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/126292
(Desert from pag e I J)
The checkered unfurled for Eric
McCracken, a very fin e d esert racer ,
Bill Mossm an was next , seco nd Open ,
Brian Charters th ird , first 250 ,
The race was long, ru gged , and
rewarding , It seemed th e "T rue grit" .
des ert ra cers showed up for this one as
th e complaints were a lm ost zer o. The
flashba ck a ward g oe s t o Co rd is
Brooks r iding a Le cki ch Yamaha
Trailbike a rou nd 10th overall , befo re
breaking on th e sec ond loop. T he
congratula tions aw ard goes to John
Prater, Jr. who finall y ca ug h t th e
elusive first 250 Expert spot after
comi ng so close a ll yea r long . The
det ermination/heartbreak trophy goes
to Steve Wi seman a nd Mike Lewell yn .
Steve worked his way up from a .n asty
start and was about 100 ya rds behi nd
Mik e a mil e from t he fin ish . Mike
cr a sh ed an d Steve to ok first C
Amateur.
Mitch Payton got out of the hospital
today and guess wh er e he went - to
the Dez where h e wa s constantl y
surrounded
with
wellwishers
throughout th e ra ce . Mit ch took the
number one plate in the C class,
despite his injury .
.
It 's been a long yea r of racing, but
on e I'll n ever forget. My first story was just abou t as scary as th e boot camp
shot lin e. T he fri end s and events th at
oc curred I wouldn't ' trade for a
million. Thanks to th e In vaders a nd
Pack Rats for repla cing m y helmet
plus a bag , th e Sled R iders towing in
and fixing my bik e plus replaci ng m y
gloves with JTs, th e Desert Fox es wh o
gave me a trophy for " A job well
done ," a ll of this just ca n't be put into
words; the thanks 1 feel for a ll th e folks
of the d esert.
I would like to la y th is poem on you
wh ich 1 th ink sums up a ll of our
feelings of th e past yea r . It sure isn' t a
Frost classic but it's what 1 feel is right
for th is time of yea r .
It 's the night before Christmas and
time to reflect on th e season of racing
this year. Th e tr ee has been tri,:,med ,
the bik es put away , along unth. the
helmets and gear.
N estled cozy and warm in th eir
favorite chair with a glass of . th eir
Christmas Eve cheer, th e racers reflect
on t he season just past , some smile
while some shed a tear.
_
The races were varied th roughout the
long season, some good ones, some
bad ones and such. But we th ink of th e
p eople who com e to the desert, th e
on es that we caref or so much.
For the p eople who come to th e desert
to race come in pickup, mo torhome
and van . T he reason th ey 're different
from everyday folk , they have love fo r
th eirf ellow man.
And no body kn ows this bett er. than I,
the one who writ es of your deeds. For
't he' p ict u res and space send th e
Claytons you r thanks, fo r lett ing me
f ulfill your needs.
So wz'th one fina l t hought as I t urn ou t
t he lig ht k now ing Christmas is
dra win g so ' ne ar . I wis h yo u t h e
happiest of holida ys, and a g reat
racing season next year.
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