VOL. 53 ISSUE 4 FEBRUARY 2, 2016 P59
32:22, about 20 minutes faster
than Lewis had predicted.
Unfortunately for Haaker, a
couple crashes cost him time,
though the first one didn't cost
him the lead.
Webb took control on the sec-
ond lap, however, as he threw
down a pair of sub-30-minute
laps that kept him just out of
reach of his challengers, though
he had to battle Haaker at first
then keep Robert at bay in the
later laps.
men were just making it to the
top of that first hill and much
more of this abuse lay ahead.
With a cold 35 mile-per-hour
wind that later brought rain, how-
ever, the risk of overheating was
greatly reduced.
Haaker got to the top of the
start hill well behind early leader
Cory Graffunder, but it didn't
take long before the 2015 KoM
winner had his Bel-Ray/FMF/Fly
Racing-backed TE 300 in front
and he finished the first lap in
it all seems pretty easy because
we're kind of elevating the
sport."
Lewis promised a much
tougher loop for the main event,
though, and it showed right
away. Another dead-engine,
mass start threw riders straight
into a sandy uphill strewn with an
abundance of loose rocks and
large boulders.
How tough was it? When the
leaders completed the nine-mile
loop the first time, some Sports-
