2008 turned out to be very exciting and successful for one Chilton County native.Cliff Ousley has been racing motorcycles for most of his life, but this year he finished the best of his career. Ousley accomplished something that no other person from central Alabama has ever done. All of his racing accomplishments are in addition to the success of graduating from Auburn University in May.

Ousley won first overall in the Southern Enduro Riders Association Enduro Championship Series with two harescrambles still to go. Out of the seven races that points were counted for, he placed first overall in four, second overall in two and received work points from the Perry Mountain Gobbler Getter held on Nov. 2.Ousley is the first SERA competitor from Chilton County to win this overall championship since Terry Seales’ reign from 1979 until 1982 – four consecutive seasons. Ousley wasn’t even born when this occurred. As a matter of fact, Ousley graduated from Maplesville High School in 2002, just two years ahead of Seales’ son, Bradly.

Ousley’s second championship this season was first overall in the SERA Harescramble Championship Series. Ten races were counted for this series, and Ousley overalled 7, placed second overall in two and received work points from the Tri Sanction at Perry Mountain back in January to clinch the championship. Seales probably would have been a high contender for this honor as well, but the series wasn’t in effect that many years ago. The SERA events were held in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas.

Ousley’s third championship of the year was a multiple award in itself. Cliff ventured out and competed in the AMA National Enduro Series. This series consisted of 10 races where all were counted and held in 10 different states including: South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona. The series started on Jan. 27 and concluded Oct. 19. Ousley competed in all 10 of the races. The last race of the season included numerous cacti – Ousley had to remove many needles from his body after he got back to Alabama. Ousley rode his KTM300XC in all three series. Mike Reynolds played a big part in Ousley’s success in all three endeavors to win championships. He provided a way for Ousley to get to all of the races and also went to every event to be his pit crew man. In the National Series, Ousley placed ninth overall, first in Open A and Overall A. The only competitors to finish ahead of him in the nation were National AA riders. The National Awards Banquet will be held at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds on Nov. 22, and the SERA Enduro and Harescramble Banquet will be held Jan. 24 in Choctaw, Miss.Ousley is the son of Charles and Pam Ousley and has one sister, Julie, and one brother, Neal, who is following in his older brother’s footsteps by competing successfully in SERA.