For its second running, the Hollow Point Hard Enduro returned to Coal Hollow Raceway in Wellsville, Ohio, August 8-9, with a very different feel. The 2025 inaugural edition had been hot, dry and dusty, producing a fast-paced battle for the win, but 12 months later, rain early Saturday morning turned the Ohio clay slick and treacherous, and although Sunday stayed dry, the course never fully recovered.
Story & Photos by Stephanie Vetterly
The 2026 event served as the penultimate round of the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, presented by IRC Tire, and round four of the AMA East Hard Enduro Series, presented by Klim. Familiar Wellsville landmarks returned, including Big Waterfall, 12 Gauge Hill, 20 Gauge Hill and Full Metal Jacket, but the conditions made them feel entirely different.
After the amateurs raced Saturday morning, the afternoon shifted attention to the Pro “Dash for Cash” Prologue, a 30-minute race combining the endurocross track and woods to establish Sunday’s starting order. Red Bull FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart won ahead of Ryder LeBlond, Rocky Mountain Yamaha’s Cody Webb and IRC Beta’s Branden Petrie.
By Sunday morning, Hart already knew what waited in the hills. After walking portions of the course, he compared sections to Romaniacs and Erzberg’s Motorex Highway. His prediction was blunt: simply finishing could become the real contest.
He was right.
The Pro and A riders faced a 13.5-mile, two-lap course with a five-hour limit. Early on, clean air and first choice of lines offered little advantage. Instead, the rider in front often became the one cutting the path for everyone behind.
Hart and Webb spent much of the race together, with Petrie and LeBlond close enough to capitalize whenever the leaders stalled. On the hardest climbs, competition occasionally turned into cooperation. Riders pulled, pushed and steadied one another, and Hart and Webb even teamed up to conquer one particularly difficult section.
“I kind of realized that being in first wasn’t necessarily the best because the line was getting better,” Hart said. “I was happy to be in second a couple of times because Cody was making a line and you could get on it and actually ride it better. When I was leading, I was having some struggles. I couldn’t break away because [Branden] Petrie was right on us that whole time, too. It was much easier to follow, which is not normal. When we’d get to a hard section, we’d have to cut a line in, and then it gets easier and easier.”
The second lap reflected that evolution. With the route burned in and usable lines established, Hart estimated it was nearly an hour faster. Even so, Webb remained close deep into the race, while LeBlond recovered from a difficult opening lap and Petrie stayed with the lead group until nutrition problems and cramping began taking their toll.
Webb’s day also included mechanical drama. His jetting was off, and the Yamaha ran hot enough that he stopped to add coolant, costing valuable time. Still, he kept Hart within striking distance through the decisive final sections.
Hart eventually finished in 3:40:47, 5:33 ahead of Webb. LeBlond followed in third at 3:48:19, with Petrie fourth and Bullet Proof Designs’ Kawelo Huddy fifth. More importantly, the victory clinched the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship for Hart one round early.
“It’s a gnarly race, for sure,” Hart said. “Top five hardest in the world.”
LeBlond rebounded strongly on lap two after struggling with blown-out lines and fatigue early.
“First lap, I was always the fourth one into sections, and it just got so blown out,” LeBlond said. “I rode really good the second lap; I had such a big gap to close. I hit a wall there like halfway through the first lap. Second lap, I felt good and would kind of catch Cody, but that last hill is so gnarly and they were using a rope to bring everyone up. They drug Cody up and then by the time I got up, I was two minutes back and it wasn’t really much to the finish. Overall, happy with how I rode. I stuck with it and didn’t just give in.”
2026 AMA National Hard Enduro Round 7 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Trystan Hart (KTM) 3:40:47 (Chk 12)
- Cody Webb (Yam) 3:46:20
- Ryder LeBlond (Hus) 3:48:19
- Branden Petrie (Bet) 3:52:30
- Kawelo Huddy (KTM) 4:10:58
- Ryder Guest (KTM) 4:16:24
- James Flynn (Bet) 5:12:32
- Kamakana Waiwaiole-Kahalepuna (KTM) 3:22:08 (Chk 11)
- Braxton Hintze (KTM) 3:33:03
- Matthew Stevens (KTM) 3:35:16
