Wasson's A
World Champ
R
emember the Whiskey Pete's World
Championship Hare & Hound? You
might recall that in 1984, it was the race
that launched the Best in the Desert (BITD)
organization, and until 1996, the organiza-
tion promoted only motorcycle races. After
being dormant for more than three de-
cades, the race is back but now known as
the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC World Hare
& Hound Championship, presented by
GPR Stabilizers. BITD said it resurrected
its crown jewel event to renew its commit-
ment to the two-wheeled crowd.
Joe Wasson rode a masterful 105
miles across a variety of terrain that
hasn't been raced on for at least 15
years to win, leading another Beta 1-2
with teammate Zane Roberts the runner-
up and Kilmartin Racing/3 Bros. KTM's
Hayden Hintz third.
Though it served as round three
of BITD's American Off-road Racing
Series, dubbing it the World Champion-
ship made the Rocky Mountain race feel
almost like a standalone event, and the
winner treated it as such.
"It was really important to me," Was-
son said. "Even though there wasn't
a ton of people here, just the sheer
name of it, the people who put it on, the
legends who were involved, regardless
of who was here—I take it as a huge feat
to add my name to the list of the people
who've won it before.
"When I was a little kid, I used to
dream of being in magazines and now
I'm at that point," he added. "This is liv-
ing the dream! It was an incredible thing
to win."
IN
THE
WIND
P44
Joe Wasson took his
first BITD win of the
season, leading most
of the race that was
run over terrain that
hadn't been used
for at least 15 years.
PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA
After early class leader
Jarett Megla ran out
of gas before pit two,
Taylor Stevens took
over the 399cc Pro
division and held it to
the finish, placing sixth
overall in the process.
