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Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scramble Series

Allen Scrambles a New Hope Victory

By Paul and Debbie Allen

Round 2: North Alabama Trail Riders Association, NATRA

New Hope, Alabama, Oct. 20

Team Green Kawasaki’s P. A. Allen was at it again during the second round of the Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scramble Series. Soon after the AMA, Pirelli Tire, Parts Unlimited, and White Brothers sponsored series rolled into New Hope, Alabama; he rolled into the lead on his new 03, KX 250 and claimed his second win for the season.

“I wasn’t sure about riding my new bike because I had just gotten it about two days ago,” said Allen. “It’s completely different from last year’s bike, but it’s all for the better.”

Allen got the holeshot and tried to push real hard to pull away but then crashed. He said, “I didn’t loose the lead or anything, but I decided to slow it down a bit because the course was real slick on the first lap, and I didn’t want to take a chance and get hurt.”

On the AA start, there were fourteen riders breaking in the trail for the 474 A, B, and C riders who followed. Allen edged out a clear path with Mike McCrea battling at his side and Dustin Gibson pushing them from the rear. They led the remaining riders on a small grass track and then disappeared into the woods.

Shortly thereafter, it became a Sarge’s Cycles, Pro Action of KY, GPR, and Moose teammates push for the lead as Allen and Gibson raced. They had a twenty second lead from Jeff Cregg by the end of the first lap while McCrea dropped back to fifth place. Gibson rolled into the score tent just seconds behind Allen for the first two laps.

“Dustin followed me for the first lap,” said Allen. “The second lap I pulled away but hit lappers, and he caught back up with me.” At the end of the second lap, Gibson took the lead when Allen made his first gas stop. Allen pushed for the lead once again and regained it four miles later. Then he made the fastest lap times during his last two laps and won the race.

Allen said, “Once I caught up to him, he crashed; I passed him, pulled away, and kind of cruised on from there.”

Riding his KTM 250 EXC, Cycra / Smith / Performance Engineering supported Gibson came in second place. He said, “My suspension was a little stiff because I just got the bike Friday. I thought the motor ran great though, and I really want to thank KTM for hooking me up. I had a great day; I just couldn’t catch P. A.”

Bloomington Power Sports / Team Green / Scott / Lidz by Fid / Acerbis / Captain Cregg sponsored Jeff Cregg was the fourth rider off of the AA start. He said, “I had a decent ride the whole time, but the first three laps were kind of rough.” The track was slick and mostly clear cut so there were a lot of tree stubs that made it dangerous. “I couldn’t get in the groove but finally got to doing better when Froman caught up to me during the third lap.”

With Froman as his incentive to move, Cregg turned it up and caught up to Gibson on the fourth lap. They rode together for a while until Gibson slowly pulled away from him when they ran into some lappers. ” The Indiana State Champion rode a fairly lonely race in third place for all five laps and topped out the podium in third place.

Super Bike Shop / Pirelli / Sprocket Specialists backed Chad Froman and Performance Cycles’ Gary Hendricks came in fourth and fifth place. Froman said, “I think I stayed in fifth and sixth place all day, and I wound up in fourth. I heard Mike Sampson and Gary Hendricks behind me so that made me want to push to stay in front of them. It was a great race and the [NATRA] promoters did a great job at laying out the track.”

In 200A, KTM proved to be the bike of choice among the top five riders. Chris Taylor was the leader of the KTM pack. He was on a roll and took his second win this season. He finished the race in nineteenth place in overall and was a minute ahead of Castle Power Sport’s Derek Bratcher.

Bratcher said, “I was running fourth and fifth for my first two laps. I think other people were having trouble, and I just got around them.” He finished the race in second place.

Clay Hedgpath was one of those riders having trouble. He jumped the creek and went over the bars, dropping him back to last place. Slowly he worked his way back and finished in third place. He said it was a good day and he’ll be back at it again next time.