Liqui Moly Beta’s Zane Roberts finally took his spot at the top of the podium as the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, presented by FMF, visited a new venue for the seventh and final round of the series. The Boot Hill Motorcycle Club hosted the Rocky Mountain Hare Scramble, marking its 50th active year.
Story & Photos by Mark Kariya
After hunting Rockstar Energy Husqvarna ace Mateo Oliveira for the first hour and a half, his break came when the now two-time series champ fell, resulting in a technical issue that cost him the race but not the season.
Rounding out the overall podium were the top Pro 250s with new class champ Layton Smail aboard his Canyon Excavation/Let’s Ride Kawasaki KX250 second overall and first in class for the seventh straight round. FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Jaden Dahners claimed third overall and second in class, both in the race and final Pro 250 points.
“I flew [to this one], so I only biked the track once—normally I do it at least three times—so I let the race come to me,” Oliveira said. But a couple spills on the very technical rocky course with its many hills plus two creek crossings disrupted his flow aboard his Tanner Peplinski-prepared FMF/Dunlop/Fly Racing FE 450. The final one apparently damaged something internally, forcing Oliveira to push through the remaining hills, sand and creek crossing to claim 35th overall after the two-and-a-half-hour race. But with his second-straight AMA WHS Championship secured at round six, a relieved Oliveira said, “I’m glad we did all the work at the beginning of the year! I knew today we actually had a little leeway with the pit strategy just because it was pretty easy on gas [here] so it wasn’t like we were going to have to pit all at the same time,” Roberts revealed. So he and mechanic Zac Seidel waited to see when Oliveira ducked in for gas, though they expected the Husky crew to be watching them as well.
“He ended up going to lap five [before pitting] so I went on four to undercut the pit. I knew that lap was kind of going to be the race,” Roberts said.
But Oliveira’s mechanical allowed Roberts to ride his own race for the final hour, well clear of the pack by this point aboard his Zac Seidel-massaged FMF/Bridgestone/Moose Racing 480 RR. “I got a little bit lucky today, but I think we were in a position to potentially win anyway,” he concluded. Final Pro/AA points saw Oliveira on top with 186 points (including three wins) with Roberts the runner-up at 164.
Fourth overall on adjusted time after the first lap, Smail and his Team Green/JMR Suspension/FXR KX250 were expected to be further up at the end but found it difficult to make up time and finished two and a half minutes back of Roberts.
“I knew we were losing a bunch of time in the early going,” he said. He followed defending class champ Ryder Thomaselli for a while. Smail soon got around Thomaselli with Dahners close behind. Though they exchanged spots briefly after pitting, Smail got the upper hand. “When he pitted, I could break away. Then after that I was pretty happy with my riding,” he said.
Never pleased with anything but a win, Dahners had a pre-race shock replacement to get his heart rate going. During the race on his Dunlop/Americool Heating and Air Conditioning/Moose Racing 250 XC-F, he said, “The course was all hard! It was six miles of good single-track, lots of technical, and I think nailing your bike setup was important. I’m not sure if we had some clutch problems or our rim lock was spinning, but the bike had a little drag towards the end.”
Thomaselli and his 395 Motorsports/MX Trophies Husqvarna rounded out the Pro 250 podium, and was fourth overall, followed by Airoh GasGas-mounted Lane Lorenzo, FMF RPM Racing KTM rider JJ Concannon, all of them Pro 250s and the last ones to finish on the lead lap.
Maloney Training Facility KTM’s Ryan Watts completed his 200cc B career as the top B rider overall, ripping around the course with the seventh-fastest time of the day. (He’d completed a sweep of all seven Big Wheel wins the day before.)
Travis Poole triumphed in Open A aboard his Rever KTM, finishing eighth overall, followed by 250cc A winner Leed Lulis on his Dunlop Husky, with Zach Hatton second in 250cc A and 10th overall on his Fly Racing Yamaha.
Justin Herman wrapped up the Pro Vet 35+ Championship by winning for the fourth time this season on his LPS Suspension/Dotty’s Repair Yamaha over Liqui Moly Beta Off-road Team Manager Brian Marok.
In the morning race, local favorite Britney Gallegos returned from a concussion-forced two-year layoff to lead new Pro Women champ Ava Silvestri in a tight battle most of the way.
However, a crash on the final lap cost Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Silvestri a couple spots, and Gallegos received a post-race penalty for a rule infraction. That gave Ashlee Gage and her Canyon Excavation/Let’s Ride KX250 her first victory in four years.
“I got a little bit lucky. It doesn’t feel like a win, but I’ll take it!” she said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the middle of the box. It was time.”
Silvestri got up from her last-lap tipper to finish nine seconds behind Gage with FMF RPM Racing KTM’s Rachel Stout, the defending class champ, third and Gallegos fourth.
2026 AMA West Hare Scrambles Round 7 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Zane Roberts (Bet) 2:31:46
- Layton Smail (Kaw) 2:34:16
- Jaden Dahners (KTM) 2:36:06
- Ryder Thomaselli (Hus) 2:40:04
- Lane Lorenzo (GG) 2:42:27
- JJ Concannon (KTM) 2:49:42
- Ryan Watts (KTM) 2:32:36 (7 laps)
- Travis Poole (KTM) 2:34:15
- Leed Lulis (Kaw) 2:34:34
- Zachary Hatton (Yam) 2:35:54
