Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126252
I Desert Hotline ~ t Gene Luce leads eventual Novice w inner Chris Gray. J im Payton 112TI is one of seve ra l who are t rying to get t hrough a t ight. squirrelly I!I sandwash. Roeseler cracks Desert Squirrels' hare'n hound By Gary Laudig LUCERNE VALL EY. CA, MAR . 15 Watching the banner through fas tIy fogging goggles , each desert racer knows fu ll well that the clubs use watches that run only half-fast. The banner finally dropped and the history of Nutcracker III sta rted to unfold . Lea di ng the racers to th e uph ill past the bomb -banner was Larry Roeseler (Hus) follow ed 16 by Amateur Don Wallingsford (Ya m) . Bob Doig, Marc Cartwright. Bruce Ogi lvie . Ron Beb o , Seni or Dick Camp and Bill Sa ltzman . The Novi ce . Beg inner start had no visib le problem s as Steve Nelson of So Cal MC led th e " futu re shoes" up the cohby uphill folled hy C ras h Ha rvey. ROll Du ncan was next wit h Sa m Sou le right on h is ta il. O ut on th e course the ra cers had a lready clea red the th ree mile section of ro ugh a rea . vee rin g off into a tight virgin sandwash that took som e nift y hike handling just to sta y on the rubber . Bru ce Ogilv ie moved up from fifth to second in th e nasty stu ff whil e Rutten com ing from a ba d start at twelfth moved in to fifth . Ron Beb o , sort ing out his new 400 Yam dropped ba ck four slots. Larkin W ight held eleventh but th e mover of the d ay was Dwayne Carter com ing fro m 20t h a t the bomb to fourt h at the ca m p rock a rea . Ed Za rp gassed it a nd mov ed fro m ninth to sixth into t he ro llers. J im Brown (Yam) was lead ing Mitch Payton (Hus) in t he C b ike class. T he one loopers looked hap py to be hom e . First ovcr a II Begi nner Ed Bian ch i (,100 Yam ) ca me fro m wav back in the pa ck to ta ke overa ll hon ors. T orstcn Co rum was fi rst tra il at second overa ll, Third ove- ra ll. seco nd Heavyweight was Ed Wa lters. The first 250 was Bob Sm ith. Through th e pit s, Chris Gr av led th e Novi ces. followed by Dave ' Conner. and th en Don Oswald . Fourth Novice. first 175 was Mike T hom pson wh o sta rted dea d last. Everyon e was wondering what ha ppen ed to th e ea rly leader Steve Nel son . Steve go t off a nd hu rt his sho u.lder ma kin g it im possib le to co ntin ue . Roeseler had a good lead a nd knew it. Ogilvi e gave th e 250 Harl ey all she had but he just could n' t m at ch Roesele r's 390 Husky for speed a nd power. Cartwright cou ld n't see Bruce so he go t the ide a he was leading the thing. Carter got off and sta lled his bike costing him more tim e a nd distance. Jay Orendorff. running right behind Carter. really rod e that TT500 of his to th e lim it. He flood ed it on th e start , came through th e pit s seventh ove ra ll a nd was run ni ng fifth heading for home. Dick Camp slac ked up and was ru nni ng 2 1st. At 37th overa ll Chuck Ca rt ledge had a slim lead o n Ch a rli e Ham ill hu t he fai led to show u p on the seco nd loop. T he tra il bike lea d was not iced as Gregg T ho mas had a 12 posit ion lead ove r number two and wasn't a bo ut to trad e . Steve Webb -an d Bob Torgerson were di ci ng for seco nd trail spot a ll a rou nd the seco nd loop . A sma ll p intrail of dust appeared fina lly bringing to view Larry Roeseler tak in g th e overa ll win . Ogilvie cr u ised in shortly a fter th e second overa ll and a cla ss win . The Eri c J ensen Super Cycle jersey ' appeared next with Cartwright in it for third overall . Ed Zarp . who really liked th e course . coa sted in for second heavyweight . fourth overall. Dwayne Carter took third Heavyweight despite all his trouble . Bria n Wright has a thing about third 250 . This makes three in a row , aft er he m oved . from 22nd to ' seventh. Coming in at 11th overall was first Amateur Don Wallingsford . Larkin Wight took second Amateur whil e third -place Wa rren Goodman was back awa ys. J im Brown kept Mit ch Payton in second place in th e 175 class . Ch ecker Bill Eisele boogied in for first 250 Amateur. First wom an into the finish was Dawn Grant. Cherry Sto ckton took second d espite som e prob lems . Second Heavyweight Senior Amateur behind Ogi lvie was Allen Johnson whil e Lee Elias took third . Daughter June Elias out of Ra ceway Cycle took first Women's 250 Am ateu r. T ak ing th e checkered aga in for th e Novi ce-Beg inner rac e was Holida y Honda-sponsored . Novice Chris Gra y. Don Oswald took second over all a nd seco nd 250 . Third overa ll a nd first big bik e was Dave Conner. First girl a nd first 125 Novice rem ained Kelly Wisem an . T he wind and tim e m ad e it impossibl e for fu rther results. Most of th e riders reall y liked th e course but th ey wa nt mor e hills a nd tight stuff. T he m a rk ing was goo d in spite of Hu rrican e Sq uirrel, T he d eterm ination tro p hy of the week has to go to Carl Fj ast ad of th e Invaders.T he banner dropped wh ile he was handing t he . lady his money. In case some of you look ed in th e sky during the ra ce and noticed an airplane , th e gu y in it was Mitch Ma yes. checkin' things out. Results OPEN EX: 1. Larry Roeseler, 2. Ed Zarp. 3. Dwayne Carter. OPEN AM: 1. Don Wallingsf ord , 2. Larkin Wigh t, 3. Warren Good ma n. OPEN SR EX: 1. Dick Camp, 2. Vern Darland . EX DIV I: 1. Fruce Og ilvis , 2. Marc Cartwrigh t . 3. Brian Wrigh t . EX DIV ' II: 1. Jim Brown, 2. Mitch Payton , 3. Bill Eisele. AM DIV I: 1. Jo hn To bin, 2. Don Brand .Jr., 3. Russ Jones. . AM DIV II: I. Phil Gorgon e, 2. Russell w oormo re. 3. Chuc k Peart TRA IL EX: 1. Charhe Ham ill , 2. Steve W ebb , 3. Bob Torgerson . TRAIL AM : 1. Greg Thomas. 2. Ken Dodd , 3. J uan Benavid ez. TRAil SR EX: 1. David Doney . DIV II EX W.O.: 1. Dawn Grant. 2. Cherry Stockton. OIV II NOV W .O.: 1. Kaly Wise man.