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/128402
AMA National Hare SCramblEs SEriES Championship t was a somewhat anticlimactic way to end the 200S AHA National Hare Scrambles Series, but Kawasaki Team Green's Chuck Woodford will take it. The Kawasaki rider had all but clinched this year's title going into the final round of the series, so it was pretty much just a formality that he show up and officially take his first National title of his career. He only rode a lap before pulling off and calling it a year. The start of the race was delayed for quite some time and didn't get under way until around 3 p.m., so Woodford simply made his appearance, clinched the championship, and got a head start on his long drive home back to Ohio, long before the checkered nag came out. Woodford won just two rounds all year, but he was consistent, which put him in the right spot to take advantage of the bad luck that struck early series leader jason Raines, who broke his leg while practicing before round eight of the series. Woodford won round nine, which pretty much put the lock on the series title. Seven-time National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty ended up taking the win in New jersey. Lafferty, who lives just north of the track, made the short trip to Eagleswood and rode off with the victory. Lafferty, who focused his attention on the National Enduro Series and the GNCC Series this year, only hit a few rounds of the Hare Scrambles Series but still finished out the year in seventh place. In New jersey, Lafferty took the lead early and held it to the finish. For this race, Lafferty rested his usual fourstroke mount, and rode a new KTM 2S0 XC-W two-stroke. "I felt real good today," Lafferty said. "I like this place a lot, and I am glad I was able try out the XC-W 2S0 here. I am getting it ready to race for next week and the last enduro. I am going to be riding it for the rest of the year to see if I like it. I have been riding the four-stroke a lot, so this is a change. I wanted to try something different, and I felt good on it. It didn't even feel like a three-hour race." Lafferty pretty much dominated all day long. I "I got the lead on the first lap and held it until the end," he said. "I got a third or fourth off the start and worked my way up to the front. I liked the course a lot, and it was great not having to ride ATV ruts all day. They were two different tracks out there, one for the ATVs and another one for us, so that helped me a lot." local favorite Wally Palmer took the holeshot, and he had josh Mclevy right on his back. But Lafferty came up and stole the lead before the first lap was over, and then he started to check out. Palmer continued to ride well but developed bike problems and was forced to withdraw by the third lap. Taking over third and starting to pressure Mclevy for second was rnotocrosser Barry Carsten. They battled for a while until both riders started to drop back. Carsten would end up eighth after haVing to stop many times for fuel, since he was using a stock tank. Plus, he wasn't used to the long, three-hour race. "My start was not that great," Carsten said. "I had to kick the bike three times before it would start. I had to fuel every two laps. I was second. but every time I stopped for fuel, third place would catch me. So I had to charge again and again. With two laps to go, I started to cramp up, and I had nothing left. The last lap was terrible. I feel shot. It was one lap too many for me. I wish It was a two-hour race." KTM rider Shane Watts, who is no stranger to long races, came up through the pack and eventually took over second place, and he had no problems holding on to it to the finish. "The race was all right," Watts said. "I crashed a few times on the first lap and lost all my water. I was in the back and started to work my way up to the front. Second place is better than third." The race for third place came down to the wire. Suzuki rider Brian Garrahan held the position for a while but gave it up to local rider Ryan Rodgers on the last lap when he fell. Rodgers passed Garrahan on the grass section and took his first podium of his Pro career.