faster trail offered an opening.
He surged just after a quick gas
stop, pushing the pace through
the trees and opening the gap he
needed to secure the win.
"I had a lot of fun," said Miller
with a smile. "This brings me
back to my roots of Midwest
hare scramble racing. Lots of
tight, twisty trees, little logs, an
-
gled logs—all of it. Chris [Davis]
did a really good job throwing
in some really gnarly sections.
I may have underestimated it
coming into this."
Behind him, Hintze's charge
was hampered by mechanical
issues, including a damaged
shifter that required multiple
stops to address. In a race
where momentum is everything,
those seconds proved costly,
relegating him to second despite
matching the leaders' pace.
Thaxton, still feeling the ef
-
fects of the grueling heat from
the previous weekend's Moab
Hard Enduro, rounded out the
podium. His pace in the harder
sections was undeniable, repeat
-
edly closing gaps as the course
turned ugly, but cumulative
fatigue showed late in the race.
Earlier in the day, the amateur
race told its own story of grit
and unpredictability. Cory King
emerged victorious after a cha
-
otic two-lap, three-hour battle
as rain intensified the already
treacherous terrain.
Bentlee Bredekamp appeared
poised for a commanding win,
holding a seven-minute lead late
in the race before mechanical
issues allowed King to capitalize
at the closing checkpoints. The
race also highlighted the cama
-
raderie unique to hard enduro, as
riders helped each other through
impassable sections before re-
suming their individual battles.
Luke Barto rounded out the
amateur podium with a hard-
fought third-place finish, over-
coming an early tangle in the
opening-lap rock garden that
briefly left him stuck under his
bike. Regrouping quickly, Barto
clawed his way back through the
field, using his confidence on the
WIND
IN THE
P40
Braxton Hintze dealt
with mechanical
issues but still took
second overall.
