Corona, CA – Husqvarna’s Cory Graffunder returned to the podium this weekend with a second overall at the Funky Chicken AMA National Hare Scrambles. The finish earned him valuable points towards the championship, and with one round left Cory is in prime position to take his first AMA Western Hare Scrambles title.

The day started out well as Graffunder utilized the TXC511 to it’s fullest and easily pulled a gap on the entire pro class into the tightly wooded single track of Elkton, Oregon. But despite his dominant ride, a tangle with a lapper on the last lap would relegate him to second place on the day.

“I felt really good out there today,” Cory said. “I had a brand new 511 and the traction was just incredible. I think I had over a minute lead when I stopped to pit. That lapper took me down on an uphill, and it really bent my rear brake lever bad. I tried to cruise into the finish, but without a rear brake the trees, and roots, and water are really not that easy.”

Graffunder pulled over and made an attempt to fix the brake, unknowingly allowing eventual race winner, Rory Sullivan, to make a pass.

“Rory had a different color number plate, so when he passed me I honestly had no idea he was in my class,” Graffunder lamented. “When I got to the finish and they said, ‘Great job! You finished second,’ that was a major disappointment.”

Graffunder now has a 12-point margin on second in the overall points chase, and is looking to wrap up the title at the sixth and final round of the AMA West Hare Scrambles Series at the Big Sky XC in Montana.

The FAR Husqvarna duo of Andrew DeLong and Nick Davis continued their charge in the National Enduro series this weekend, as well. As the western-most round, the terrain at the Inyan Kara National Enduro in Upton, Wyoming was much dustier and rockier than usual.

Running inside the top ten all day, DeLong did what he could to match the fast times of the leaders. Test four proved to be his best of the day as Andrew posted the fifth-fastest time. Consistency was on his side until a fall on the last special test cost him valuable time, and DeLong went on to settle for seventh overall in Wyoming.

“My TXC310 ran great this weekend but the dust was just really thick in a lot of places,” Andrew explained. “I felt like I rode pretty good today, but there were six guys who rode faster.”

Fellow FAR rider Nick Davis got off to a good start but suffered a major setback in the first test when his front brake line fell victim to the Wyoming brush. Davis struggled to make it through the first test cleanly, officially finishing 21st in the section. Nick went on to improve his pace and ride to a 14th overall finish.

The FAR Husqvarna team returns to racing this weekend at the Snowshoe GNCC. Touted as the most technical round on the circuit, Andrew DeLong hopes to score another overall podium on his TC250.

Cory Graffunder will be back in action in Central, Utah for the seventh round of the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS) where he hopes to gain valuable points in the Pro2 class.

For more information on the entire 2012 Husqvarna line-up, please go to www.husqvarna-motorcyclesna.com. Head to your nearest dealership to pick up a copy of the 2012 RiDE MORE Catalog, available now!