Brabec said, "I got a good
start; passed Ivan and Skyler
[Howes] for the lead on the first
downhill at the end of the bomb.
"I really wasn't sure about the
pace of the race [after being in
rally mode for the two weeks
before this] so I was just riding
my own race. I blew a corner;
the marking was okay, but I was
still in roadbook mode [and] rally
bike mode, hard-to-slow-down
mode, just trying to adjust. Nick
got around me and I just let it
happen because I wasn't sure of
what to do. I just wanted to finish
here.
"I kind of followed him for
maybe five miles then got back
around him then picked up the
pace a little bit. I wanted to see
what he was doing, his pace.
Then I pushed, pushed, pushed
and got around him. I tried to
ride smooth the rest of the way
and I had zero problems.
"It feels good to start the sea-
son off in the hare and hounds
with a win," he said.
SERIES
VOL. 53 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 26, 2016 P57
Like Burson, Argubright had to
rebound from a mediocre start,
though that's not unusual for the
Bel-Ray/Dunlop/Moose Rac-
ing FC 450-mounted rider. "The
bike did not start in gear," he
said. "I finally put it into neutral
and as soon as I got it started,
I took a moment, took a breath
and looked and I just went hard
and just got out of the dust.
"After that, a lot of sketchi-
ness, a lot of sketchy passes—
especially through the rocks."
Officially, Argubright was one
second behind Brabec, who
completed the race in two
hours, nine minutes and 49
seconds, though realistically, the
difference was greater.
Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna's
Dalton Shirey finished a lonely
fourth ahead of LG Electric
Yamaha rider Ryan Smith, Rocky
Mountain ATV/MC Yamaha's
Justin Morgan, Ramirez, Vet A
winner Morgan Crawford, FMF
Pro 250 winner Nick Stover and
Purvines Racing Beta's Axel
Pearson. CN
OVERALL
1. Ricky Brabec (Hon)
2. Jacob Argubright (Hus)
3. Nick Burson (Bet)
4. Dalton Shirey (Hus)
5. Ryan Smith (Yam)
6. Justin Morgan (Yam)
7. Ivan Ramirez (KTM)
8. Morgan Crawford (KTM)
9. Nick Stover (KTM)
10. Axel Pearson (Bet)
