2006 OMA ATV Race Report and Results Round Seven at Millville, Minnesota

Five inches of rain two days before the CRD Spring Creek Grand Prix threatened to make round seven of the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals a soupy mess, but a day of good weather in between actually made for nearly perfect conditions. Well, that and lots of tractor work on the Spring Creek MX Park course by owner John Martin and his crew.

But one got the feeling that Duane Johnson would've prevailed no matter what the conditions, as he rode to a convincing margin of victory in one hour, 45 minutes and 13 seconds on his Hiper/Maxxis/IRS-backed TRX450R. Bryan Baker ended up second in 1:48:35 on his K&K/Lone Star/Maxxis-backed TRX450R while Derrick Schrock claimed third in 1:52:01 on his self-sponsored Yamaha YFZ450.

Todd Krupinski got off the line the quickest and led to the first turn on his TRX450R, but it wasn't too long before Johnson put a move on him to take the lead. (Krupinski would later drop out after hearing potentially expensive noises from his engine's bottom end.) Rhett Butler jumped in behind him soon after, and the two riders from Missouri proceeded to run close and run away until Butler killed his bike and had problems restarting it.

That left Johnson in firm control, though he tried not to let up. "Whenever I stopped to talk to [Butler], he told me I had a real big lead, but I didn't really want to let off too much either--I'm trying to train for the [GNCCs], too, to try to wear myself down so I tried to keep on going just as hard as I was, but it makes it a lot tougher when you're by yourself to keep yourself pushing that hard."

For Baker, it was a day of catching up. He reported, "I ended up getting into second behind Duane going into the woods [on the first lap]. I was running along, and Duane got hung on a log [and blocked the trail]. By the time everybody got going again, I slipped to, like, fourth. A couple miles down the trail I stalled my bike, and by the time I got it going, I was eighth or ninth. I pretty much just played catch-up the rest of the day and ended up getting into second."

Similarly, Schrock had to catch and pass Honda-mounted Kevin Tinsley on the final lap in order to secure third place. "I'd been following [him] for quite a while," Schrock said. "I charged on the motocross track and got him [on the last lap]. I was quite a bit faster than him in the woods [after that], and I pulled away from him."

Earlier, Schrock said, "I got hung up and got behind a lot of quads so I just kept trying to be consistent. I was pretty fast in the woods and could charge pretty good in the woods so I think that's where I made up most of my time."

Two-time and defending series champion Rob Zimmerman got a horrible start and had lots of ground to make up on his Maxxis/Clarke/Moose TRX450R. Then, once he got up towards the leaders, he noticed something amiss with his bike.

"I was fighting all morning," he said. "I got my way up into third, and I was battling with Krupinski a little bit, [but] I kept hearing something in the back [of the bike] like a [clinking sound]. I stopped and felt my chain, and it was just horribly loose."

He made it back to the pits and yelled to some friends that he'd need his chain tightened, but they apparently didn't understand and weren't ready when Zimmerman came around the next lap. "I had to baby it the whole time [while waiting for them to be ready in the pits]. I tried to get back up on there," he said. "The last two laps I just ran as hard as I could run. I was able to get one position back but not the other one, unfortunately. I tried." Zimmerman would end up a disappointed fifth after winning both of his previous outings at Millville.

Spring Creek GP Top 10 Pro Results
1. Duane Johnson, Honda TRX450R
2. Bryan Baker, Honda TRX450R
3. Derrick Schrock, Yamaha YFZ450
4. Kevin Tinsley, Honda TRX450R
5. Rob Zimmerman, Honda TRX450R
6. Rob Weis, Honda TRX450R
7. Kenneth Staake, Yamaha YFZ450
8. Jason Schrock, Honda TRX450R
9. Rhett Butler, Honda TRX450R
10. Ryan Smith, Yamaha YFZ450