Blais Racing Conquers National Hare and Hound Round 6

By: Ben Meza, 250A (12th Overall)

Utah is one of my favorite places to race! Last year I got a 12th O/A finish there so I was really looking forward to going back!

We headed out to Jericho on Friday. We left my Apple Valley home at an early 4:am. Luckily I slept all the way until we reached St. George for a little tour of Fasst Company headquarters. After a little lunch we finished the trek up to the staging area.

 Ben Meza on his way to 12th Overall on his Blais Racing KTM 250XC. Photo by Kato

We arrived in the late afternoon and I got straight to testing on my Blais Racing bike! After some final adjustments and some good grub we decided to call it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up and slowly prepared for the 12:pm start. I went to check out the start and found myself a pretty good line.

Before no time it was time to start. All three of the Blais riders in
representation were lined up on the far left, myself, Brendan, and Skyler. When the banner dropped we were off! I got a decent jump but quickly worked my way up to the front directly behind Skyler. I followed Skyler on the far outside and we made our way to the end. Unfortunately the rest of the riders cut in on the left and caused us to be sitting in a terrible position.

I knew I had my work cut out for me and got into my groove. The first loop was extremely dusty. Luckily my NoToil air filter kept my bike running great! I made up a ton of positions and when I came through the pits I was informed that I was sitting in a solid 14th Overall! Thanks to Bundy, Boe, Patty, and my dad I was out of the pit in no time! I came out of the pit with one thought in mind…. Top 10!

After the pit I stayed on the gas and railed through the sandy section at the beginning of the loop! This is by far my favorite style of racing and with a more aggressive “moto style” of riding, I pushed myself to get past a rider.

The second half of the loop was waaaay wore technical then the prior. The technical style was really relaxing and once I got in my flow I worked my way by another rider. I put my head down and put in a charge!

I came into the finish line right behind Axel Pearson to claim a 12th Overall to match my finish the year before! I also got a 4th Place in my class. I’m really happy to be able to claim my best finish of the year.

Every round I have felt really good with myself and that my training is paying off. I’m slowly increasing in speed and stamina and can’t wait to see how it plays out for me. If it weren’t for everyone behind me none of this would be possible, thanks to Blais Racing, Fasst Company, ESR Suspension, Race Tech, NoToil, FreeGun, Dirt Tricks, KTM, Troy Lee Designs, FMF, Bullet Proof
Designs, BRP, A’ME, Fastway PMB, Kenda Tires, Cyromax, Muscle Milk, Acerbis, Alpinestars, Scott Goggles, Asterisk, my parents, my girlfriend, my club HBMC, and of course I give all the glory to The Lord. Thanks everyone for the continued support at every race I do!

By: Skyler Howes, Pro (17th Overall)

We were able to arrive at the Sage Riders pits in Jericho, UT Friday afternoon, just in time to get a little riding in to test out the bike and head over to the autograph signing! I was stoked to see how many people came out to support the event! After a delicious custom cooked meal by Don Meza, we all climbed into bed and got some rest.

 Skyler Howes on his Blais Racing/TLD Kenda/ Bike Week Radio/ KTM 300XC

Race morning came and the Minis were up first! I headed over to the line to make sure Braydon’s line was all dialed and free of any logs. The banner dropped, Braydon and Austin Phillips were in a mad dash for the holeshot. Braydon was able to edge out Austin at the ditch and take over the lead! He had a gnarly battle that race and would end up 2nd. Pee Wee rider Cole Timboe rode another awesome race, crazy how fast that kid already is on a peewee!

The bomb run finally opened for some pre-running. I geared up and headed over to the sand dune start. After running a few laps around, I figured the far right would be a good option, it was longer by swinging wide but it was so much less choppy to save some energy and play it safe.

The banner went up, dropped and we all took off! I got an awesome jump right next to both my teammates Brendan Crow and Ben Meza. We were all heading for the same line and ended up getting on it 1,2 and 3. By the second set of banners I figured I was just inside the top 5! I kept it pinned and stayed right on the ribbon. What a huge mistake that was! I looked to the left and everyone had stayed right on the bomb return line which was a road compared to what I was on! By the time I came to the 3rd set of banners I had dropped somewhere into the top 30. I put the hammer down knowing that today would be all about survival and making passes through the dust. By about mile 10 I had already made my way back almost to the top ten, somewhere around 12th. Heading through a tight wash, I pulled in the clutch coming through a corner and the lever popped. The lever flopped around, meaning I had no use of it! I couldn’t figure out what had happened, the line and everything was good except the lever was floppy! I decided to just continue to run it. I had to slow a lot so I didn’t dominate myself into some trees.

Axel Pearson was the first to catch me and slowly one by one all the people I had just passed came back by me. I actually got in the hang of riding without the clutch and figured out how to keep my pace up. I actually battled a little with my teammates! Into the alternate gas check, I stopped Brendan to tell him my clutch wasn’t working in hopes he would get to the pits soon enough for them to possibly have something ready. At almost every road crossing and check I did the same pointing down so someone could possibly relay on the message. It worked too! A local was at a road crossing and headed back to find my pits and let them know my clutch was out! Thanks! I made my way into the pits after only stalling it just a couple of times. I was in 25th when I came through home check.

When I stopped, Don, Bundy, my dad, Bo and the rest of the Blais Racing crew jumped right on to help get that fixed! I got a drink of water, a little energy food and wiped my face off. They had that clutch fixed in no time! It ended up that the little spring tensioned pin in the master cylinder had just popped out! I re saddled and left the pits in the top 40ish. I took the “taco” route and pinned it! Immediately I was able to start picking people off. The dust made things tough and I had to be really patient. Thanks to EKS brand goggles, there was no dirt in my eye! Mostly everyone was really cool about passing. I would come up quick, rev my bike and they would all quickly move over, thanks everyone for that! There were a few others that tried to battle and it made it really tough to see with all the crazy dust. I had some hairy moments but I was able to push through and keep picking people off one by one.

I was feeling good! Flowing through the trees and washes. My Kenda tires hooked up so good in the Utah terrain and ESR has my RaceTech suspension working prime! Not to mention that I feel like I have the most crisp running KTM 300XC on the market thanks to Blais Racing Services.

The second loop was much more rough than the first! There was a lot of gnarly deep whoops, I didn’t think anywhere could have worse whoops than Lucerne haha! I felt strong, my Flexx Handlebars were keeping me relaxed and my Fastway System 5 steering damper kept me straight and true! I kept charging and noticing that I was catching the same riders again that I passed off of the start, meaning I was right around where I was before my mechanical! This gave me more motivation to keep it pinned! I caught Steven Kirk at the second alternate gas, we left about the same time, I almost hit a tree and we banged bars for a second, it was fun! Sageriders definitely put in the work for a great course it was extremely well marked. I came back up to Paul Krause, he put up a good fight and I eventually got around him, he was my last pass of the day! I pinned it but ultimately couldn’t grab the next position. I came through the finish line in 17th overall.

For all of the events that happened, I really was pretty stoked on getting some points and finishing in the Top 20. Congrats to my teammate Ben for grabbing 12th overall! I sure was beat, the course was fun but brutal, it took a toll on a lot of riders! I am so thankful to have the team that I do to make it possible to shred these races! All my sponsors as well Blais Racing Services, Fasst Company, KTM, ESR suspension, Race Tech, RAD Mfg, Freegun, AMS OIL, Alpinestars, Kenda, Pro Moto Billet, Fastway, FMF, Rekluse, HBD Motografx, Regina, TLD, BRP, Bullet Proof, DirtTricks, Eline, IMS, No Toil, Acerbis, Muscle Milk, Xbrand Goggles, A’ME Grips, RMOR FX and Bike Week Radio.

By: Brendan Crow, Open A (24th Overall)

For Round 6 of the NHHA series, we ventured our way to the Utah desert. Leading up to the race I was really relaxed, which wasn’t entirely normal for the Utah National. Utah has always been one of the tougher races for me, and that has always lingered in the back of my mind. On the drive up Friday, a few of us from the Blais team stopped by Fasst Company (best bars on the planet!), then had a nice lunch break in town afterwards. We would then finish the journey and make it out to the race site in time to do a small amount of prep work for the bikes, and enjoy an amazing pre-race dinner. With the start not scheduled until noon on Saturday, we had a lot of time in the morning to get ready and let the nerves build.

Brendan Crow after the dusty Sageriders National Hare and Hound

The start was typical for this race: sandy, rough, and wacky! Getting a good start would require some creative line choice, and through the end of the bomb I had a decent start and was somewhere in the Top 20. The first loop I did my best to maintain positions, and by the end of the first loop I had begun to start and feel mentally drained. With the noon start I neglected to fuel my body properly and only had a small breakfast. This combined with the strange Utah heat completely drained my focus and left me scrambling on the second loop. I did my best to try and push through this mental block, but I was making mistakes and decided to play it safe and make it to the finish. I lost several positions and am disappointed in how I rode, but I made it back safe and will be ready for the next race!

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