WHAT: ROUND 14 MISSOURI HARE SCRAMBLE CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEN: OCTOBER 30, 2011
WHERE: MANSFIELD MO
BIKE: KTM 300 XC
RESULT: OVERALL WINNER
Mansfield is kind of home to me, my dad's side of my family is from this town, and is only 1 hr drive from our home. You would think I would do alot of play riding at this place, but time doesnt allow, in fact, I havent been to this place since the last event was here back in April. I always ride well here, ussually very tight and rocky terrain, is known for being one of the rougher events of the series. The rumor around the pits was that they made this one fast and easy. we arrived at Mansfield around 8 am since dad doesnt sleep in, I could have slept another hour or two. We got unloaded and set up and was able to spend some time chatting with alot of old friends. Mansfield has been good to me, I have had some good results here in the past, I won the MHSC race here last year, won the 100 miler last fall, won the Blackjack enduro last spring. I went out on practice to find the course pretty dusty and dry slick, but the rumor of a fast, easy course was true, I felt this was going to be a fun race.
THE RACE: I went to the line and lined up on the inside, since the first corner was kind of an off camber right hander, I felt if I could get the holeshot, I could get the inside line and keep everyone back, and it worked, I got the holeshot, and was able to round the first corner and lead into the woods, I pressed and tried to put a gap on the 8 rider pro class, Caleb Haynes was in second and Dale Rector in third, Caleb Wohletz went down in the first corner and had to play catchup all day. I built up a little bit of a lead by end of the first lap, but Caleb Haynes was riding well and staying pretty close behind. On the second lap, my shift lever tip came off which made it hard to shift, so I had to come into pit, dad was able to replace the shift lever pretty fast, and got me back out right in front of Caleb. I rode hard and Caleb was right there. I was glad to see Caleb riding so well, we had a fu race going, I tried to put a gap on him because I knew I had to gas, on lap 4 dad had me stop for gas and Caleb got by me, I rode hard to catch up to him, and he was setting a blistering pace, I knew he was going to have to make a mistake for me to get by him, and he did, about 5 miles into the lap he washed out in a corner and I was able to get past him, I hammered it to the scoring trailer and we were out on pour last lap, I rode hard the last lap and was able to win by a minute and 20 seconds. I felt glad to win the race and was stoked about Caleb Haynes race, he rode awesome.
Caleb and I are going to ride National enduro's next year and we are both really looking forward to the new challenge, we will also compete in the MHSC as well. We both appreciate everyones support, it was fun coming to Mansfield and seeing old friends.
TODAYS TOP 5
1. KOLE HENSLEE KTM
2. CALEB HAYNES YAM
3. CALEB WOHLETZ KTM
4. DALE RECTOR KTM
5. RYAN ONEILL SUZ
THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN: ALPINESTAR...BIKE GRAPHICS...BRIDGESTONE...CLOCKWORK KTM...ENDURO ENGINEERING...FMF...HINSON CLUTCHES...KTM NORTH AMERICA...MOOSE RACING...OZARK FOAM INSEALATORS...TBT SUSPENSION...YELLOW WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY...417 POWERSPORTS...BUDDY CHRONISTER
