| November 8, 2022
Serving as the grand finale to the 2022 Championship and paying homage to its roots, Best In The Desert returned to Tonopah, Nevada, November 5-6, for another World Hare & Hound Championship, round six of the American Off-Road Racing Series. Husqvarna factory-supported ace Dalton Shirey claimed the “World Champion” title to match his AMA National Championship for the year.
Story by Trevor Hunter | Photos by Harlen Foley
Going back to the mid-1980s, BITD originally started with the World Hare & Hound Championship, drawing all of the fastest desert racers from across the nation. Last year saw the return of this race to the calendar, and now, two years in a row, the winner has doubled down as National and World Champion in the grueling discipline.
In true BITD fashion, the banner dropped at sunrise on the outskirts of Tonopah. Shirey’s 3Bros/Hatch/Husqvarna FX450 fired first among the Pro field, nabbing the early lead and setting the pace at the start of the nearly 120-mile point-to-point race. Behind Shirey was a field of competitive pros, including a tight points chase between the series contenders with Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter (riding separate at this non-team event) and Jeremy Newton. While Hintz and Newton battled from the start, Hunter’s DirtBikeTest/1-800-Dent-Doc KX450X struggled to start in the freezing 31-degree morning, leaving him in the dust early on.
From the start, Shirey checked out and showed why he’s one of, if not the fastest, desert racers in the nation, putting minutes on the field in the first half of the race. Meanwhile, the Hintz/Newton/Hunter trio were seemingly tied to a tree for nearly 60 miles, swapping positions back and forth as they fought dust, lost ribbon, and made outright passes with the championship in loom.
Newton was the first to make a move, passing Hintz who was struggling with a mechanical issue from early on. After coming up from a dead last start, Hunter also capitalized on his teammates’ issues, passing the N1 KTM with his sights set on championship rival Newton. A few miles later, Newton missed a turn and allowed both Hunter and Hintz by, only for Hunter to make a wrong turn less than a mile later and reset the rider order with Hintz leading Newton and Hunter again. Through pit one at mile 55, the trio all dumped gas nearly in sync with Shirey up ahead and a comfortable gap to the rest of the pack.
Leaving the first pit through the town of Goldfield, the three Open Pro contenders duked it out in the tight single-track trees, mountain roads and sand washes. Again, Newton and Hunter capitalized on continued mechanical issues from Hintz to embark on a one-on-one duel for the championship (with Hunter being allowed to score team points at this race). Over the next 15 miles, the N2 (Newton) and N24 (Hunter) bikes battled it out, each making their share of mistakes and missing course as they pushed the pace in the dust-free mountains. With both riders getting momentarily lost at the same point, they both found the course at the same time and raced wheel-to-wheel for a few miles before Hunter’s Kawasaki 450 squeaked its way by Newton’s KTM 450 XC-F. From there, Hunter made dust and started to slowly inch away from Newton in the remaining 45 miles.
After 118 miles and nearly three hours of racing, Shirey claimed the World Hare & Hound Championship win ahead of Hunter, Newton, Brandon Krause and Hayden Hintz, rounding out the top five. All racers were pleased with the well-laid-out racecourse that resembled an old-school desert race, finding a good mix of fast and flowing trails with tighter, more technical sections to challenge all riders. With the day’s finishes, the Hintz/Hunter duo clinched the prestigious Open Pro-class Championship for the third consecutive year, retaining the coveted N1 plate for another season of racing.
Just behind the Open Pro contenders, the Women’s class saw a story of redemption from last year’s event with Kimberly Loppnow finding that elusive win and title of Women’s World Hare & Hound Champion. The W1 pilot finished an impressive 12th overall, and fourth overall Expert, en route to winning the day and clinching the Women’s series Championship for another year. Steven Machado worked his way up to seventh overall, and first Expert, while top Amateur honors went to Kevin Trygstad.
OVERALL RESULTS
- Dalton Shirey (Hus)
- Trevor Hunter (Kaw)
- Jeremy Newton (KTM)
- Brandon Krause (KTM)
- Hayden Hintz (KTM)
- Zach Myers (KTM)
- Steven Machado (Hon)
- Robby Brockman (Hon)
- Dan Lick (KTM)
- Robert Glines (Hon)
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