Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1160219
Wasson Wins Panaca National Hare & Hound N ot many outside of his im- mediate circle knew it, but Beta's Joe Wasson needed the summer break. The right wrist he injured severely a couple years ago in New Mexico required ad- ditional surgery, so he had it done after round five and hoped he'd be able to ride round six of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series, Presented by FMF, in Panaca, Nevada, August 24-25. "I was nervous," he admitted. "I have about eight hours total on my bike since the last race [the AMA West Hare Scramble in Washington eight weeks ago]. "I took a gamble, and I was right in the middle of my season, and I signed another contract [extension with Beta]. I didn't tell anybody. I hid [news of the sur- gery] from my whole team; I hid it from everybody. I was going to do anything I could to make it work, whether it was going to be better or not." With conditions for the 8th Annual Muley Run, hosted by the Silver State Trail Blazers, extremely dry, dust promised to be a significant factor, mak- ing a good start imperative, and Wasson got a good one on his Kenda/FMF/Fly Racing 430 RR. Only Purvines Racing Yamaha's Axel Pearson was ahead of him when they reached the end of the bomb run. When Pearson checked up for a ditch a few miles later, Wasson went for it and successfully made the pass for the lead, which is where he stayed for the rest of the race. "My fitness was a little off, but I told myself about an hour from the finish that all these other guys are probably struggling too—just dig deep and push hard," Wasson said after finishing the 70-mile, two-loop race in two hours, five minutes, and 37 seconds. Off-Road Support/TBT Rac- ing Kawasaki's Jacob Argubright entered the Muley Run four points back of Wasson, 161-152, in the championship and, though he's been riding consistently fast, his hectic schedule of late may have caught up to him. Getting a bike ready to be shipped off for his first ISDE proved time-consum- ing, but what really did him in was a poor start aboard his Maxima/ Golden Tire/TCX Boots-backed KX450. "I was in the dust the whole time [after the bomb]," he said. "I passed Tyler [Lynn] a couple miles in, and I tracked down Axel IN THE WIND P50 Joe Wasson bounced back from a well- timed wrist surgery, got a great start and went on to win the Muley Run, his third victory of the season. PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA