Wild Boar was drier than normal this year. Although the dust wasn’t bad, many of the normal mudholes were dried up, and I would argue there was nowhere on the youth course where it was really possible to get stuck. Usually the heat and humidity prove to be a major obstacle as well, but this year the mostly overcast skies and temperatures in the low sixties were a relief for many. Out of the 74 riders in the youth ATV Race, Nicholas Dearing was the overall winner, while Khyler Davis took the overall win in the 32-rider micro ATV race.

In YXC1, Nicholas Dearing took an early lead and never looked back. He slowly extended his lead with each passing lap, and then gained even more time over the last two laps. He would eventually end the day with two and a half minutes over second place Charlie Stewart, who in turn had about the same margin over third place Connor Walker. Dearing’s win was enough to move him into the lead in the points standings, with Stewart and Walker in second and third respectively. When asked about his race, Dearing said “I was nervous coming into this race because I’ve never rode in the sand before. But once I heard the ten seconds call I knew it was time to put my head down and ride my race. And it paid off for me!”

Despite a rough start to the race and coming through the scoring zone on lap one in seventh place, Ty McGaughey took home his second YXC2 win in two races. By the time they were going out on the last lap, he had worked his way into second place, within striking distance of the leader. Bryson Lee had led the race for the entire day, and McGaughey was barely able to snatch the win – Lee lost by a mere ten seconds. Third place Harrison Lindsey had an even rougher start to the race than McGaughey did, working his way up to a podium position after being as far back as fifteenth early in the race.  When asked about his race, McGaughey told us “I had a pretty bad start but was able to past most people before we got to the woods. I put my head down and made my way up to second. On the last lap with a mile to go I passed first place and won! The track was very rough and fun."

The overall non-YXC rider in the ATV youth race was Caden Johnson (YAM), racing in the 125 SR (12-15) class. He placed 15th overall.

Bodie Buckhannon put in a strong ride in MXC1, leading for all but the final lap. Current points leader Khyler Davis was able to make up time on the final two laps, but the race was incredibly close – at the end of the day the two riders were separated by less that two-tenths of a second. Falyn Holcomb rounded out the podium in third place. When asked about her race, Davis told us “I am super excited to win the first two races, it takes some of the pressure off. I liked the track, but only where I could make passes. The ruts made it more of a challenged because if you didn’t stay on the gas you’d get stuck.”

In MXC2, Kody Buckhannon took home his second win of the year. Tyler McLaughlin started out in the lead, with Buckhannon in second and Noah Solcum in third. For the first two laps the riders were neck and neck but held their positions. On lap three, McLaughlin encountered some problems that dropped him back to third, which is where he would finish the race, moving Kody into the lead and Solcum up to second. When asked about his race, Buckhannon said “The track was really rough and it was hard to make passes. But I had a great time and found some lines to take the win!”

The overall non-MXC rider in the Micro ATV race was Ryder McCormick (HON) racing in the 90 Stock (8-9) class. He finished 3rd overall.