Story + Photos – Mark Kariya // Publication- Cycle News
Sidelined with a shoulder injury since the first turn of round two, 3 Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey used round six of the AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series, Presented by FMF, as a second start to his season.
Shirey Wins Muley Run Hare & Hound
And as he’d done at the series opener, the defending national champ graphically demonstrated why he’s worthy of carrying that number-one plate, leading from start to finish at the Silver State Trailblazers’ 10th Annual Muley Run, September 11.
Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Preston Campbell claimed his best series finish to date with second—just a week after completing his first FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE)—and Beta’s Joe Wasson added to his points lead by finishing third.
“I had a little hiccup at the beginning, at the start,” Shirey said. “I pulled the holeshot, but right when I crossed the holeshot banners I miss-shifted and I thought my chain broke, but it was just a missed shift. I looked down and downshifted again and got back going, but while I was doing that, it allowed Preston to get back by me. Then we went around the righthander right after the start; I just carried more momentum from the inside and by the time he got on the gas, it was too late for him.”
Some 22 miles into the race, the course looped back to the start area for pit one, Shirey clearly in the lead aboard his FMF/P-Works/Troy Lee Designs-backed FX 450. A remote pit 30 miles later saw Shirey farther ahead and, of course, he enjoyed clean sailing the final 25 miles to the finish at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds. Despite getting yanked off his bike by a bush about 10 miles from the finish, he completed the 77 miles in one hour, 47 minutes and one second.
Having won round one in similar fashion (but far cooler conditions), Shirey, said, “I’m glad to be picking up right where I left off.”
While fresh might not be an accurate description of Campbell—having flown back from Italy on Sunday after his gold medal-worthy performance in the C1 class at Six Days followed by a day of testing before completing the drive to Panaca—Campbell took advantage of his excellent start and rode nearly the entire distance by himself.
“This is my best finish I’ve gotten at a national, so it was a really good day,” Campbell said. “I’m happy to start the second half of the season like this. I got home last Sunday and pretty much took all week to recover; I was pretty tired half the week. Today’s race felt really short compared to last week!”
For points leader Wasson, third place was enough to extend his points lead over Beta teammate Zane Roberts who finished fifth on the day.
Motul/Rekluse/Fly Racing 480 RR-mounted Wasson showed maturity in that result, saying, “I got a horrible start—I think I was going through the banners about ninth—and I was able to make a couple risky passes right at the beginning and got up to third. The dust was so thick it made it almost impossible [to make any more passes]. So, I thought about the bigger picture and settled in for the points; I extended my gap a little bit more so that was what I needed to do and just take it for what it was. It wasn’t there today.”
Wasson now has 161 points with Roberts second at 133 and Campbell third at 114.
Local favorite Axel Pearson—who also just returned from Italy and his first ISDE—enjoyed a pretty good day aboard his AEO Powersports GasGas EX 450F and finished about a minute shy of the podium followed by Roberts almost two minutes farther back.
Garrett Off-road Racing Husky-mounted Corbin McPherson battled Shot Gear Honda rider Robby Schott much of the way, only securing the Pro 250 victory in the final miles. Schott held on for a best-to-date second in class and seventh overall followed by Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM rider Treyden Beard, SW Roberts Construction GasGas-mounted Clayton Roberts (third Pro 250—his best result to date) and TBT KTM’s Clayton Gerstner (fourth Pro 250).
The Pro Women’s race turned into a battle between Full Factory Off-Road KTM-mounted Rachel Stout and Elite Off-road/Colorado Recycling Husqvarna’s Britney Gallegos. Both had recently returned from the ISDE—Gallegos as a rider and Stout handling video duties for the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team—with Stout parlaying her excellent start into her second consecutive triumph.
However, Gallegos still holds the points lead, 165-152. Beta’s Morgan Tanke-Colon claimed third at the finish despite the course being much faster overall than she prefers.
Mark Kariya
AMA National Hare & Hound Championship
Round 6
Panaca, Nevada
RESULTS (September 11, 2021)
OVERALL
| 1. | Dalton Shirey | (Hus) |
| 2. | Preston Campbell | (Hon) |
| 3. | Joseph Wasson | (Bet) |
| 4. | Axel Pearson | (GG) |
| 5. | Zane Roberts | (Bet) |
| 6. | Corbin McPherson | (Hus) |
| 7. | Robby Schott | (Hon) |
| 8. | Treyden Beard | (KTM) |
| 9. | Clayton Roberts | (GG) |
| 10. | Clayton Gerstner | (Hus) |