KENTUCKY OFF ROAD HARES SCRAMBLES ROUND 9 Hardwick Creek, KY My day stared out loading the bike in some very hard rain; I packed all my mud stuff to prepare for a day of survival racing. It rained HARD all the way from Louisville to Clay City. Soon after we arrived at the track, the rain let up but we all just knew that this was going to be a mud race. Lap one went ok for me, I was 3rd up the long creek section which was fine as I just wanted to hang back and see how slick that creek really was. It wasn’t long before Big Dave McWilliams, Ryan Patterson and I caught up to one of the Light A guys that seemed to enjoy blocking the trail for the faster riders. This went on for nearly a half lap and allowed the rows behind us to catch up. I finally made the pass and the race was on between myself, Dave and Ryan. When we came to the field section just before the check, there seemed to be some confusion on which way to go. The banners turned to the right and pointed us up into some thick brush. A couple of guys went on up to the top of the hill thinking that is were the trail went. I looked around and saw someone at the check waving us to come that way. I took over the lead about halfway through lap 2 and was feeling really good! Even after all the rain, the track was in nearly perfect condition with tons of traction. I was feeling really good and managed to pick off a couple more guys that started in front of me. By mid race, my crew told me that I had a big lead in the class so I settled down into a comfortable pace and put the big Husky on cruise control. Little did I know I was being stalked by little Hot Rod Hardesty. Cody had just bought his first full size bike and was on a mission to make a BIG statement. I stopped for gas after lap 4 and Cody’s dad Bill said, “Cody is coming”!!! Sure enough I look over and he’s on the other side of the creek heading towards the check. It wasn’t long before I could hear that 200 hunting me down. I was able to hold him off for a few miles but he snuck by when I made a small mistake. Now there is no way I was going to let him get away. We upped the pace and were flying!!! This is the fastest I have rode in a long time and it felt great! We were having a ball hooting and hollering at each other. We were going through lappers like a blur. I rarely ever have a last lap that is my fastest but this one was my fastest by far. About 1 mile from the finish Cody made a small mistake on an up hill and I snuck around him. I never thought I’d use all the power of the big 510 but I had it pinned to stay in front to the finish. We came out to the last field section with a lapper in front of us. I went left and Cody went right, I don’t think either of us let off the throttle all the way through the turn and across the creek. Cody was about a half bike behind me when we hit the creek and he got a good wake bath! I beat him to the finish but it didn’t matter because he started in row 7 which meant he had 1.5 minutes on me. Turns out that Cody finished 3rd overall! Keep an eye on this kid…he is hauling I had my best race of the year finishing 1st in Vet A and 5th overall. The KORHS crew did a fantastic job on this track and everyone I talked to after the race felt the same. Jeff Stoess #102 Husqvarna TXC 510 Sponsors: GateWay Cycles/KORHS, Tire Balls, Elka, IMS, Decal Works, House of Horsepower Suspension, Fasst Company, Spider Grips and Rick Hollenkamp Special thanks to Bill Hardesty for the pit duties.
