WATERMELON BASH VI RACE REPORT

For the sixth year the Florida Trail Riders schedule brought racers down to the southwest corner of the state. The Watermelon Bash is held at “The Farm” which sits east of Punta Gorda, Florida. This is fourth year we have used the west of State Road 31 side of the property and the club (Old School Dirt Riders) seems to have the course layout dialed in.

If you look at this property from a satellite view you may notice there are not much woods to work with. The club did a great job of breaking up the many field sections with short woods sections, before ultimatley running down the treeline for a long, flowy section.

Something new for this year was a creek crossing that brought you to the backside of the property. The club dumped some rocks in the creek to ensure it would not get dug out. Smart move! The backside of the property featured an awesome palm hammock section that featured a plethora of lines to choose from.

The ditches in the fields also provided a unique challenge as riders were forced to decide to hop over the ditches and save time or slow down and ride through the ditch, losing time but not risking a potential crash.

This property might be the best on the schedule as far as spectating goes. The fields run all the way down the entrance road providing an ample amount of spots to catch your favorite rider. In addition to the fields the treeline ran parallel to the parking area allowing spectators to walk into the woods

and check out the sections that made this course so enjoyable.

Lastly, this course featured a decent sized tabletop which allowed for the riders to get some air and show off for their friends and family (and the photographers). It is always great when a club has the opportunity to add a few unique features to the course.

The OSDR event saw another increase in turnout over 2019. The 2020 event saw 833 entries, an increase in 182 from the previous year.

Ryder Steffey continues his Peewee A dominance with another win over David Couto and Ryder Bischoff. In Peewee B Cam Dozier would bring home the win. Tanner Collins grabbed his second win of the season in Peewee C, this will advance him into the Peewee B class starting next race. Gentry McBride, Avery Colllins, Jackson Hancock, Beau Collins and Kaden Hamilton would win their Peewee classes respectively.

For the 12:15 Mini race it was Jimmy Moore taking the overall win over Logan Crawford and Linkin Bischoff. These kids have been duking it out all year long. Tyler Lamb continues to hover around the top five overall on his KTM 65, he would win the 65 A class by almost eight minutes.

Up next was the 2pm Saturday Junior/Vintage race where Clay Lyons took the overall and Pre Modern A win, Jacob Gilliam would finish second behind Clay aboard his XR. Korbin Dinkel continues his hot streak with a Junior A win and third overall.

Brandon Frazier took home the Quad High Point finishing ahead of seasoned veterans, Michael Relyea and Chuck W Piper.

On Sunday we saw Clay Lyons grab another overall win, this time in the 10:30 Specialty race. He would finish ahead of Shawn Clark for the first time this season. Barry McCarty, Kyle McAfee and Alex Mitz would round out the Top Five.

On Sunday Afternoon we saw the return of Jesse Ansley, Jesse would take the overall win over Garrett Edmisten and Alex Lugar. Shoutout to Blake Yahraus with a Top Five overall on his KTM 125.