Lafferty Lands Triple

Maplesville, AL, Jan, 9

Like clockwork, the Mid-South, SERA, and SETRA racers gathered in Reynold’s Pasture for their Triple Sanctioned event in Maplesville, Alabama. Likewise, so did some of the top names in national racing. Among them were Mike Lafferty and Barry Hawk. They seemed to have one thing on their minds, Texas, and round seven of the Mid-South Hare Scrambles Series was one more chance to dial in bikes and get some good practice time in for the up coming GNCC season. With that in mind, it was a Southeast Cross Country Shoot Out with 805 riders on the starting line.

No one wicked it up any better than Mike Lafferty. He rode strong and hard until the end. He, Barry Hawk, and Randy Hawkins were among the 28 riders in the AA class line-up, and no one out performed the KTM / Hart Equipment / Thor / Michelin / Enduro Engineering sponsored Lafferty. He rode to win and had the blisters to prove it.

He said, "Off the start, I didn’t get a very good jump, but I worked my way up to about seventh place and continued to pass a few guys. When I reached the end of the first lap, they said I was in second [behind Hawk], so I kept charging from there and got a little loosened up after I got gas."

Off the start, KTM mounted Andy Shea got the holeshot and took a big lead on Charles Mullins, Hawk and Hawkins. Shea and Mullins dropped back and then Hawk took over and continued his lead until the last lap when he tangled with a lapper, giving Lafferty the win.

"I think I got the lead about the three mile marker and after that I just kept hammering," said Hawk. "I thought it would really be a good chance to get a good lead. About the two lap mark, my hand started getting really sore. I thought, I could keep this up to keep my lead, or back it down and let someone catch up to me and worry about it then."

Unfortunately for Hawk, he chose the latter, and that’s what happened. He backed it down, and Lafferty caught up, just waiting for his chance. It came when Hawk fell over a lapped rider. Lafferty maneuvered into first place in Overall, and Yamaha / MSR / FMF / Factory Connection / Smith backed Hawk took second.

Meanwhile, the regional riders were plugging away, trying their best to keep up with the Pros. Am/Pro Yamaha / Bridgestone supported Charles Mullins kicked it into high gear and did just that. The Mid-South rider mostly battled with Lafferty and Hawkins during his third lap. After making a mistake, he fell back but savored a podium finish in third place. Sarge’s Cycles / Fox sponsored Dustin Gibson flew into fourth place while SETRA’s Champion, Stephen Edmonson, finished in fifth place.

Mullins said, "This was a fun race, but it was real tough."

"It was a typical Maplesville event," said Senior B winner, Tom Farmer. ‘It was a great event."

Due to high turnouts, the Mid-South officials had to rethink the two day event schedule. They decided to try it, and it was a success. The riders especially liked it because it was less crowded on the 12 mile course.