Jason Raines Race Report - Dirt Rider Magazine

Am-Pro Racing's Jason Raines won not only the race, but also this year's AMA National Hare Scrambles East championship aboard his Yamaha WR450F in Rhinelander, Wis. on Sunday, Oct. 5. With Brian Garrahan having already wrapped up the West title on his YZ450F, this means Yamaha has now clinched both East and West championships in the first year for the new two-series format. It also means that coming up on Oct. 19, Raines on his WR and Garrahan on his YZ will square off in the exciting annual AMA East/West Hare Scrambles Shootout in Davis, Okla. As the last race on the Hare Scrambles East calendar, the Rhinelander event is rapidly becoming Raines' favorite - and not just because he's won it two years in a row. Situated at rural Sugar Camp Motocross, the course utilizes portions of the MX track, plus tight woods and wide-open fire roads to challenge riders with a variety of terrain. Raines started second behind a local rider who fell two turns into the eight-lap, 80-mile race, then pounced into the lead and held it for the entire Sunday-afternoon event.In doing so, he won his third Hare Scrambles race of the season along with his fourth career Hare Scrambles title. "The only way for me not to win the title was to DNF, but I wanted to win the final race and get that WR on top once more," Raines admitted afterwards. Fantastic track conditions - and a fantastic race bike to go with them - made the day for Raines, who enjoyed a lead of some 11 minutes at the finish. "After winning the title with the WR last year, we learned a lot of more about it and made it our choice again this year," he reported. "It's got milder cams for smoother power than YZ, a better fork for woods riding, and the gear ratios are geared for what we do. In the tight stuff the gearing is low enough so you don't have to abuse the clutch, and when you get out on the fire roads the high gearing lets you blow away just about any other bike." Thank you for all your support and help throughout the season. Many thanks to my family, friends and fans for all their thoughts and help to make this 4th AMA Championship possible. Hope you enjoy your day, talk to you soon!