Story: Kaeley Porter // Photos: Mark Kariya
The 2019 Kenda/SRT AMA National Hare and Hound Series joined the Lubbock Trail Riders for the Lone Star National at the Kalgary Enduro Camp Site. Per usual, the Lubbock Trail Riders hospitality and hard work paid off alongside the NHHA staff members as they were all able to put together a race that Texas locals as well as NHH racers were sure to enjoy! Harsh winds on Saturday made for a challenging day of Youth racing; serving as a prelude to the calm sunny weather for Sunday’s main feature.
The Pee Wee class was the first to kick off the racing weekend bright and early Saturday morning. Coming off of the first lap, Keller Richardson was in the lead for the Pee Wee class, Bryson TeSam exactly one second behind him. It was not long before TeSam had stolen the lead and TJ Wasson had joined in on this battle. TeSam and Wasson tailed behind one another for the 2nd place position up until lap 5, when Wasson would take the 2nd place position to finish out the race in that position. Maddix Park remained in the lead from lap 3 to the finish. The Pee Wee podium saw Maddix Park in 1st OA, TJ Wasson in 2nd, and Bryson TeSam in 3rd.
The second race of the day saw the Micro Mini class, Girls, Junior Girls and all Youth C take to the Texas trails. Caleb Tate led the race overall for the first lap with Layke Campbell in 2nd. Unfortunately, Tate took a wrong turn and headed out onto the Big Bike course. Tate came back into the race in an 8th place position, to finish in 6th OA. Our new leader would be Layke Campbell with Brennen behind him in 2nd and Malcolm Pearson in 3rd. Watson and Campbell would battle it out, with Watson coming out on top, Campbell in 2nd, and Pearson in 3rd to round out the Micro Mini podium. As for the Girls classes, Addison Myrdal led the Junior Girls class, racing 5th OA for the race after lap 1. Myrdal would take 1st in the Junior Girls class next to Jacie Levie in 2nd. Addison’s sister, Ari Myrdal would take 1st in the Girls class after leading in class the entire race ahead of first time racer, Ashley East who would come in 2nd to round out the Girls podium.
Per usual, the last race of the day would see the Big Wheel, Mini (85cc), and Junior Mini classes. Otto Pearson would start off the race in the lead with the holeshot, Ruffin Dodson behind him on the bomb run just outside of the Husqvarna sponsored holeshot flags. Pearson would come through the scoring chute off of the first lap with over a 1-minute lead on the current 2nd place racer, Jayden Waugh. Dodson and Lessing only 1 second apart from each other raced back and forth for the 3rd place position near the scoring chute, but it was not until lap 2 that the leaders would swap around positions, Lessing now in 3rd, Max Shapiro in 4th, and Ruffin Dodson in 5th OA. After gaining some time on Waugh, Lessing was able to bump up to 2nd OA, while Waugh raced in 3rd and Shapiro in 4th for the remainder of the race. The overall podium saw Otto Pearson in 1st, Jett Lessing in 2nd, and Jayden Waugh in 3rd while the Big Wheel podium saw Otto Pearson in 1st and Max Shapiro in 2nd. The Mini podium saw, Jett Lessing in 1st, Jayden Waugh in 2nd, and Ruffin Dodson in 3rd.
Preparing for the Big Bikes race on Sunday morning, there wasn’t so much as a slight breeze, contrary to the day prior. The riders were fired up and ready to head across the field of cactus to the bomb run to practice and reserve their starting line positions. Kendall Norman was sure to get a solid position on the start, and get enough time in during the bomb practice. With a huge line up of some of the fastest guys in off-road racing, there was definitely some nerves heading into the tight feather flags and quick turns directly after the holeshot line. As the banner dropped, Norman’s speed and practice paid off when he was able to get out in front of the dust and take the holeshot. Heading into the first tight turn, Factory Beta’s Joe Wasson and Purvines Racing backed Nick Burson went down, putting them in the back of the pack off of the bomb run.
Coming into the scoring chute off of lap 1, Kendall Norman was in the lead with JCR Factory Honda’s Ricky Brabec in 2nd; only 1 minute behind Norman. Factory Beta’s Joe Wasson was racing in a current 3rd OA and Off-Road Support backed Jacob Argubright was in a current 4th OA. Argubright and Wasson raced hand in hand with each other for several parts of the course, coming upon Brabec several times due to the amount of turns that were near to each other. Coming off of loop 2 after finding his comfort out on course, Argubright was now in the lead and on his way to his second consecutive H&H win of the 2019 season. Norman was now in 2nd OA with Wasson close behind coming through the scoring chute.
Leaving the pits, Norman was able to get out front again but not without Wasson tailing closely behind. In the meantime, Factory Beta’s Chance Fullerton was racing in the top 5 with Brabec now in 6th and Purvines Racing backed Nick Burson in 7th. 3Bros/SRT/Husqvarna backed Dalton Shirey who was racing in 8th OA heading out onto loop 3, was having a rough race of his own due to a few injuries, causing him to unfortunately finish outside of the top 20. As loop 3 was coming to a close, Pro 250 racer Cole Kirkpatrick was inching his way toward the top 3 as he found his groove in the Texas terrain he was most familiar with. With Argubright in the lead, the battle was now between Wasson and Norman for the 2nd OA position, until Norman went down on the backside of a hill, putting Wasson in 2nd OA. Coming into the finish to see the checkered flag first was Off-Road Support backed Jacob Argubright in 1st OA. The Pro podium saw Jacob Argubright in 1st, Factory Beta’s Joe Wasson in 2nd, and Cole Kirkpatrick in 3rd OA.
As for the Pro 250 class, Cole Kirkpatrick led in class for the entire race with Nick Stover in 2nd not too far behind. Continuing his podium streak for the 2019 race season, Factory Beta’s Zane Roberts raced 3rd for the first lap but swapped positions with Stover during loop 2 to place himself in 2nd OA and Stover in 3rd while JCR Factory Honda’s Preston Campbell raced in 4th OA. For a surprise finish, Cole Kirkpatrick came in 3rd OA for the race and topped the Pro 250 podium. Factory Beta’s Zane Roberts finished 2nd in class and JCR Factory Honda’s Preston Campbell finished 3rd in class to round out the Pro 250 podium.
The Women Pro class saw yet another win made by Brandy Richards after her untouchable lead in class. Richards led the entirety of the race with Britney Gallegos in 2nd off of loop 1 and Chidester Transport Racing backed Sharon Mowell in 3rd OA. Coming into the pits and off of loop 2, Mowell had taken over the 2nd place Position and Gallegos had fallen back into 3rd while Rachel Stout raced in 4th and Factory Beta’s Morgan Tanke raced in 5th for the remainder of the race. Brandy Richards finished out the race in the lead to top the Women Pro podium for her second consecutive series win for the 2019 race season. Sharon Mowell finished in 2nd and Britney Gallegos finished 3rd to round out the Women Pro podium.
Some incredible talent tried their hand at a shot at the podium, many from various states including New Mexico, Utah, California, Nevada, Colorado and more. Women C racer, Ty Woolslayer took a big win to further her points lead and came through the checkered flag with excitement. For the stacked Masters 60+ class, James Miller finished 1st in class and 2nd OA for loop 1 racers ahead of Larry Engwall in 2nd in class and Carl Cox as 3rd OA.
