After stealing the holeshot, Nick Burson stayed comfortably out front for the rest of the race for his first H&H win since round three last year. Photography by Mark Kariya
Nick Burson carded his first National Hare & Hound win in over a year at the Silver State Trailblazers fourth annual Muley Run, round 7 of the Kenda SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series. Burson piloted his Purvines Racing Beta 498 RR to victory ahead of Jacob Argubright and Gary Sutherlin, leading all three loops of the Panaca, Nevada race.
“Every out-of-state round the start is everything,” Burson observed. “If you watch, there’s not any passing after we sort ourselves out, of the top guys; there’s no passing.
“It’s a 100-mile race, but I think it comes down to the first two miles, really.”
Burson chased down Blais Racing Services KTM’s Skyler Howes to the bomb, and remained out front from that point on.
Argubright was third at the bomb aboard his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, passing Howes for second place before the alternate gas. Unlike the others, FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing support rider Gary Sutherlin had to recover from a somewhat bad start.
“I pretty much just went nuts [in the sand wash right after the bomb],” he said. “Right off the bat in the first little wash I passed three or four guys. I got on Ivan [Ramirez] and battled him for a second and knew I had to make my move and get away from him and I did. Once I got around him, I was in a bunch of dust and I was pushing and pushing. By the time it cleared up, they’d gapped me.”
Sutherlin was unable to challenge Burson and Argubright for the lead, and had to settle for third. But the 21 points he earned for third place moved him to second in points, the unofficial tally now Ramirez 160, Sutherlin 132 and Ricky Brabec 131.
Ramirez collected a modest fifth-place finish aboard his FMF KTM Factory Off-road machine, but he still retains a solid lead in the championship. Ramirez needs only to finish 17th or better at the final round to wrap up the championship.
Overall Results
