KENDA AMA NATIONAL ENDURO SERIES
VOL. 51 ISSUE 14 APRIL 8, 2014 P71
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
N
ear perfect conditions greeted a field
of 580 riders at the Rad Dad Enduro in
Westpoint, Tennessee, as Charlie Mul-
lins kept on chugging towards a third National
Enduro title.
The FMF/KTM rider extended his win streak
to three despite steady pressure by N-FAB Am-
Pro Yamaha's Brad Bakken and AirGroup Rac-
ing's Nick Fahringer.
Mullins has dominated the series so far but
rear-brake problems in the opening test of the
day put his win streak in jeopardy after the de-
fending champ found himself all the way down
in ninth heading into test two.
Jesse Groemm was fastest in test one, the
Maxxis/KLIM/DirtWise KTM rider beating out
Bakken and Fahringer, who tied for the sec-
ond-fastest time, just three seconds behind
Groemm.
Mullins got his act together and won the next
two tests, building a big enough lead to last him
for the rest of the day.
Bakken and Fahringer kept plugging away,
though, with Bakken winning test four and Fah-
ringer winning the final two.
In the end, Bakken edged Fahringer by just
seven seconds for the runner-up spot, while
Mullins took the win with a time that was 25
seconds better than Bakken's.
"Today was the closest race I've had this
season," said Mullins. "Things started off pretty
rough, I had a brake issue about a mile in the
first test, I didn't have any rear brake, but luckily
it was a short test.
"I got a good lead after the third test and then
I still tried to push, but I had some problems in
tests four and five. I went down in each one. In
the last test, I think I ended up third, but I felt I
rode pretty solid. Overall, it was a good day, the
team did great with the bike and I'm glad to get
three in a row. I have a comfortable lead in the
