BRABEC WRAPS UP HARE AND HOUND TITLE
T
hough he basically needed
to finish only eighth or bet-
ter to wrap up the title, Johnny
Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda's
Ricky Brabec treated the final
round of the Kenda/SRT AMA
Hare and Hound National Cham-
pionship Series like any other
race.
"I didn't have to win, but when
you sign up to race, you want to
win," he said.
And despite a far-from-ideal
start, the Lucas Oil/Dunlop/
Fly Racing CRF450X-mounted
racer stormed back to do just
that and win the Dusty Buckaroo
National Hare & Hound, hosted
by the 100s Motorcycle Club, at
the Johnson Valley Off-Highway
Vehicle Area, October 23.
It marked his fourth triumph
this season and made him one
of only three riders to win the
championship—his second,
coming after his initial one in
2014—on different brands of
motorcycles. (Dan Smith won
on Husqvarnas and KTMs, and
Russell Pearson won on Yama-
has and KTMs.)
Rockstar Energy Factory
Racing Off-Road Team's Jacob
Argubright was Brabec's chief
rival, 17 points behind going into
the seventh and final race of the
season, so he basically needed
a win or nothing.
"I just tried to keep [the points
situation] out of my mind. I can
only control how I do. I can't
control how Ricky's going to
do or anything else," he said. "I
was a little slow off the start and
I picked it up and I really ham-
mered down the second and
third loops and made up a lot of
time."
IN
THE
WIND
P32
Though he didn't
need to win the
race to win the
championship,
Ricky Brabec rode
as if he had to win.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
