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Chris Egress (816), grabs the A Class holeshot!

Deep Creek, MD - The AMA D5 Hare Scramble Series made a stop near Deep Creek Lake in Maryland on Sunday for round nine of the series and round 2 of the D5 state championship series. Overcast skies had the racers preparing for the mud but hoping for the best. This was a virgin track for the riders that was laid out on about 160 acres. The track ended up being around 3 miles of tight technical eastern woods. With the drop of the flag, Chris Egress grabbed the lead to the first turn with a host of Brennon Loftin, Corey Arbogast, Ryan Echols and Shane Lawson on his tail. The first ¼ mile of the track was a GP style grass track that was great for fans to view the racing. By the time the pack hit the woods, Egress and Echols were one and two. With the rain coming down, Egress emerged from the woods after the first lap with Echols on his tail.

One of the hardest parts of the track was the the last mud hole/hill before the barrels. It provided a great spot for race fans to get in on the action and also stay under the trees and out of the rain! Echols and Egress battled for the first few laps but eventually Echols separated himself and took the overall. Echols commented on the track in the post race interview with Roy Dains. “For as long as they had to make it, it was a really good track. I liked it being tight like that out there and a lot of rocks.” The obstacle before the barrels had riders guessing which line to take, even the leaders! “A couple of times I couldn’t make up my mind on which way I wanted to go, but I ended up going over the steep part of it. I know I wasn’t going to be able to do it every time, but I was going to try until I wrecked and then try the easy line”, Echols said.

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Overall Winner
Ryan Echols

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Chris Egress powered his way
to 2nd Overall/Open A

Echols has been putting major hours in on his Yamaha and got some special help this week with a bike. “Been riding about 40 hours a week on my bike and the sprockets are about shot on it so my cousin let me ride his bike today and I want to thank him for letting me come out and ride it” Chris Egress grabbed second Overall/Open A and had a great day. Egress was consistently holding off riders trying to catch him meanwhile trying to make time on Echols. “It was a good race, nice track, I was just battling. Going as hard as I could, it was a lot of fun. I had a heck of a pit crew going on. I had to keep changing goggles. By the end of the day the track only got worse, the last lap was real slick.”

Slick was an understatement as the rain fell for the last hour of the race. The last spot on the podium finally went to Brennon Loftin. Loftin has been fast all year, but has also has had his share of bad luck. The bad luck ended as the Elkins, WV native charged hard on the last lap to pass Corey Arbogast and take 3rd Overall/Open A. Loftin talks about his lack of traction after the race. “I tell you what, I couldn’t get traction today. I was running used tires and just did the best I could to keep on two wheels. I stopped for probably two minutes trying to get my side casing on and then Corey caught me and I was just pushing a little bit. He got behind me and I took a different line on a hill and wrecked and he got by me.”

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A last lap pass on Corey Arbogast gave Brennon Loftin
3rd Overall/Open A