Raleigh, North Carolina — One of the most accomplished men in off road racing, Scot Harden, will be taking two wheels to the dirt and gravel this fall in upstate New York. September 19 and 20 will find Harden racing at the Black River Stages Rally based in Lewis County. No stranger to running in the most difficult of conditions, Harden will race well into the night against the series regulars on his Husqvarna 510.

Harden's resume reads like a dream list of racing events. He has won the Baja 1000 overall, the Baja 500, and is a SCORE overall champion. Successful trips to the Dakar Rally, both as a racer and manager, are under his belt. A national motorcycle enduro champion and Best in the Desert champion, Harden was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2008. Currently he is the National Sales and Marketing Manager of Husqvarna Motorcycles North America.

Bobby Wooldridge, from the BMW/Ducati/Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta dealership in Georgia, will be supplying the vehicles and infrastructure to support Harden during the event. Wooldridge, who competed at Black River Stages last year, reports that planning for schedules, bikes, and spares began months before the event. Last year's second overall finish gives Wooldridge plenty of experience to start the setup and tuning of the bikes.

Defending winner Mike Gilkey is very excited for the chance to go bar-to-bar with Harden. Gilkey, a former pro racer who previously toured Europe racing flat track events, could barely get out a �Wow!� when told that Harden would be at the start line with him. �You always want to race against the best.� said Gilkey.

The format of the race, sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport, will be familiar to Harden, who has raced in a wide variety of rallies. Multiple racing sections, each called a 'stage', are connected by 'transit' sections. The stages are closed gravel roads with flat out, full speed racing. The transits are on open public roads, where the street-legal motorcycles are given plenty of time to leisurely make their way to the next closed, timed racing section.

Spectators wanting to come out and see the legend race should get more information at BlackRiverStages.com. There will also be time to meet the riders just before the racing starts on Saturday at the American Maple Museum in Croghan, NY.

Note to Editors:

• Black River Stages is the finale for the Atlantic RallyMoto(tm) Cup
• The event is sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport http://www.nasarallysport.com
• More information is available at http://www.blackriverstages.com
• Pictures from the 2008 Black River Stages Rally are available at http://www.blackriverstages.com/2008/pictures.php
• For media support contact Amy Feistel, 919.434.3267, [email protected]