WATERMELON BASH HARE SCRAMBLE REVIEW

WATERMELON BASH HARE SCRAMBLE REPORT

photos by Jamey Perdue

The FTR Hare Scramble series headed south to “The Farm” for the Old School Dirt Riders Watermelon Bash. The race property, located east of Punta Gorda, had a great mix of fast fields, flowing woods and gnarly palmetto sections. The property provides a challenge for the trail makers over at OSDR. The property consists of mostly fields, with a narrow strip of woods that parallels the property line. It is tough to make a balanced track here but OSDR was able to create great trails for both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday the club was able to utilize the south side of the property via a couple of creek crossings, this side of the property featured palm tree hammocks that had excellent black dirt and multiple racing lines.

The peewee track had a great mix as well with fast flowing fields, palmetto sections and even a few jumps for the riders to catch some air on. Jacob Wilson took home the win in Peewee A over Gavin Pepin and Beau Scalzi. In Peewee B Miles Boyer took the win on his Cobra machine, Sebastian LeBlanc Jr took the win in Peewee C and Ryder Picciuto took the win Peewee Beginner. In Quad Super Peewee A Austin Wilson grabbed the victory with Brian Voigt and Edgardo Santini rounding out the top three. John Hancock took the win in Quad Super Peewee B, Joshua Swantek took the win in Quad Peewee A and Anthony Schneider won the Quad Peewee B class.

For the 12:15 Mini race it was Jake Mitchell taking home the overall win after some close racing with Tyler Lamb and Clayton Browning. Jorge Pereira had a great ride finishing third overall from the Mini B line. Landyn Mitz got off to a big lead early in the 65 A class, but Evan Watkins never gave up and brought the minute plus lead down to just three seconds at the end nar-

rowly missing out at the win. Cody Hopper also put down a solid race with a tenth overall and the Mini C win. There is a ton of young riders out there with great style and technique. The talent pool in FTR is growing and it is awesome to watch.

Landon Lynn grabbed another overall in the 2 pm Saturday race aboard his pre-modern YZ 125, that ole’ two stroke was singing in the fast fields. Jimmy Moore grabbed another win in Junior A after battling with newcomer Jaden Palmer and title rival Gunner Williams. Dylan Braddy put down the heat with an eighth overall and a win in Junior B. Kyle McAfee continues to dominate the Evo class with his fourth win in just four races, Paul Lucas grabbed his first win on the season in Pre-Modern Super Senior and Trevor Brown took home the win in Pre-Modern B.

The Quad race on Saturday was great to watch, GNCC’s own Cole Richardson showed up and put on a clinic in the AA class. Two FTR veterans, Michael Relyea and Chuck Piper, rounded out the top three in Quad AA. Joey Ponte finished fourth overall and first in Quad A Open. This time of year is awesome for the quad race because a ton of GNCC pro riders show up and mix it up with the FTR fast guys. At the Watermelon Bash there were 11 quads in AA and that number will only go up until the start of the GNCC season. The track on Sunday got super rough, the fields developed some rough chop and the woods became very rooty. The Sunday only palmetto section was the toughest section on the track, the leaves were very high which blocked the riders vision making it near impossible to find a flow. I think almost every rider struggled in this section. It was also very hot and rider fatigue was the story of the day. The Sunday morning race featured a ton of fast guys per usual. Clay Lyons jumped out to an early lead and looked to be in control of the overall until a crash with another rider sent him flying into the bushes. This allowed Barry McCarty to grab his first overall of the season and a win in the Senior A class. Clay Lyons was

able to hold on for the Vet A win. Mose Howard has made his return to FTR racing this year and he has been having an excellent season in Super Senior A, he added to his win total at the Watermelon Bash. George Edwards took home a 15th overall and a win in Silver Master A. Kelsey O’ Donnell absolutely crushed it in Women A and finishing 17th overall. Kelsey would then go on to race A 200 in the afternoon race just 30 minutes after the morning race ended. A couple of young guns duked it out for the Sunday 1pm overall with Alex Lugar and former GNCC XC3 Champ Jesse Ansley battling out for two hours with Lugar getting the best of Ansley at the end. The “Sandman” Garrett Edmisten finished third overall with Gawler Jr and Yahraus following behind. Korbin Dinkel continues to turn heads with another A 250 win, look for this kid in the AA ranks next season. Josh Tolken grabbed his second A Open win of the season after running down and passig Sean Benhart on the last lap. Logan Crawford continues his winning streak in A 200 with another win and flat tracker Jesse Janisch is starting to get this woods thing dialed in with a win in 30+. Max McNary would win the B Highpoint by five seconds over Jorge Penna and Angel Ramos Rasario took the C overall.