INTERVIEW
P104
L
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HIL
AMA NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPION CHARLIE MULLINS
"I like the rule; I think it's fair
and I'm glad they did it," Mullins
says. "I think it was one of those
things where sometimes it's good
and sometimes it's bad, and this
year I was the first guy out at pretty much every round; all except
for three races. I think the only
one it helped me at was in Louisiana. It rained and I was back on
row 31 because I had problems at
the previous race in Texas. It was
super muddy and I think it played
into my hands, because I was in
the back and everyone else had
to ride in the mud and by the time
I got going it wasn't too bad."
Another big happening in 2013
was the addition of the AirGroup
Racing Bounty, which would be
awarded to any rider that could
win all six tests at one of the five
first-time venues on the schedule. The amount started at $1000
at the first race and rolled over
each time it wasn't won, so that
it eventually stood at $5000 at
the final race in Oklahoma. Mullins came close to winning it several times, but missed out in each
case.
"The only time I did it (win all
six rounds), it wasn't a bounty
race," says Mullins. "That's the
only time I've ever won all six
tests since I've been racing en-
Mullins was also in contention for
the GNCC title but missed out by a
couple of points to his teammate
Kailub Russell.
duros, and it made me realize
how difficult it is to do. I think the
bounty was a cool concept and
I thought I would be able to do it
in Oklahoma, but I kind of threw
that one away. Hopefully they will
do it again next year."
The enduro series wasn't the
only big target in Mullins' sights;
he also hoped to win a second
GNCC title in 2013, which would
mean he would take home two
major off-road titles in the same
