Story: Kaeley Porter // Photos: Mark Kariya
January 28th, 2019 – The KENDA SRT AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series headed out to the 52nd Annual Winter Classic in Lucerne Valley, CA. hosted by Desert MC for Round 1 of the 2019 race season. Unlike previous years, this years Winter Classic in Lucerne Valley provided warmer weather and more dust for our racers although Desert MC made sure to provide an exceedingly technical and challenging course for our racers, per usual for their round.
YOUTH
Utilizing our new race schedule format for the 2019 season, youth racing started off the weekend when the Desert MC banner dropped early Saturday morning. Designing the youth course, Pro racers and Desert MC members, Maverick Shuey and Ryan Smith were sure to make Round 1 unforgettable for these racers. The first race of the day saw the PeeWee class. Leading the entire race, Maddix Park took home his first PeeWee win of the race season. Ayden Berry raced in a 2nd place position to land on the podium in 2nd OA with Levi Shade next to him in 3rd. The PeeWee class raced a short 2 mile course and had a blast doing it. Racing her first ever Hare and Hound and following in older brother Jett’s footsteps, Katin Lessing finished the race strong with other fellow racers and looks forward to racing her next Hare and Hound.
Race 2 of the day saw the 65cc class and all Girls classes. Leading the first lap and remaining in leading position, Dustyn Davis favored the technical sections of the course and found it to be one of his many strengths. Racing behind Dustyn in 2nd OA, Brennen Watson found his rhythm and made no mistakes out on course to secure his podium position. Racing with the Girls class, Brooke Olivas made her comeback to racing after taking a lengthy break due to an injury that required surgery. Olivas led the Girls class the entire race, running 3rd OA as well. It was not until the last lap that Caleb Tate was able to catch Olivas and land in the 3rd OA podium position, causing Olivas to finish 4th OA and 1st in class. The 65cc podium was topped by Dustyn Davis with Brennen Watson in 2nd and Caleb Tate in 3rd. The Girls podium was topped by Brooke Olivas with Allie Stambaugh in 2nd and Ari Myrdal in 3rd.
Preceeding the Micro Mini race, it was time for the banner to drop and start the BigWheel race. The bomb run saw a holeshot from Lane Forbes. Remaining in the leading position, Forbes favored the rocky sections the most on the 8 mile course, but it was not long before those rocks gave him a flat rear tire at the beginning of the race. Nonetheless, Forbes continued racing out front finding more difficulty in technical sections with his flat tire. The white flag came out and Forbes headed back out onto course, with the rocks unfortunately giving him a flat front tire. Behind Forbes, Max Shapiro was putting the pressure on racing in 2nd OA but it was not enough to match Forbes hunger for his first ever Big Wheel win. By the time the white flag was waved for Shapiro, he had dropped down to 4th and ran out of gas near the finish of the race, causing him to finish outside of the top 10. Coming from 8th place and working his way up to 2nd on the podium, Mikey Wayne secured his position out on the last lap next to a close 3rd place earned by Caiden Fenstermaker. The 85cc podium saw a 1st place from Trevor Griffin next to Jett Lessing in 2nd, and Trystun Alvarez in 3rd. The BigWheel podium saw Lane Forbes in 1st, Carter Rayburn in 2nd, and Tallon Smith in 3rd after pushing his bike across the finish line!
Come Sunday, it was time for the race spectators had been eager to see since the lineup of racers we would see in the desert for Round 1 was released. The sign-up tent was still in and out with racers as Desert MC and the NHHA crew prepared for the banner to drop.
It was not long before the banner was raised and it was time to get the first row off of the line. The air covered with dust as racers such as Factory Beta’s Joe Wasson and JCR Factory Honda’s Ricky Brabec began to battle for the leading position. As the pits awaited to hear the leaders through the first check, out on course Wasson and Brabec were continuing their battle for the lead while JCR Factory Honda’s and 2018 NHHA Champ Kendall Norman fought to escape his 4th place position. As the course got more technical and slowed down a bit, Norman was able to pass Wasson and teammate Brabec. Coming through the scoring shoot and through the pits, Norman was now in the lead with Brabec on his tail end in 2nd OA and Wasson in 3rd. Factory Beta’s Chance Fullerton, moving up to the Pro class after wrapping up the 2018 Pro 250 Championship title, came through the pits after loop 1 running a 5th OA position behind Jacob Argubright who was in a current 4th OA.
Coming off of loop 1 for the Pro 250 class, Damon Woolslayer was currently leading in class with Nick Stover close behind in 2nd in class, both stopping in the pits to prepare for a challenging loop 2. Factory Beta’s Zane Roberts was not far behind in 3rd in class with JCR Factory Honda’s Preston Campbell in 4th for Pro 250.
As for the Women’s Pro class, Brandy Richards made her mark with a nearly 7 minute lead on 2nd Women Pro, Rachel Stout. This being Stout’s first race in the Women’s Pro class, she was heading into this race with a good lineup of competition and a steady dose of confidence. Only 3 minutes behind Stout, Chidester Transport Racing’s backed Sharon Mowell was racing 3rd in class with Factory Beta’s Morgan Tanke behind in 4th. Mowell and Tanke had their fair share of battles out on course just last weekend at the season opener for the AMA West Hare Scramble Championship race and were going to do anything in their power to battle it out and share the podium for this season opener as well.
As spectators eagerly awaited by the radio and scoring shoot to see which racer would come down the rocky finish first, we received news that our new leaders were now Jacob Argubright, Joe Wasson and Purvines Racing’s backed Tyler Lynn after Norman was forced to stop on course due to a bike difficulty, knocking him out of the top 5 and into an 8th place position. It was another 10 minutes before we saw our leader heading down the rocks as Jacob Argubright battled to the finish. Close behind Argubright in 2nd OA, JCR Factory Honda’s Ricky Brabec finished alongside Factory Beta’s Joe Wasson in 3rd. Purvines Racing backed Tyler Lynn finished 4th OA and 3Bros/SRT/Husqvarna backed Dalton Shirey in 5th OA. Finishing not too far behind our leaders, Damon Woolslayer took home his first ever Pro 250 win to top the podium next to Factory Beta’s Zane Roberts in 2nd, after Nick Stover had run out of gas near the finish. JCR Factory Honda’s Preston Campbell landed a 3rd place podium position to round out the Pro 250 podium.
Finishing nearly 40 minutes ahead of her competition, Brandy Richards topped the Women Pro podium next to Factory Beta’s Morgan Tanke in 2nd and Chidester Transport Racing’s backed Sharon Mowell in 3rd. After racing in 2nd off of the loop, Rachel Stout finished in a 4th place position for her first Women’s Pro race.
At this time, the ATV A class was wrapping up their first loop after a challenging race. Coming in only seconds apart, Jay Young finished 1st and Eric Pealstrom finished 2nd.With a major turnout and successful race, the NHHA crew can hardly wait to see our lineup of racers out at Round 2 in Post, TX on February 23rd & 34th. Desert MC hosted yet another awesome season opener for it’s racers and we look forward to another season of National Hare and Hound racing.
