Couch earns racing honors

Havre resident Gary Couch had a successful year on the AMX auto racing circuit and he has the hardware to prove it.

Couch was named the rookie of the year in Montana AMX association this year in the mini-stock class.

One of his sponsors, Tony Dolphay, said Couch earned 594 out of a possible 600 points this season and finished second to Paul Granot of Lewistown, who scored a perfect 600.

The racing circuit has regular races in Lewistown and Dodson while Havre held its first race this season. Couch hopes that Havre will become a regular race site like Lewistown and Dodson.

"We're trying to get a track up and going in Havre," Couch said. "We're hoping for four races in Havre next year."

Dolphay said that Lewistown has been holding AMX races for 10 years while Dodson has been holding them for five.

"It's a very exciting sport and I think that we can build up that kind of tradition pretty easily," he said.

The AMX season will start back up again next spring with Couch having high hopes.

"I'm excited for next year," he said. "This was my first year in the mini-stock and I'm already to get going again."