National Hare & Hound Series News Release
Round 3 of the AMA/Kenda National Hare and Hound Championship Series took place this past weekend in Southern Idaho near Murphy. With perfect racing conditions, temps in the 70′s with a slight breeze, the racers were more than excited to see what the hosting club, DIRT INC, had to offer in 2012.
Without the ability to “ride” the bomb-run start line prior to the race, racers would have to hoof it and walk the 1-mile start line by foot to preview what was in store prior to the 11:00am banner drop on Sunday morning. With holeshot awards in store and some cash money on the line with a sponsored “pro purse” from some local businesses, the racers would take the extra time to search for their perfect line.
The Holeshot winners for Round 3 were Blais Racing Services rider, Ben Meza, who led the bomb-run start for the “B” / Intermediate row. Meza would win a pair of Flexx Handlebars from Fasst Company, one of the series awesome sponsors.
The winner of the “C” / Novice row holeshot award would be California resident, Maverick Shuey. Shuey would take the lead down the start line and would be the first to pass the bomb-run banner, earning him a nice new pair of Tech 8 boots from another awesome series sponsor, Alpinestars. Congrats to both of these winners!
For the third time this year, FMF/KTM’s Kurt Caselli would lead the first lap, even after getting slightly lost for 1.5 minutes and catching back up to the pack. Caselli would come down pit row in the lead and would charge hard during the second loop of this 100-mile, 2-loop event, and would cross the finish line in 1st Place overall. Caselli would also be the first to catch the “hare” (a daring man dressed in a bunny suit on a dirt bike) and would take home $500 cash for doing so. Caselli would also win a big chunk of the pro purse for this round and would earn some extra cash making this win even sweeter.
JCR/Honda’s David Kamo had a great race this past weekend in his native state. Kamo would be held up in the dust most of the first loop and after a quick 2-second gas pit stop at the alternate gas pit by his mom, Kit, he would make a pass on THR Motorsports rider David Pearson and would come down the main pit row in 2nd Overall. These two would battle hard during the second loop and it would be Kamo to cross the finish line in the 2nd Overall spot. Kamo would also take home some cash from the pro purse payout along with the next three riders to cross the finish line. Pearson, who pitted in the main pit in 4th overall, would also charge hard during the second loop to make up some time and he would cross the finish line in 3rd Place overall.
Another JCR/Honda rider, Colton Udall, wanted to give Idaho a try. Having never raced here before, Udall would have a great day on the course, would come down pit row in the 5th Overall spot and would make up some time and cross the finish line in 4th Overall. Udall was pleased with his performance and really liked the course. He was even more surprised when his teammate handed him some cash from the pro purse winnings. Udall is not sure what events he can attend but it sounds like he likes the National Hare and Hounds more and more.
The Purvines Racing crew this year is huge. Ron Purvines has made a great showing these past two years with his team, has become a series sponsor as well, and has added several riders to his roster. With many racers now under the Purvines/Kawasaki tent, it was a sea of green in the main pit area as many of his racers would come down pit row in the Top 10 and would also finish there.
Purvines Racing’s Nick Burson and Justin Morrow would both have great first loop rides. Morrow would come down pit row in the 3rd Overall spot ahead of Pearson as Burson would be in 6th Place at the mid-way point. Burson would finish the race in 5th Overall while Morrow would cross the finish line in 6th Place overall. Some great battles happen out in the desert even amongst teammates.
Missing from the finish order however, would be Monster Energy/Kawasaki/Purvines racer Jacob Argubright. Argubright would have a crash which caused his bike to suffer a sheered off lower front fork. Luckily, he was uninjured but would have to quit the race and take a DNF. Not in attendance for this Idaho round would be Monster Kawasaki’s Destry Abbott. Abbott has taken on some other roles this year and will have to miss a few of the National events.
Other riders rounding out the Top 10 were very impressive as a few are racing in the 250 Class and also the Vet 30+ Class! Another Purvines racer, Axel Pearson, would finish in 7th Overall (1st 250), with Zemen Suspension’s Ryan Smith on his tail and in the 8th Overall spot (2nd 250), and with Fasst Co’s Skyler Howes (3rd 250) finishing 9th Overall. The 10th overall finisher would be an impressive Vet 30+ and the 2011 Vet Champ, Dan Capparelli.
Long time desert legend, Mr. Paul Krause, would make the trek north from Southern California via airplane with his son Brandon, who also raced, and the two would rent a red-hot Ford Mustang for their drive out to the race site. Krause would come down pit row in the 10th Overall spot, 1st Overall Senior 40+, but would have some issues in the last water crossing on Loop 2. Thinking his KTM could float, Krause would have some water issues and it would take him many minutes to get his bike going again. Krause did cross the finish line quite some time later and was happy to see that his son Brandon also made it to the finish line.
There were several other father and son teams racing in this event. We want to send our healing best wishes to Cameron Kearney from California’s District 37. 21-year old Kearney would suffer a bad crash during Loop 1 and would have to be air-flighted out of the area to a local hospital. Other racers would stop to assist Kearney and we want to thank Patrick from Rekluse and also Michael Allen for assisting the young Kearney until help arrived. Always some great sportsmanship shown for fellow riders. Father John Kearney, who was also racing, wanted to say thank you to everyone for their help and concern of his young son. Cameron suffered a concussion and both were headed home by Sunday night.
The women racers made a showing with a total of 12 at this round. Some would only have to race the first loop while the rest would have to race both loops. With creek crossings and cold water, this made for some very interesting stories at the finish line. Taking the 1st Overall win would be Stillwell Performance’s Nicole Bradford. Racing in this series for her first full season, this would be Bradford’s third win this year. Representing the USA in the ISDE events, Bradford has shown her skills and determination and has raised the bar for the women racers. Blais Racing Services rider and Idaho native, Shayla Fulfer, would charge hard during loop 1 to catch up to Bradford. At her main pit stop, the 2011 Champ Fulfer, would complain of some sharp pains and muscle soreness caused by a hard crash earlier this year. She continued on for the finish and would cross the finish line in 2nd Place overall. Rounding out the top 3 for the overall women would be another Idaho resident, Tresa Worrell.
The battles continue on in this exciting season so far. Since implementing the scoring system known as Moto-Tally, the riders can see their results one to two days after they cross the finish line. This system also shows the finish times and how long each racer is out on the course. It’s a great system and has been working very well for the NHHA group and for the National Hare and Hound Series.
For ALL race results for this round and all the rounds, you can click here:
http://www.moto-tally.com/NHHA/Results.aspx
The hosting club, DIRT INC, hosted a great autograph signing and bike display by local dealerships on Saturday afternoon at the Dan Wiebold Ford Dealership in Nampa, Idaho. This event was a great success as many local residents and racers could stop and talk with their favorite riders and get some photos and autographs. With a local news crew on hand interviewing some of the riders, some coverage of this race would be shown throughout the weekend on local channels.
Round 4 will head back to Southern California as the Vikings MC will host their “Virgin Voyage” on Sunday April 22nd in the Johnson Valley OHV area off of Bessemer Mine Rd.
Round 4 Race Flyer, Vikings MC
See you at the races!
For more information about this series, go to:
www.NationalHareandHound.com
Also join us on our Facebook page: National Hare and Hound Association
Thanks to all of our Series Sponsors:
KENDA, FMF, Purvines Racing, GPR, Bullet Proof Designs, TBT Suspension, Alpinestars, BRP, Dirt Tricks, Fasst Co, Fastway/PMB, FPS Racing, IMS, Leatt, No Toil, RB Components, Rekluse, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, Works Connection and ZLT! Also, contingencies from KTM and Honda.
