INTERVIEW I JOE WASSON: 2021 AMA HARE & HOUND N ATION AL C HAMPION
P50
Remarkably, Wasson ended up 13th in
final series overall points.
"The following year I came out and
was doing pretty good, but I still had a lot
of issues with my wrist. After the fourth
round, I could hardly finish the race [and
was credited with 50th overall].
"I ended up having to take more time
off and get more work done on my wrist."
He missed round five then spent the
summer break recovering, returning with
a seventh before getting a second to end
the year hopeful.
"After that, I knew I could win overalls
and everything was feeling pretty good,"
he said.
Things continued to improve in 2019
where he finished a best-to-date second
to privateer Jacob Argubright, 242-227,
taking three overalls in the process.
"Our overall program was getting bet-
ter and better; the development of the
bikes was getting better."
It was much the same in 2020, though
he ended up third behind Rockstar En-
ergy Husqvarna's Dalton Shirey and PCI
Race Radios KTM privateer David Kamo
(who tied on points with Shirey but had
to settle for second due to Shirey having
more victories at four).
"Same thing: I had a lot of good
results [triumphant twice], but a couple
little issues caused me to miss the
championship a little bit. Then 2021, I
had shoulder surgery at the end of 2020
after the last round of the Nationals.
"I hadn't ridden all winter long so go-
ing into the first round of 2021 I was a
little nervous because I hadn't ridden,
but I came out and got second overall
Wasson hit the
H&H series full-
time in 2016
and bagged
his first win as
a Pro at round
two—the Rabbit
Creek 100 in
Idaho—in the
250 class. He
went on to
win the class
championship.
