Team Carolina XC took the top spot at the 2026 Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge in Stanton, Alabama, on June 6-7, with a time of 24:11:29 and 45 laps. This makes three 24 Hour overall wins in a row for the Elite team of Zach Hayes (KTM), Chase Hayes (KTM), Cade Henderson (KTM), Jesse Ansley (Kawasaki) and Andy Carlson (KTM). The past two races they won were uneventful, but this year they had to deal with a few gremlins.
Story & Photos by Kenny King
“Cade had a fuse blow and had to push the bike back to the pits, costing us 20 minutes,” said team leader Zach Hayes. “This was around midnight. On the first lap, Chase had clutch issues. Then, when I went out, something didn’t feel right, and we found out I had a spring break in the forks. I just had to man up and finish my three laps. This was a tough race. The course was brutal, even in the first few laps. In the morning, when the rain came, it was much better. It slowed things down a bit. Everyone’s hands got a lot of blisters. This was a much more physical race than the others.”
This year’s course was 11.4 miles of tight woods, including wide, fast trails, and an MX section. With a turnout just shy of 480 riders, it was the largest in years. It was less dusty than previous years, and the temps were a bit cooler in the mid-80s. Around 6 a.m., a thunderstorm rolled in, clearing the dust but making things sloppy for the next four hours.
Finishing in the runner-up spot and first in the Expert class was Team Max Motorsport/Fastlap, consisting of Ty Roberts (KTM), Colby Yarbrough (BET), Dominic Goff (Husqvarna), Landon Clayton (KTM), Rider Knight (KTM) and Evan Chisolm (GasGas). The team finished in 24:15:55 for 44 laps. They were in a tight battle with the third-place team for most of the race.
“It was a pretty smooth event for us,” said Ty Roberts. “We had no bike issues at all. One of our riders, Landon Clayton, had serious hand blisters. That was about it.”
Rounding out the podium spot and taking the 30+-class win was the Bush Lights Banditos squad. They finished in 24:30:14, completing 44 laps. The team consisted of Sammy Dorris (Kawasaki), Travis Hardcastle (Kawasaki), Dustin Simpson (GasGas), Geoffrey Sanders (Kawasaki), Josh Cetto (Honda) and Teddy Mullins (Kawasaki).
“We had a good race, got into the lead early in 30+, and then started catching the leader, the number one team,” said Sammy Dorris. “We moved into second. We had a good battle with the Max Motorsports team. We had some lighting issues at night that cost us a couple of minutes. We just were not able to make up the time.”
In fourth place was Team R.W. Curtis Racing. The team consisted of Colby Curtis (GasGas), Lee Hallman (GasGas), Doug McCarson (Yamaha), Tyler MacDonald (Yamaha), Scott Callicut (KTM) and Bryan Henson (KTM). They finished second in the 30+ class with a time of 23:28:40 in 43 laps.
“For the first two laps, I think we were in first overall,” said MacDonald. “We just tried to stay in the top five. We had a pretty clean race. Most of us rode either two or three laps each. No bike issues at all. We ran bicycle lights at night, which worked out awesome.”
In fifth was Suzuki Yamaha of Dalton team. They finished second elite with a time of 24:10:19 for 42 laps. The team riders were Jonathon Greer (Husqvarna), Keith Holtzclaw (Yamaha), Seth Derryberry (Yamaha), Jimmy Hawkins (KTM), Luke Armour (Husqvarna) and Preston Horton (Yamaha). “The race went pretty good—a few mechanical issues,” said Jonathan Greer. “Our first rider had sprocket bolts come loose, costing us about 15 minutes. Not much happened after that. We just had to work our way back into the top five.”
Brady Bierbaum, riding a Husqvarna 250, won the Ironman class with 38 laps and finished 16th overall. He was nine laps ahead of the second-place Ironman, Matt Brasher, riding a Honda.
Madison Allen on a KTM finished 20 laps to win the Ironwoman class.
Team Give’er The Beans took the win in the Duo class with 35 laps completed with riders Nick Spickard and Steven Brown.
For the first time at the Perry Mountain 24 Hour, an all-electric team competed. Team BB Electric Moto ran Surron Ultra Bee bikes and an Arctic Leopard in the Novice class. The riders were Michael Lee, Peyton Lee, Harrison Lee (on the Arctic Leopard), Justin Anderson, BJ Carpenter and Ethan Custis. Craig Westbrook, the owner of BB Electric out of Birmingham, Alabama, put the team together. This was the first-year racing for several of the riders. The bikes could complete two laps per charge, with a charge time of a bit over three hours. They used eight batteries and five chargers. The team finished sixth out of 13, completing 31 laps.CN
2026 Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge Results
OVERALL (Top 5)
- Carolina XC
- Max Motorsport/Fastlap
- Bush Lights Banditos
- R.W. Curtis Racing
- Suzuki Yamaha of Dalton
Click here to read the 2026 Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge Results in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
