Mark Kariya | November 13, 2017
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results – If it was for two missed races due to injury, Taylor Robert might be the 2017 Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Champion.
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results
Since the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team desert star did indeed miss two of the early rounds, he had no realistic chance of wresting the championship from Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha rider Gary Sutherlin, who managed to ride through his injuries and clinched the title last month at round eight.
So, Robert set his sights on other goals: pulling himself up as high as he could in points and win more races than anyone else.
He accomplished both by taking the Checkers Motorcycle Club’s 67th Annual Check Chase at the Stoddard Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area—the ninth and final race of the season—over Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Jacob Argubright and Sutherlin. His fourth triumph of the series cemented him at second in points behind Sutherlin, 215-184.
Though relatively short with a 32-mile first loop and 37-mile second loop, they were indeed “Checker miles” with much of the course comprised of technical, virgin trail, but what it lacked in whoops, it made up for in Stoddard’s endless supply of loose, sharp rocks and silt.
Aided by a great start aboard his Red Bull/Motorex/Troy Lee Designs-sponsored 450 XC-F, Robert essentially led from start to finish.
“I was just a little more patient than I was at the last race getting off the line when I gave it a little too much throttle while hitting the starter,” he said. “It definitely paid off. I knew it was going to be dusty here with no wind. It was a big stress reliever getting the holeshot!
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results
“Then I just kind of rode my own race. I kept an eye on the guys behind me and they kept me honest the whole time. I was surprised for how dusty it was; I felt like I was riding pretty good and I’d be able to gap them in the dust, but they were all riding really good.”
And indeed, Robert stayed just ahead of a close battle for the remaining podium spots between Argubright, Sutherlin and 2010 series champ Kendall Norman. Sutherlin also enjoyed a good start and at the end of the bomb found himself behind only Robert.
Sutherlin and his John Burr Cycles/GPR Stabilizers/THOR YZ450FX remained second with Argubright only seven seconds behind as they finished the first loop, but there was no holding the Husky rider and his Bel-Ray/Braking/Fly Racing FX 450 back. Early on loop two, Argubright saw the opening he’d been waiting for, squirted past and held it to the end, finishing 10 seconds behind Robert’s two hours, 16 minutes and 12 seconds with Sutherlin 15 seconds behind in third.
“I was just having fun,” Argubright said. “I was yelling at people, having fun—I yelled at Gary [when I passed him]. I kind of realized I need to race more like this instead of just overexerting myself charging to the front. It was nice to end it that way.”
Having clinched the series crown by winning the previous round, Sutherlin was anxious to back that up with another good result, but he had to settle for third place, saying, “Honestly, I struggled a little bit today in the rocks. I made a couple mistakes at the beginning of the second loop and Jake got by me, and I kind of just reset my head and started pinning it again. We all kind of bunched up and I think we only finished 25 seconds off each other so for being that dusty and being that close was something.”
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results
Norman got a good start aboard his Pro Circuit/Fast House CRF450X and found himself in fourth all morning. “I could see them and I kept getting into the dust really heavily and I’d pull out [into clean air], but I felt a little rusty because it’s been a while since I’ve ridden the desert—probably over a year since I’ve ridden out here,” he said. Of the chance at running the series full-time next year, Norman said, “Financially, I don’t know—we’ll see how it goes—but I really just want to race Dakar.”
Purvines DA8 racers Nick Burson and Axel Pearson finished fifth and sixth, more than seven minutes behind. Pearson thus sealed third in points with 155 over Argubright’s 144, Burson ending up fifth with 134. Defending series champ Ricky Brabec skipped this one, the Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda star prepping his works CRF450 Rally bike as he concentrates for Dakar in January. He ended up sixth in points with 131.
Chidester Transport Racing YZ250-mounted Tyler Lynn added one more victory in the FMF Pro 250 class, making for five this season, as he claimed seventh overall. He also wrapped up the class championship last month.
Perry Concepts Honda’s Travis Damon and Beta’s Joe Wasson were eighth and ninth overall with Jake Alvarez 10th overall and second FMF Pro 250 aboard his Zip-Ty Racing Husky TC 125.
Mark Kariya
2017 Check Chase Hare & Hound Results
Results
OVERALL
- Taylor Robert (KTM)
- Jacob Argubright
- Gary Sutherlin (Yam)
- Kendal Norman (Hon)
- Nick Burson (Yam)
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