The following is a press release from the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Series:

Hart Seals the Championship at Hollowpoint

For its second running, the Hollowpoint Hard Enduro returned to Coal Hollow Raceway in Wellsville, Ohio, with a very different personality. The 2025 inaugural edition had been hot, dry and dusty, producing a fast-moving battle in which Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory’s Ryder Leblond, Jordan Ashburn and IRC Beta’s James Flynn traded positions before LeBlond broke free late for the win. Twelve months later, rain early Saturday morning turned the famous Ohio clay slick and treacherous, and although Sunday stayed dry, the course never fully recovered.

That was exactly the sort of challenge promoter and US Hard Enduro Pro Quinn Wentzel had in mind. The 2026 event served as the penultimate round of the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, Presented by IRC Tire, and Round 4 of the AMA East Hard Enduro Series, Presented by Klim, with separate courses built for riders from Pee-Wee through Pro. Familiar Wellsville landmarks returned, including Big Waterfall, 12 Gauge Hill, 20 Gauge Hill and Full Metal Jacket, but the conditions made them feel entirely different.

Saturday belonged to the amateurs, with the B and C racers tackling a 10.5-mile course over two laps and a five-hour limit. The overnight rain had immediately raised the difficulty. Rocks often held usable traction, but the clay between them became polished and unpredictable as traffic increased.

Karsen Fulton mastered that balance better than anyone in the B field, taking the victory in 3:18:31. Fulton, who normally races an 85cc in Supermini A competition with AWRCS but switches to a 300cc for US Hard Enduro, found the surface becoming progressively more difficult.

“The rocks had traction, but the dirt was super slick,” Fulton said. “It was all clay and really bad. It was actually better the first lap, and once it dug down to the roots, it got even worse.”

Cory King finished second, only 2:15 behind Fulton, while Graham Kobak completed the podium.

Kobak called the track “perfect,” praising its balance of creeks, hills and flowing trail even while dealing with a broken footpeg mount and a seat that repeatedly came loose. His description summed up much of the amateur race: when the hills turned greasy, sometimes the best option was to hold the throttle open and hang on.
Saturday afternoon shifted attention to the Pro “Dash for Cash” Prologue, a 30-minute race combining the endurocross track and woods to establish Sunday’s starting order. Red Bull FMF KTM’s Trystan Hart won the prologue ahead of LeBlond, Rocky Mountain Yamaha’s Cody Webb and IRC Beta’s Branden Petrie.
By Sunday morning, Hart already knew what waited in the hills. After walking portions of the course, he compared sections to Romaniacs and Erzberg’s Motorex Highway. His prediction was blunt: simply finishing could become the real contest.
He was right.

The Pro and A riders faced a 13.5-mile, two-lap course with a five-hour limit. Early on, clean air and first choice of lines offered little advantage. Instead, the rider in front often became the one cutting the path for everyone behind.
Hart and Webb spent much of the race together, with Petrie and LeBlond close enough to capitalize whenever the leaders stalled. On the hardest climbs, competition occasionally turned into cooperation. Riders pulled, pushed and steadied one another, and Hart and Webb even teamed up to conquer one particularly difficult section.

“I kind of realized that being in first wasn’t necessarily the best because the line was getting better,” Hart said. “I was happy to be in second a couple of times because Cody was making a line and you could get on it and actually ride it better.  When I was leading, I was having some struggles. I couldn't break away because [Brandon] Petrie honestly was right on us that whole time too. It was much easier to follow, which is not normal. When we’d get to a hard section, we'd have to cut a line in and then it gets easier and easier.”

The second lap reflected that evolution. With the route burned in and usable lines established, Hart estimated it was nearly an hour faster. Even so, Webb remained close deep into the race, while LeBlond recovered from a difficult opening lap and Petrie stayed with the lead group until nutrition problems and cramping began taking their toll.

Webb’s day also included mechanical drama. His jetting was off and the Yamaha ran hot enough that he stopped to add coolant, costing valuable time. Still, he kept Hart within striking distance through the decisive final sections.

“Leading was super tough. The first lap, you're making virgin tracks. I got to a section and didn’t even know what to do. Then I’d try a different line and the bike got stuck and I had to start all over again and I was just like fully defeated after that. The second lap was pretty much impossible.”

Hart eventually finished in 3:40:47, 5:33 ahead of Webb. LeBlond followed in third at 3:48:19, with Petrie fourth and Bullet Proof Design’s Kawelo Huddy fifth. More importantly, the victory clinched the AMA National Hard Enduro Championship for Hart one round early.

“It’s a gnarly race, for sure,” Hart said. “Top five hardest in the world.”

The description represented a sizable shift from 2025. Last year, LeBlond called the dry course one of his favorite tracks of the season and described a tight, position-swapping race against Ashburn and Flynn. This time the same Wellsville hills demanded more cooperation, more patience and far more commitment simply to keep moving.

LeBlond rebounded strongly on lap two after struggling with blown-out lines and fatigue early.

“First lap, I was always like the fourth one into sections and it just got so blown out,” LeBlond said. “I rode really good the second lap; I had such a big gap to close. I hit a wall there like halfway through the first lap.  Second lap, I felt good and would kind of catch Cody, but that last hill is so gnarly and they were using a rope to bring everyone up. They drug Cody up and then by the time I got up, I was like two minutes back and it wasn't really much to the finish.  Overall, happy with how I rode. I stuck with it and didn’t just give in.”

Behind the leaders, that same survival mentality defined the race. Sixth-place Bullet Proof Design’s Ryder Guest described groups stopping to help one another through the worst terrain, while 19-year-old South African Matthew Stevens carried a tow rope that became indispensable when seven riders began pulling each other through one section. Racing in the United States for the first time, Stevens finished tenth and called Hollow Point a major learning experience.

The A race belonged to Makana Barger, who completed both laps in 4:09:48. Like the Pros, Barger benefited from evolving lines and occasional help from other riders while navigating terrain that pushed the class toward its limits.

“It was a gnarly course out there today,” Barger said. “Luckily, Trystan got ahead of me, so then there was a line.”

That sentence captured Hollow Point 2026 better than any finishing sheet could. In Wellsville, the fastest way forward was not always to arrive first. Sometimes it was surviving long enough for the mountain, the mud, and the riders around you to show the way.

The AMA National Hard Enduro Championship finalizes the season with the Tennessee Knockout on August 28-30 at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee.

For full results: www.moto-tally.com/ushe/Results.aspx

Website: www.ushardenduro.com.

Images: AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Series