OFF ROAD
KENDA/SRT AMA WEST HARE SCRAMBLES CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
ROUND 1/JANUARY 10-11, 2015
PAGE, ARIZONA
P86
After a bad start,
Nick Burson
managed to
thread through
the pack to claim
third.
going away, and my race fitness
isn't where it could be, for sure.
These guys were going fast! I
felt like my speed's good for a
little bit, but it's not worth me
risking it any more. I'm not going
after points or whatever. After
crashing twice pretty good, I
was like, 'That's kind of it for me.'
That was my time to say, 'Okay;
I'll watch for a little bit and just
putt back in and load up. It was a
great course, but it was gnarly! It
got rough!"
With Abbott now a spectator,
the race for the lead became a
two-man fight between Blythe
and Graffunder.
"I really didn't care to lead
early in the race because
there really wasn't any benefit,"
Graffunder said. "There was no
dust so I was just watching his
lines, trying to conserve a little
bit but still go fast. When I led, it
wasn't like I was breaking away
so we were all going the same
pace."
Where Graffunder may have
erred was trying to get three
laps in before gassing his TBT
Racing.com/Kenda/O'Neal
KTM 300 XC, his rivals pitting for
fuel every two laps.
"About halfway around the
third lap, I looked down and I
was almost out!" Graffunder
said. "I kind of backed it down
a little bit, started short-shifting
and riding smooth. They actually
caught me right when I hit
reserve. So I reached down
and threw it on reserve and they
both went by. I literally made it
in with half an inch of fuel left in
the tank! I should've just pitted
on the second lap. It was a silly
mistake on my part.
"At that point I was 30
seconds down on those guys. I
just charged and got Destry on
the next lap, and then he had
no brakes and he crashed right
when I caught him again, so it
