Trail Rider Magazine

BurNt GIN Hare sCraMBle VIDeO suMter eNDurO VIDeO SUMTER WEEKENDS By Jared Bolton The Biggest Winter Racing Weekends In The Southeast eep in the woods of South Carolina, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts known as the Sumter Enduro Riders Motorcycle Association put together not one, but two of the biggest off-road races of the winter in the southeast. However, these aren���t spread out at the beginning and end of the winter, they���re on back-to-back weekends and draw huge turnouts with riders traveling near and far to take part in the races. The first weekend is dedicated to the Burnt Gin Hare Scramble, which for the past few years has served as round 1 of the AMA East National Hare Scramble Series. The following weekend plays host the Sumter Enduro which alternates years as a National and non-National event. This year saw another huge turnout for the events, and the racing action was just as interesting. The Burnt Gin National Hare Scramble started with a bang, literally, as the race traditionally starts the front row with cannon fire. Russell Bobbitt, in his second race aboard his new Husaberg jumped out to the early lead. Charlie Mullins stayed on his rear wheel for the majority of the race and kept Bobbitt honest, while Mike Lafferty made it a 3 person fight for the lead. In fact, those three would be separated by less than a second during several portions of the race. During the opening laps, Kailub Russell and Andrew Delong would battle back and forth for the fourth and fifth place positions while also starting to reel in the lead group, even coming within 5 seconds of Lafferty, which then made it a five person battle for the lead. However, the battle for the overall wouldn���t D 50 Trail Rider be the only positions hard fought for. Rory Mead and Chris Bach battled early in the race for their spot well inside the top 10 while Grant Baylor did his best to stay ahead of them. By the third lap, bad luck began to strike multiple riders has Thad Duvall, Kailub Russell and Rory Mead had all dropped out. As the race wore on this gave more riders the opportunity to work their way up. Chris Bach came from as far behind as eleventh back to fifth, while Yamaha teammates Brad Bakken and Jed Haines also worked their way through the pack. When the white flag flew, Bobbitt made a final stop to top off his tank and would be passed by Mullins, Lafferty and Delong. Mullins would then go into ���Checkout Charlie��� mode that he had become known for in the GNCC series over the years and stretched the overall lead out during the final lap. It was good enough to hold on for the win ahead of Mike Lafferty. Bobbitt charged back the best he could during the final lap and was able to get back in front of Andrew Delong to finish on the podium, which would leave Delong with fourth. Chris Bach held on for fifth but Brad Bakken charged hard at the end and made his way all the way up to Bach���s rear wheel as they came into the finish. Defending East National Hare Scramble champion Jed Haines finished seventh on the day coming from sixteenth on the first lap. Nick Davis would finish eighth ahead of Grant Baylor in ninth while Scott Grills would round out the top 10. The race took its toll on some as not only guys like Duvall, Russell and Mead wouldn���t finish but Jason Thomas ended his day early as well along with Jimmy Jarrett who came back out of retirement (albeit pretty soon after retirement). Nick Fahringer

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