HUSQVARNA’S WEEKEND RACE REPORT

May 18, 2014

Rain on Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the Lead Belt National Enduro gave way to ‘perfect’ conditions at the Park Hills venue in Missouri, where Factory Husqvarna’s Andrew DeLong carded a third-place finish. DeLong shared the podium with fellow Husqvarna rider Nick Fahringer, who carded second place overall. A third Husqvarna and another DeLong celebrated a big win at the Lead Belt National Enduro – Craig DeLong was impressive on his way to the AA-Expert overall win and 10th overall.

‘It was an absolutely beautiful place for a race,’ commented Husqvarna Racing Manager Andy Jefferson. ‘I’m really happy with the way Andrew was riding today; he’s really starting to put it together.’

Andrew ran in a strong second place for the first half of the day, and held a 9-second lead over Fahringer going into the fourth test. Unfortunately that’s where the small mistakes started taking their toll on Andrew. A crash in tests four and five saw him slip to third overall, but he minimized the damage and managed to end the day with his FE 350 on the podium.

‘It was great to see two Husqvarnas on the podium today,’ Jefferson continued. ‘Nick and Andrew both rode very well – congratulations to Nick Fahringer and the AirGroup Racing Husqvarna team. We still have a lot of racing left to go this year, and we’re looking to keep this momentum going.’

Lead Belt National Enduro Overall:

1. Charlie Mullins
2. Nick Fahringer (Husqvarna)
3. Andrew DeLong (Husqvarna) 
4. Brad Bakken
5. Jesse Groemm
6. Cory Buttrick
7. Grant Baylor
8. Michael Lafferty
9. Ryder Lafferty (Husqvarna)
10. Craig DeLong (Husqvarna)

PHOTO CAPTION: Team Husqvarna’s Andrew DeLong on his way to a third-place finish at the Lead Belt National Enduro in Park Hills, Missouri. Photo by Shan Moore

Meanwhile, another Factory Husqvarna was hard at work in the hills of Nevada. Jacob Argubright took on ‘The Sawmill Run’ – round 7 of the AMA National Hare and Hound series in Caliente, Nevada. Argubright got out to a poor start, and due to the short duration of the race, ran out of time to get his FC 450 on the podium, and had to settle for fourth.

‘I got a terrible start and after that, it was just a long day in the dust,’ Argubright said. ‘It was super silty the whole day. Through the trees, in the single track it was really bad. I tried to make as many passes as I could, but it was a short race – only two hours.’

Jacob made it into the top-five by the end of the first loop, and continued to push heading into the second loop. He soon found his way into fourth place, but ultimately ran out of time before he could make a run for the podium.

Sawmill Run National Hare & Hound Overall: 

1. Ivan Ramirez
2. Ricky Brabec
3. Nick Burson
4. Jacob Argubright (Husqvarna)
5. Axel Pearson
6. Brandon Prieto
7. Skyler Howes
8. Tallon Taylor
9. Steve Kirk III
10. Morgan Crawford

PHOTO CAPTION: Jacob Argubright collected a fourth-place finish at round 7 of the AMA National Hare & Hound series in Caliente, Nevada. Photo by Mark Kariya