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Missouri Hore Scrombles Championship Series
Round 6: Missouri Dirt Hare Scrambles
Leivan
Makes It Three
By
FRANK LEIVAN
WESTPHAUA, MO, JUNE S
D ound six of the Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship was
r\a three-man fight (or much of the two·hour event. When all
was said and done, though, SCR/Yamaha rider Steve Leiva"
showed off his veteran skills by outduelling his younger counter-
parts and taking overall honors for the third time this season.
"Basicalty, we had the right circumstances for a great race,"
explained the 12-time champion Leivan. "The weather was
nice, the trail was in great shape. and we had three guys up
there banging on each other most of the way. It was a cool
battle to be a part of, and I'm glad I came away.with a win."
The early pace at the Missouri Dirt-promoted event was set
by PJ I/Surdyke/Faetory Connection rider Aaron Shaw, but the
KTM rider would suffer two unfortunate get-offs and call it a
day before the second lap was complete. Taking advantage of
the situation was Caleb Wohletz, on a Team Green/Red
Bull/Moose/FMF/Axcel-backed KXF2S0: he moved into the lead
and set the pace for the first half of the six-lap race. Meanwhile,
Leivan was methodically moving his way through. the pack after
a horrible start.
Both Wohlen and Leivan chose to pit for fuel after three
laps, while two-time Arkansas Hare Scrambles champ Clint
Carr blasted through the pits without a stop and took his first
lead of the day. Leivan barely beat Wohletz out of the pits, and
as Leivan later described it, "Then it was on!" With nearly the
entire fourth lap complete, Carr swapped Violently at the end of
the grasstrack, and Leivan swept around the outside on his
WR250F to take the lead.
The top three stayed very close together for much of lap
five until Wohlen caught a rock in the arm and went down,
ultimately losing touch with Leivan and Carr. Just one lap
remained, and Leivan stepped up the pace on his
Answer/Dunlop/Scott/Race TechlRenthal ride, while Carr did
everything he could to match the pace. Early in the lap, Leivan
was able to open a small cushion, but he stumbled a bit and
Carr reeled him right back in. It was then Carr's tum to make a
mistake; he tipped over in a rocky tum with just a few miles left
in the race.
That small mistake was all the breathing room that Leivan
needed, and he jened toward the finish line. Try as he might,
Moose/MotorexlXtremeMC.comlEnduro Engineering/Vortexbacked Carr couldn't make up the distance. When the
che