Traditionally, Mt. Morris has coincided with the unofficial opening weekend of summer, Memorial Day. Rescheduled and bumped back a couple of weeks in recent seasons, it is no less the unofficial opening weekend of traditional outdoor motocross.
The High Point track has its share of man-made jumps and obstacles, but the rich dark dirt winding naturally through the green hills and trees of western Pennsylvania is one of the picture postcards of our sport.
In the first two rounds of racing, green also figured prominently in the pictures of the podium -- with Kawasaki Pro Circuit riders taking four of four moto wins, five of six podium positions, and both overall victories.
Thus far, only Star Racing's Kyle Cunningham has been able to break up the PC sweep with a third at Freestone.
GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac posted 3-4 motos to just miss a spot on the box in Hangtown, scoring a solid fourth where he'd made his stunning professional debut a year earlier. Justin Barcia ran up front momentarily in Freestone's first moto before one of the young season's uglier crashes, then rebounded to finish second in the second moto. That's as close as the Honda team has come... so far.
Barcia was up front early in moto 1 at Freestone, but an ugly crash would end his chances at the overall.
Photo: Simon Cudby
Mitch Payton's Pro Circuit squad has wound up heartbreakingly short of the lights class title in the past two years, but is off to another strong start at a championship run.
That leaves members of the other lights class powerhouse team, Factory Connection, thirsty to taste some (non-alcoholic) champagne.
