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Missouri Hare Scramble After a good week of practicing in Illinois both Brian and I were ready for the Missouri Hare Scramble. My shoulder was feeling better and I felt strong enough to race. Brian was looking to win after having a tough race here last year when he got hot lined when leading and wanted to win it this year. It was really nice on Saturday but was supposed to dump on Sunday turning it into a mudder. It rained real hard over night and kept on going in the morning. It seemed to intensify right before the start and we hoped that with all the local tornados that had occurred in the last week we wouldn't get blown away during the race. With the conditions the way they were I was looking to stay out of the mud holes and try to ride smart throughout the day. The start was sort of hokey with just a short run to the first corner. With the was everyone was lined up the guys on the outside got there first and much faster but were cut off and a couple of riders disappeared into the trees. Brian got a good start and was running top three then mover up to second behind Chuck Woodford by the end of the moto track. Brian rode hard at the beginning but Woodford was flying and opened up about a thirty second lead. I was just outside the top ten but was feeling OK. By the second lap the course was getting real bad and it became difficult to make it around without getting stuck. Their were bikes stuck in every mud hole and I would stop at times and look for good lines that I would make it through. Brian was keeping himself in a position to win staying in the lead pack of Woodford, Josh Mclevy, Fred Andrews, Jimmy Jarret, and Brian. The lead was changing every lap when one guy would get stuck and the others would make their way around. I worked my way up and got as high as sixth place during the race. I hooked up with Tim Taber who I had been staying with during the week and we worked our way around the maze of mud and caos. Brian started to encouter some bike problems late in the race as some mud made its way past the carburetor and into the engine. On the fourth lap his bike stopped running at a check. He couldn't get it started but didn't want to DNF so he talked to the checker into dragging him with his truck. After one failed attempt Brian got his bike running but couldn't signal he was running because he was so out of control being pulled through a big muddy Bean field. He only made it a little further back to the truck and that was it. I soldiered out the rest of the race and came in eighth position. Jimmy Jarret took a close win over Fred Andrews as Josh Mclevy stuck himself in the mud with just a little ways to go. He recovered for third ahead of Chuck Woodford, Blair Bersano, Tim Taber, Nate Dog, and then myself. I was happy to finish and plan to build myself back up to the front. |