FMF KTM Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Dante Oliveira’s goal for the year must be simply to win every time he lines up and so far, no one’s been able to prevent him from doing so.
Photos by Mark Kariya
With his latest triumph at Dirt Inc.’s Rabbit Creek 100/Bill Walsh Memorial Hare & Hound, Oliveira and his Red Bull/Motorex/Alpinestars 450 XC-F took another step towards that goal. He’s now been victorious in all three rounds to date in the AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series, Presented by FMF (as well as in the four AMA National Grand Prix Championship Series rounds so far). And for the third-straight round, Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts had to settle for the runner-up spot, with Norman Racing Husqvarna rider Daemon Woolslayer a weary third after making the arduous journey from racing the SCORE San Felipe 250 the day before.
Due to an extremely dry, warm winter, the entire region around the Owyhee Front in Southwestern Idaho had received minuscule amounts of rain or snow, guaranteeing dusty conditions as silt pockets developed everywhere. Getting a good start would be paramount if one were to do well, and Oliveira got a perfect launch when the banner dropped, leaving the rest of the pack to fight the wall of dust that enveloped most of the 114-mile course.
“I had a nice gap the whole time,” he noted. “The dust was very heavy, and the wind wasn’t helping out too much for those in the back.”
But it wasn’t entirely trouble-free, as he missed one turn, nearly forfeiting that lead. Unlike last year when Roberts took advantage of comparatively ideal conditions to stay close and employ a late pass for the victory, he was unable to get close this year, save for one time when Oliveira missed a turn.
“He [Roberts] was coming around the corner as I was dropping down the hill to get back on course—that’s how close we were with how nasty the dust was,” Oliveira said.
Woolslayer was understandably fatigued after eight consecutive 100-plus-mile days pre-running in Baja that culminated at the Rabbit Creek 100, not to mention the three-hour wait at the border to catch two flights to Boise.
But once the banner dropped, he put most of that out of mind, jetting to third off the start aboard his Blud Lubricants/FMF/MSR FC 450. “I really wasn’t feeling it the first 20, 30 miles, so I actually kind of went wide to let [Dalton Shirey] by, and tucked the front end, and crashed. So I just kept going, and he got close here and there, but I wasn’t going to just pull over and let him by!”
Shirey and his Western Ag Crop Insurance Services/Hatch Racing/Fast House KX450SR found it impossible to punch through the dust and settled for fourth, 14 seconds off the podium.
A late-race pass netted Woolslayer’s Norman Racing Husqvarna teammate and San Felipe partner Kayden Lynn his first-ever Pro 250 win and fifth overall by just eight seconds over class runner-up Ryder Thomaselli. One of the keys to victory was the huge fuel tank he’d fitted to his Dunlop/DDC Sprockets/6D Helmets-backed FC 250. Normally used just for Baja pre-running, it allowed him to bypass the alternate pits on both loops. “I was able to get past Cody [Simpson] at the first alternate pit,” Lynn said. Despite falling on a tricky climb shortly after, he managed to stay ahead of the Simi Valley Cycles Yamaha rider, who had to stop at the alternates, find his dump can, and pour his own fuel.
For Thomaselli and his 395 Motorsports/MX Trophies/Leatt FC 250, second in class and sixth overall was disappointing after leading most of the race, though he remains the Pro 250 points leader after winning the first two rounds.
Next across the finish was Canyon Excavation/Let’s Ride/FXR KX250-mounted Layton Smail for his second-consecutive Pro 250 podium, followed by Simpson and his Wonder Electric Co./Gainslinger Human Performance/O’Neal Racing YZ250.
InnTeck Racing/Kenda/Klim Beta-mounted Clayton Gerstner from nearby Emmett jumped into his annual National event to claim fifth Pro and ninth overall, followed by Pearson Brothers Construction Husqvarna rider Otto Pearson, the sixth Pro.
Logan Cleveland and his NAB Consulting Husqvarna earned his second-straight win in Pro Vet 35+, runner-up Darrin Tuckett counting himself lucky to even finish after hitting a barbed-wire fence on his GasGas.
After an early crash and some position swapping, defending Pro Women champ Ava Silvestri finally grabbed the class lead for good on the second loop to make it three in a row on her 395 Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Troy Lee Designs FC 250.
“I was able to capitalize on some of the split lines in the little washes over there,” Silvestri said. “Luckily, I had a better remote pit at the first alternate and was able to get the lead. It was a good day.”
FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Rachel Stout had the intensity on high off the start, shocking Silvestri with how aggressive she charged through the dust, but as the race wore on, she had to worry more about Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Tarah Gieger who came out of semi-retired status to land on the podium in her first Rabbit Creek National. CN
2026 AMA Hare & Hound Round 3 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Dante Oliveira (KTM) 3:07:42
- Zane Roberts (Bet) 3:08:44
- Daemon Woolslayer (Hus) 3:15:37
- Dalton Shirey (Kaw) 3:15:51
- Kayden Lynn (KTM) 3:16:05
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus) 3:16:13
- Layton Smail (Kaw) 3:18:04
- Cody Simpson (Yam) 3:19:24
- Clayton Gerstner (Hus) 3:27:19
- Otto Pearson (Hus) 3:28:19
RESULTS
