getting to the point of worry for anyone trying to stay near the top of the point race. Whipkey has been consistent and is slowly making it impossible for anyone to battle him for the lead. Sunday, everyone was interested to see how the twenty five large pack of Youth Bikes would handle the mountainous terrain of Pheasant Run.

With the drop of the flag the racing was on. Dylan Johnson grabbed the hole shot with his KTM. Higgins and Michael McFarland had their Suzuki right on his tail. The first lap provided many challenges for the young riders. The mountainous terrain made hills hard to avoid for the young riders. After almost ten minutes Higgins came down off the hill and checked through the barrels for the first lap. Davey Armstrong checked in around thirty seconds after him. Of the twenty five rider field, fifteen riders took longer than twenty minutes to complete their first lap. The tough track challenged the young riders and made mothers uneasy watching from the pits. In the post race interviews with D5 Harescramble Rider Rep. Roy Dains, Higgins talks about his first lap. “Well, I got by Mike and Dillon because they got stuck on the hill so, I just rode my race and had my lines picked out.” Higgins lap times hovered around nine minutes forty seconds all day. Higgins fourth lap was blistering at nine minutes seven seconds.

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Zach Nolan

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Dillon Shoemaker

The true battle of the day came between 2006 Youth Bike Champ Zach Nolan and Davey Armstrong. At the first lap barrel stop, Armstrong was a minute ahead of Nolan. Throughout the day Nolan chipped away at the difference and the first lap would be the only lap of the day that Armstrong was faster than Nolan. Nolan finally passed Armstrong and took second overall for the day and Armstrong took third. Armstrong talks about the rain that was present during the first part of the race. “It actually wasn’t that bad, it was just the hill climbs. It kept messing everyone up and there were a bunch of people stuck. You just had to make your own lines and then hope you didn’t get stuck.” The most convincing win of the day came for Dillon Shoemaker. The West Virginia KTM rider won the 85cc 11-12 class by a lap. He pretty much got the hole shot and never looked back.

The series will have a break next weekend, but riders should be preparing for the next race at Kelly Mountain in Elkins, WV. That race will be held on Saturday May 19th. Hope to see you there!

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The top three!