One week after a disappointing fourth place at the recently relocated Grand Prix, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Mateo Oliveira returned to Glen Helen Raceway for round four of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, presented by FMF, and walked away with his third Pro/AA win of the season, beating round-two winner Giacomo Redondi and Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts.
Story & Photos by Mark Kariya
Canyon Excavation/Let’s Ride Kawasaki’s Layton Smail wasn’t far behind those three, claiming his fourth-straight Pro 250 victory over FMF/RPM Racing KTM rider Jaden Dahners, with reigning class champ Ryder Thomaselli recovering from a spill to earn third.
And in Pro Women, Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Ava Silvestri kept her perfect WHS season going with a dominating ride over defending class champ Rachel Stout, who had to work her way around persistent Canyon Excavation/Let’s Ride Kawasaki’s Ashlee Gage.
Hosted by the National Hare & Hound Association (NHHA), the course was surprisingly technical, with an abundance of single-track, some of which hadn’t been used in years. That, along with the two-and-a-half-hour length, set it apart from the usual Glen Helen GP.
Asked to explain the difference, FMF/Dunlop/Fly Racing FE 450-mounted Oliveira said, “Honestly, the main thing is just getting used to no practice at a hare scramble. Walking up Sunday, you’ve got your levers and bars set, but you never get to go and shake out the bike [like other races]. You get so comfortable with showing up that you can be off a little bit on setup, but you have two hours on the track to get set up.
“Whereas here at a hare scramble, you’re hopping on it and you’re riding it as is for two and a half hours. For this weekend, I just put my bike back to how it was set up at the grand prix.”
And that proved good enough, though Acerbis/Alpinestars/Oakley-backed Redondi kept him on his toes early on aboard a KX250 (equipped with a KL Services 300cc big-bore kit) from his Red 18 California Experience rental fleet.
“I got a good start, but with the small bike, I got passed, and then I was third coming into the single-track,” he said. “Mateo was riding pretty good! I think I was a little bit faster with the small bike in the tight sections, but I didn’t make it happen. [He also fell later, surrendering ground he’d be unable to make up entirely.] Second is okay. We will take it.”
He finished 20 seconds behind Oliveira’s two hours, 45 minutes and 19 seconds elapsed time. It was then a couple of minutes back to Roberts in third aboard his Bridgestone/FMF/Moose Racing 480 RR, having lost touch in the early going due to dust.“I actually had a pretty good jump off the start, going into Talladega [almost next to Oliveira],” he said. “I took that inside to go up the [first hill on the MX track] because that’s what was working out for all the other races before us, but none of the people were going around the outside and actually jumping up the hill, so I got shuffled back there a little bit. The dust was brutal; I think this was the worst I’ve seen the dust here, and it was a technical course—a lot more technical than I expected—a lot of first gear, surprisingly. Still a fun day. I just got killed there in the first couple laps.”
Though he also had a subpar moment off the start, Smail and his Team Green/JMR Suspension/FXR KX250 quickly worked into the lead of the Pro 250s.
“It definitely put me in a bad spot missing that first turn [into the single-track],” Smail said. “It put me in third—so I had to get JJ [Concannon] pretty early on, then pushed hard to get in the lead because I didn’t want to eat dust all day. That was good for my confidence, too, being able to run him down, get in the lead early and pretty much manage my own race from there.”
Smail’s ride netted him fourth overall, nearly four minutes ahead of Dahners and his Americool Heating & Air-conditioning/Motorex/Moose Racing 250 XC-F.
Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Ryan Surratt figured he’d get some seat time in since Glen Helen is close to home, and he finished 13 seconds later in sixth overall, fourth Pro/AA. Thomaselli worked his way back from an early crash to take seventh overall, third Pro 250, on his 395 Motorsports/MX Trophies/Leatt FC 250. He and Dahners are tied in class points at 92 each, behind Smail’s perfect 120.
Dahners’ teammate JJ Concannon matched his best-to-date fourth-place Pro 250 finish, followed by CM Parts Kawasaki-mounted Cooper Abbott (fifth Pro 250) and Pro Circuit Off-Road Kawasaki’s Dalton Shirey, the fifth Pro/AA.
Justin Herman won Pro Vet 35+ for the third time on his LPS Suspension Yamaha, with John Kean and Brian Marok rounding out the podium.
In the 90-minute morning race, Silvestri led practically from start to finish on her 395 Motorsports/Racer Decal/Troy Lee Designs FC 250, which she sets up basically the same as for GPs and hare & hounds. And it made up for the double-National races the previous weekend.
“That wasn’t my most ideal performance [last weekend at the GP where she was second after winning the H&H in Utah the day before], but it’s nice to get a little bit of redemption,” she noted. “It’s nice to at least get a win in a different series here, but I’m Glen ‘Helened’ out for the year!”
Gage has been putting in 50-mile training days with Smail in Idaho lately, and it showed as she moved into second just ahead of Stout in the early going. A tip-over on her Pro Circuit/Dunlop/FXR KX250 eventually let Stout get around, though FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Stout could never shake her. Officially, Stout and her Gainslinger Human Performance/Alexander Exhibits/Sidi 250 XC-F had just one second advantage over Gage at the finish.
Round five visits a new venue in Orofino, Idaho, in two weeks, June 6-7, as the series moves north into the trees for the final three rounds.CN
2026 AMA West Hare Scrambles Round 4 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Mateo Oliveira (Hus) 2:45:19
- Giacomo Redondi (Kaw) 2:46:39
- Zane Roberts (Bet) 2:49:16
- Layton Smail (Kaw) 2:51:02
- Jaden Dahners (KTM) 2:54:52
- Ryan Surratt (Hon) 2:55:05
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus) 2:55:42
- JJ Concannon (KTM) 2:58:30
- Cooper Abbott (Kaw) 2:59:23
- Dalton Shirey (Kaw) 2:59:51
