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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127937
HARE &HOUND AAfA NAOONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HARE &HOUND SERIES By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Kinney Jones 00 0\ 0\ ,...... .... - 00 I-< 0... -< 26 MURPHY, rD, MAR. 22 t was one surprise after another at round two of the NationalIiare and Hound Championship series. Rain was the first surprise of the day for the 200 desert ra.cers who gathered at Murphy, just outside of Boise, Idaho. Steady drizzle that fell almost all the way through the race combined with dust to form a goggle-clogging mess that cut visibility to near zero and made We miserable for racers at the back of the pack. Local hotshot Brian Brown was the other surprise. The Kawasaki KX500 race! from nearby Nampa, Idaho, blasted his way up from a slower-than-usual start and was leading the way at the halfway point of the 96-mile race. He was still in front when the checkered flag fell after 2'J, hours of fast-paced competition, and he scored the first National Hare and Hound win of his racing career. "I had a terrible start but I made it up and got around everyone," said Brown. "It feels great to win this race. I came in second here last year." Light drizzle was falling when the banner dropped for the start of the . event at 11 a.m. Despite the drizzle, and the rain that had fallen the day before the race, the course was still dusty and slower starters were in trouble right from the word go. "With the dust and the rain, your goggles kept getting really mes ed up and It was very hard to see," said Rex Staten, who was racing in the Senior Expert division. "A lot of people ended up riding without goggles, which was a problem later on because it was raining pretty good on the back of the course. I Round 2: Murphy, Idaho got goggles when we came through the alternate and I'm really glad I did." The charge up fhe short bomb run was led by Nevada's Russ Pearson on a KTM250, and Pearson was still in front when the front-runners cleared the 8mile opening section and headed into the rest of the 50-mile first loop. Kawasaki's Paul Krause was hard on his heels in second; Brian Brown had already recovered from his bad start and was racing in third; and Ty Davis, Destry Abbott and Donnie Book were close behind. "I got a mediocre start," said Davis, who squeaked out a win in the last 100 yards of the first race of the sevenround Hare and Hound series. "Trying to get through the dust to get those guys was tough. My goggles went to crap right away and it was hard to see." Pearson continued to set the pace all the way to the alternate gas stop. Brown had tucked in behind him and Krause, Davis, Abbott and KX500-mounted Dan Richardson waged a back-and-forth battle all the way. (Top) Deplte getting off to a slow start, local racer Brian Brown took the first-ever National Hare & Hound win of his career. (Right) Ty Davis gets out of shape on the 96-mile course. Davis came home second, backing up his win at round one, and now holds the series points lead. '1 guess Brown was right behind me at the alternate bec<\use he pulled up beside me right after that," said Pearson. "I stayed in front of him for probably three or four miles after the alternate; then we got on a fast road and he just went by me." But Pearson's reign at the head of the pack wasn't quite over. "We got into some off~camber stuff and Brown stalled his bike," Pearson said. "I went on the inside of the hill and got him, bu t we got into a fast sand wash about five miles later and he got by again. I was trying to keep my momentum, going around the outside of the comers, and there was a little bush. I barely clipped the side of it but I guess there was a rock behind it. It clipped my forks and clipped my foot and kind of spit me over the bars." Krause stopped to check that Pearson had survived the crash. '1 was right up with Pearson at the start and had a gOod pace going, but my rear brake started to fade a little bit and that slowed me down," Krause explained. "By the time Pearson crashed, I'had no brakes at all. I stopped to make sure he was all righ t; then Davis and Abbott got me." Abbott may have been hot on Davis' tail, but he was far from confident about the outcome of his ride. "1 had an okay start and was like sixth, but I couldn't get into the groove off the start," said Abbott. "Davis passed me about seven miles out and I rode with him for the first half of the race and felt real good, but then the weirdest thing happened when we got to the alternate. I went into his gas stop and got his gas, and he went into my gas stop. I was a little nervous because'l didn't know if I was running unleaded or what, and I didn't know what to do about it, but I made it in." The first loop received mixed reviews. Davis described it as, "Just whooped-out, trashy kind of stuff," but other racers such as Jon Parks gave it a solid thumbs-up. . ) "I thought Dirt MC did a great job on the course," said Parks. '1t was a lot of fun and it was tight and technical enough that it was easy to pass guys. My start wasn't so hot. I crashed about . five or six miles into it, and having-a technical course let me get back into tHe hunt." i Parks wasn't the only top racer trying to make up time.