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/128336
AMA National Hare t's understood that while earni ng a cham pionship and t he nu m be r- o ne plate is difficult , de fend ing that championship is even harde r. And when Team AmPro Y amaha's jason Raines show ed up at the opening round of the 2004 AMA Nat ional Hare Scramble Series in january with the number-one plate on his bike, he would immediately find out just how difficult it was going to be to repeat his championship. After Raines suffered a broken clavicle halfway through that first race, it appeared that his hopes of winning his second championship were over. However, he miraculously made a speedy recovery, and he began winning again. Raines has been one of the hottest off-road ride rs in the country this year, and his battles with Suzuk i's Rodney Smith in the GNCC series have been epic. But wit h Smith not co ntendi ng all of the AMA National Hare Scrambles events , wh ich is t he seri es that Raines wo n in 2003 , it was no surp rise to the fans gathered at the Dutch Sport Park facility in Bloomingdale . Michigan . when Raines emerged fro m the woods with the lead near the end of lap one. "Man. my Am-Pro Yamaha worked great out there." Raines said. "I thought the track was really good this year. The course layout was tight, but the open field sec tions really allowed us a break from the woods. There we re so me I "'--_ _ 40th Anniversary pretty big jumps out there [on the motocross section], but my suspension wo rked great. The track was a lot of fun," The M class feat ured a deep pool of offroa d tale nt . with riders such as Scott Summers , Mike Lafferty. josh McLevy Brian . and Patrick Garra han. Shane Watts , Doug Blackwell. Nate Kanney, David Lykke. and a host of othe r Pro riders who kept Raines comp any dur ing the three-hour event. At the start, it was Throttlehead.com Kawasaki-supported McLevy and KTM 's Watts who battled for the early lead. with Raines fo llowing closely in third . The beginning of the course routed the competitors through the enti re motocross sectio n first, prior to sending them into the tight Michigan woods. And after the first series of turns . the track featured a large dou ble jump, which was the subject of concern throughout the pits prior to the race . As it would tu rn out , the jump provided some excite me nt wh en the Pro ride rs first appr oached the challenging ob stacle. Raines was in third at the start as he wa tched a rather scary even t unfold in front of him. "It looked like jos h was going for it. like he was going to jump it," Raines said. "So Watt s and I got on the gas, and all of a sudden, josh kind of backed out of it! Then I saw Shane