A pattern is beginning to emerge in the desert and Zane Roberts is at the center of it. The factory Liqui Moly Beta racer led from start to finish at the Southern Nevada Jackrabbits Motorcycle Club’s Wild West National Hare & Hound over a determined, ever-improving Dante Oliveira of the FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team, with Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Daemon Woolslayer parlaying an excellent start to his first podium appearance of the young season.
Photos by Mark Kariya
As round two of the AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series, Presented by FMF, the Wild West National marked a return to the series of an event last seen (as a National anyway) since 1987 when it was a point-to-point race from Moapa to Las Vegas. Located midway between Vegas and Mesquite (and conveniently accessed off I-15), the area features numerous trails exploring some picturesque rocky hills barely noticed by most travelers cruising past on the freeway.
It was thus a very even playing field, as none of the top competitors had raced here and even fewer had ridden the area. Dust would be the telling factor, though, making a good start imperative. As Bridgestone/FMF/Klim 480 RR-mounted Roberts said, “Today, I knew it was all about the start. I was kind of almost struggling sleeping last night. Fortunately, I pulled that [start off perfectly]. I knew that as long as I had a good start, I could manage the race from there.”
After the 35-mile-long first loop, he enjoyed a 47-second lead over Oliveira, who’d gotten a good start in third. The 42-mile loop two saw him add more time, taking the checkers in an hour, 56 minutes and 30 seconds, Oliviera 1:45 back. While his margin of victory didn’t match round one’s, there aren’t bonuses for margin of victory, so he was satisfied. In addition, he strengthened his grip at the top of the new Off-Road Masters Championship, Presented by FMF, which combines finishes in both H&H and AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS).
Oliveira obviously has stellar racing credentials but is still new to the desert. However, he’s now committed to this series in addition to the AMA NGPC, which will be his primary focus. After his NGPC victory last weekend, he headed directly to the area in order to get used to the terrain while abiding by the rules that prohibit riding the actual racecourse, which has to be marked well ahead of time.
It paid off.
“I felt a lot more confident going into it and ready to go and get after it,” he said. “I burned in a track just down the road. It was good just to learn the desert and see what’s out here, but racing’s a whole different beast!”
Being unaware of how to save his spot on the start didn’t end up penalizing him as he got a great jump and trailed only Roberts and Woolslayer at the end of the bomb aboard his Red Bull/Dunlop/Alpinestars 450 XC-F.
“I got into a flow, then we got into some technical stuff,” Oliveira said. “I reeled in Woolslayer real quick, got around him and just tried to charge. Zane, he rode great today. They put a hurting on me in those sand washes, those fast ones. I don’t know—I’d rather keep it on two [wheels] in there, so I did back it down quite a bit, but I’m going to have to figure those out because I know a lot of these races have them.”
Trailing only Roberts at the end of the bomb, Woolslayer and his AHM Suspension/Seat Concepts/Klim-backed Husqvarna FX 450 yielded only to Oliveira, an improvement over his fourth-place finish at round one. He was 1:12 behind the KTM star at the finish and just 10 seconds ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey. The three-time series champ had a horrible start after his bike balked at the start, relegating him to an afternoon of riding in near-whiteout conditions.
“The whole second loop I was trying to get by [Woolslayer], but the dust was so thick!” Shirey said. “I just rode smart. Right at the last little stretch, we were going north towards the finish. I popped out of his dust, and I was in virgin terrain going across the valley. I was like, ‘This is sketchy, but this is my only shot if I can make anything happen right now!’ I got super-close, but that dust got to me again.”
Fourth overall after the first loop, defending Pro 250 champ Sam Pretscherer had a much better start than at round one on his Precision Concepts/Goldentyre/Troy Lee Designs FX 250. Pretscherer was second in Pro II last weekend.
“Super-happy with my start! I’ve been struggling the whole last year with my starts in Hare & Hound, and I finally have it figured out, I think,” he said. “I just got through the first loop controlling the race. The start of the second loop, I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. I feel like I race every race like it’s a GP when I get bad starts. So, I finally got the chance just to breathe and trail ride at a faster pace. Honestly, it was probably faster overall; I rode my own race and didn’t get lost once.”
Giving up a spot to Shirey on the second loop put the Aussie into fifth overall, well clear of sixth overall and Pro 250 runner-up Chance Fullerton, the Dallas Chidester (DC) Racing/Pirelli/FXR KX250 rider coming through the pack after a mediocre start. But snapping his rear-brake pedal off early on the second loop forced him to readjust his pace, and he finished four minutes back of Pretscherer and 27 seconds ahead of third Pro 250 Cody Simpson’s Simi Valley Cycles Yamaha/TBT Racing/O’Neal Racing YZ250.
Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Nolan Cate matched his round-one finish of eighth overall and fourth in Pro 250 ahead of Let’s Ride Gas Gas-mounted Madden Kirsch (fifth in Pro 250) and Ride With The Knights Sherco rider Josh Knight.
Kyle Tichenor was one of the few who might’ve ridden the area before, living in nearby Mesquite. He enjoyed a decent start aboard his Mark E. Tichenor CPA/Prime Excavation Yamaha to dominate Pro Vet 35+, finishing 11th overall. DC Racing Kawasaki’s Mike Jensen earned second with moto-journalist Jimmy Lewis visiting out of retirement for third aboard his DirtBikeTest.com/Klim-backed WR450F.
Pro Women saw a rejuvenated Ava Silvestri stalk three-time champ Rachel Stout throughout the first 35 miles, trailing the FMF RPM Racing KTM rider by nine seconds into the pits.
“I’d say about five miles into the second loop, I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to do something before we get into the technical stuff.’ We were on the super-long, rocky road and I was waiting for her [Stout] to let off [at the end of it] and I could hold it [on] just a little longer. She let off, and I was like, ‘Here’s my opportunity!’ to hold it one or two seconds longer. That’s where I got by her, and at that point, I was just trying to use the dust to my advantage.”
The 395 Motorsports/FMF/Troy Lee Designs GasGas EX 250F rider bested Stout by 1:38 with Pure Adrenaline Yamaha-mounted Ty Woolslayer third.
2025 AMA National Hare & Hound Round 2 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Zane Roberts (Bet)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM)
- Daemon Woolslayer (Hus)
- Dalton Shirey (Hus)
- Sam Pretscherer (Hus)
- Chance Fullerton (Kaw)
- Cody Simpson (Yam)
- Nolan Cate (Hon)
- Madden Kirsch (GG)
- Joshua Knight (She)
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