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Hollister National Hare Scramble Perfect conditions greeted nearly 1000 racers at this years Heart on Classic. With rain coming down hard on Thursday it left perfect traction with only a hint of dust on the top roads. Many top racers came out for this years race including the #1 plate holder of Fred Andrews, and fellow buckeyes, Chuck Woodford and Cole Caukins, along with Brian Brown from Kawasaki. Yamaha sent out Jason Raines and the Peason brothers. For KTM we had Brian and I along with Jimmy Jarret making his KTM debut. Shane Watts made his way back from Australia but brought a broken wrist with him so he would be the head cheerleader for the day. We started in the motocross track this year for the first time. We all lined up ready for the noon start to kick off the season. Jimmy Jarret grabbed the holeshot on Wattsy's 200. I got about a 10th place start but Brian was stuck on the line with a multi kick start. Brian quickly made his way through the pack with some aggressive riding. He caught up to me a couple of miles into the race. I was racing with Russ Peason who was riding like a madman. He was going way hot into every turn was sliding it sideways past the turn and through the bushes and making passes in the process. Brian hooked up with Russ and they made their way to the front. Halfway through the first lap they caught up to Chuck Woodford was leading at that point. Brian made a pass him and took the lead. Woodford made his way past Brian for a moment but Brian made another pass and held the lead into the motocross track on the first lap with about a ten second lead. He went though the scoring barrels and then did as he said the best wheelie of his life down pit lane. I was making my way around a few guys, making passes on Brian Brown, Jimmy Jarrett, Robbie Zimmerman, and Jason Raines. I came though the pits on the first lap in sixth place. On the second lap I caught Craig Wesner and Cuck Woodford. I could see that they had some arm pump so I was able to sneak around them. Jason Raines kept close behind me and made his way by me in the pits after the second 14 mile lap. Brian had some arm pump on the second lap and was riding a little tight when someone caught him and started yelling at him. He rode a wide bike for a bit then Russ Peason flew by him. Russ seemed all ready to go after winning Laughlin with Ty Davis the day before. Brian picked up the pace a bit and followed Russ for a while. After about a lap Brian saw that Russ was getting squirrelly and knew it was time to make his move on Russ. He made the pass on a fire road and put his head down and opened up a little lead. Russ made a few more mistakes and Brian opened up a comfortable lead. On the last lap Russ crashed and Fred Andrews got by for second. Jason Raines stayed in fourth for the rest of the day and I kept my spot in fifth. I never got in the groove like I wanted to all day. Chuck Woodford and Jimmy Jarrett had a great battle for sixth with Woodford finishing just ahead of Jimmy followed by Brian Brown from Idaho. This was Brian's third National win at Hollister. |
