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2017 WORCS & AMA HARE & HOUND NATIONAL CHAMPION GARY SUTHERLIN P142 INTERVIEW done between 8:40 and 3:30 because at that point it's more about getting her schoolwork done and making sure she's on top of what she's got going. Then it's cook dinner, do laun- dry, do dishes, do all the home stuff that I got to do, too." And things certainly don't slow down on race weekends. "I wait until she gets out of school on Fridays. I try not to make her miss any days. I think she only missed two days last year. That's the big thing is keeping her in school and keeping her focused and doing what she's doing. Then, at the races, I find people, friends and buddies, and peo- ple's wives to help out. I've been very lucky to have people help me out. Now I have a girlfriend and she's been able to help and step up at the races and watch Emerie. That's taken a little bit of stress off, so that's been good." Sutherlin said that his WORCS championship wasn't handed to him by any means. "I gave everybody else more than a perfect chance to win it," he says. "I had a lot of little issues this year. I came out and I was being consistent. Taylor got hurt unfortunately, but I was able to capitalize on that and won a couple races. Then I had a pretty good injury in the middle of the season at one of the WORCS races, which I basically DNF'd and lost points. Then I had a bike issue at Glen Helen and got last in that. We got points, but it was kind of a mess; it kind of got a little messy there three- quarters of the way through the season, but it all came together. That's part of it; you have to keep it together. That's what a championship is. It's not just one race, it's putting it all together. "Taylor basically came back on the WORCS side and I had a big enough points gap," says Sutherlin of Taylor Robert who won every WORCS race that he rode. "I didn't really have to race him, so realistically—I don't want to sound like I Dungey'd it—but I did. I just rode and tried to beat him but I wasn't going to push it and ruin my chances of winning the championship." Sutherlin says the transition from WORCS to H&H isn't ex- actly easy. "It's not. The hare and hounds, it's getting your eyes to adjust, being comfortable letting the bike move around underneath you. You're hitting stuff at such a high rate of speed and it's un- known, and that's the scary part. It's a lot with my eyes. I like to go out and ride fast stuff the week before for at least two days and really get my eyes adjusted. You don't really notice it until you take time away from riding desert. I don't really ride a whole lot of desert necessarily. I like to go trail ride and stuff like that, but it's a lot of just letting your eyes catch up with what's going on. With WORCS you're thinking about lines and hitting your line and next lap hit this, hit that, where hare and hound you're visually looking at something and forget- ting it as soon as you hit it. You're looking for a rhythm. Where's the next rock? You're always look- ing. Where's the ditch? I hope I don't hit that road crossing too fast. You're on your toes. There're always a lot more close calls at hare and hound racing, for sure. "It's super scary because, as good a job as everybody does Sutherlin also earned the number-one plate in WORCS.