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AMA National Championship Hare Scambles Sel"'ies Round B: Leadbelt National "It's a good thing Wonka let me by," Watts said later. "Otherwise, he might have found himself walking back to Cleveland, Ohio." After the first lap, the running order was Watts, Williscroft, Brian GaIT.ahan, Andrews, and Patrick Garrahan. As he often does, Watts then checked out and walked away from the field. "I wanted to get out front early because of the dust," Watts said. "Once I got there, I just cruised the rest of the race." With the two cohorts setting sail out front, Brian Garrahan, another KTM rider, was working his way up. "I got about a fifth-place start, and knew I would have to move up quickly to stay with the Aussies," he said. "The dust was really bad, so I bagged a few guys early, but by the .time I got around the slower riders, Shane and Wonka were gone." Behind Brian Garrahan was Andrews, who had decided that what with the thick dust and the fast track, he was not about to take any chances. Behind him was the other Garrahan - Patrick - who had been seventh off the line (after a couple of quick passes, he spent the remainder of the day literally eating Andrews' dust). "I tried to pass Andrews a II day, but whenever I would get close, Fred would step it up, and I would be back in his dust again," Patrick Garrahan said. The top six stayed unchanged until the last lap, during which Andrews caught and passed Brian Garrahan for third, putting in the fastest lap of the day in the processs. Another notable racer on the move was local boy (and newly recrowned Missouri State Hare Scrambles Champion) Steve Leivan. The SCR Yamaha rider had moved from 11 th on lap one to seventh by lap four, and was charging hard to try and catch Bersano on the last lap. "I got a two-kick start on my YZF400 and was blinded by the dust during the first lap," Leivan said. "I couldn't even see the ground in front of me. I just tried to ride safe and move my way up." By MICHAEL DEMAREE PHOTOS BY GARY BRADY PARK HILLS, MO, SEPT. 16 here wasn't much to celebrate in the week following the recent terrorist attacks, but off-road veteran Fred Andrews can be forgiven if he was at least somewhat content following the penultimate round of the National Championship Hare Scrambles Series, which took place on the weekend following that aforementioned tragedy. The Kawasaki Team Green rider posted a podium finish at the event, but more importantly, he clinched his first-ever title in that series (though he is a former GNCC champ). Andrews knew going in that he only needed to finish 14th or better to put the crown out of reach of Team KTM's Shane Watts, the only other rider with a shot at the championship. Watts did what he had to, picking up the overall victory, and in fact, all but one of the bikes in the top five were KTMs, but "Fast Freddy" (the single exception) put in a smart, patient ride that was plenty good enough to pull off the more important feat. "I knew what I had to do to win the title, and that was my main goal," Andrews said. "There were so many loose rocks, and it was really dusty, so once I was in a good position, I just tried to put in a solid ride and not make any mistakes." The promoting Missouri Mudders did a fantastic job of setting up the course, which challenged the racers with fast, sandy straightaways, tight wooded sections and rocky, technical trails. Dust would also be a factor in the day's racing, making a good start crucial. Sunday morning proved to be beautiful, sunny and not too hot, ideal weather for racing. At the start line, 20 AA experts lined up to do battle, and when Watts' KTM pulled the holeshot, the only surprise was that the Austrtalian wasn't on it. The GNCC champ had lent his spare bike to pal Brad "Wonka" Williscroft, a fellow Aussie who is here in the States on "holiday." Williscroft led for about half a lap until his countryman and friend (not to mention ride home) caught up and was let by. T 26 OCTOBER 3. 2001 • cue • _ n __ • (Above) Fred Andrews used a conservative third-place finish In Missouri to secure his first-ever AMA National Hare Scrambles Championship. (Below) Shane Watts needed to win the event, which he did, while Andrews just had to finish 14th or better, which he did. Watts was by far the class of the field In Park Hills, though.