Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• " ".·.·"".": · ••• v • ~·.v.· =Desert Hotline ·.v ....".· ·.·".·".., ".v, ·.·".v ·....,. v · ,......,. ....,. " ". ~ t 0') t"O') ~ Thumper fl ight dur ing the CRC Bobcat enduro. Ti m Fitz pat ri ck cru ises along above the Sled Ride rs course. . Ogilvie takes·Sled Riders D·37 hare scrambles By Joyce May LUCERNE VALLEY , CA,JAN. 14 Yamaha-mounted Bruce Ogilvie. in unfamiliar Yamaha garb. motored to a smooth victory at the Sled Riders AMA D-37 hare scrambles on a YZ400 provided by Dale's Modern Cycle of San Bernardino. Abandoning the 250cc class and his 11x plate, Bruce, riding behind Open class 1616 with partial sponsorship coming from Bel-Ray Oil, proved to all , that given the horsepower, he was indeed a rider to be reckoned with. The first race of the new calendar year was · well attended with 427 official entries. Such well-knowns as Larry Roeseler and Bob Balentine were conspicuous by their absence, however. Br e n t Wallingsford and A .C. Bakken , having re turned to the desert as "observers" only, were sure they saw Roeseler at sign-up, but, instead, it was Barstow's Max Eddy decked out in his new Husky garb . The banner dropped on time at the Annual Larry Pfutzenreuter Memorial race and it was a " zoo" as the Amateurs and Experts scrambled for position as they headed for the bomb. - vi had alread moved into the lead as he zeroed in on the trail behind the bomb. Morgan Ma locco moved in behind Ogilvie while Amateur speedster Rich Zajic took over the third spot. The Novice class start was huge , making the job of spotting the leaders at the bomb almost an impossibility, Without the new list of earned numbers and riders from the District stewards, identifying these leaders was totally hopeless. . Numbers 121, 85 , and 206 were the first heavyweights followed by 115c (first Division 11 Novice) and 372x (first Division 1 Novice). Tenth past the bomb was 266c, first Beginner. The loop laid out by the sponsoring club was a tough one, much like the ones used in the better days of District desert racing four or five years ago before road-racing courses became the "in" thing . The course was long, over 45 miles, with more rocks than seen in the past three races put together; but the real challenge was there , exciting the serious racer -a nd forcing him to muster up muc h of the ta lent he had allowed to lie dormant. Two-thirds t he way around the first loop Ogilvie was already stretching his lead with J. D. Engineering's Brian Wright, holding down the second spot, first 250cc , and extending a lead of his own over the third and fourth places. Malocco's luck was bad for the first race as he didn't even cover half of the first loop before his frame broke. Into the pits off the loop came _ Ogi lvie with Wright only two minutes behind. Open Expert Mike Sixberry was in the third spot , even though he had crashed quite undignified in the rocks about 15 miles out. Kern Park, celebrating his birthday the day before, was next 250cc Expert into the pits, running second in his dass . Zajic had dropped back to the seventh spot, but was still first 250cc Amateur. Amateur Eric MacCracken came flying through in his usual "wild" manner in the first Open Amateur position with the next Open Amateur many, many bikes behind him . The real battle of the first loop had been between Rick Schumaker and class leader Charlie Hamill . They exchanged positions numerous times with Schum a ker coming in for gas ahead of Hamill . An aheim Husky's bid for fame, Max Eddy, had gotten a good start off the line, but he just couldn't seem to get any power out of his machine. By the time he reached the bomb he was back in the pack. The longer the bike ran, however , the better it began to perform, so he started making his charge up through the ranks, moving into the "teens" as he came in for gas . As time and riders went by it soon became apparent that Yamaha sponsored 250cc rider Chuck Miller must have had trouble. He had gotten a flat and then lost too many spokes to go on racing any further. Number 0155 was first Senior into the pits running 25th overall. In the 29th spot was first Trail Expert Cliff Thomas. Trudy Beck was first gal in for gas. She had a continual battle with Den nis Ashcraft who had been de ad last at the bom b . Craig Freeman had moved up through the crowd on the first loop a nd had taken over the overall Novice lead, but was being pushed by ' 279x. Beca use the loop was so lengthy Ogi lvie ha d on ly a few stragglers to pass on his second trip around until just a short dista nce from the finish . He took the checkered with a three minute lead over Palmdale's pride, Brian Wright. Turning in probably the most remarkable performance of them all was Eddy who crossed the finish in the third spot. . . . . . . .liIiiIiiiiiirirriil , I I •• The top three had left the rest of the field far , far behind. Kern Park didn't complain at all over a fourth overall, third 250cc finish. Bill Saltzman was next, followed in the sixth slot by Hesperia's MacCracken. Zajic slid in seventh overall, first Amateur 250cc. Schumaker pushed hard the entire second loop, thinking Hamill was behind him , breathing down his neck and never knowing that Hamill had dropped out with a flat. Back after a long absence was super fast Mike Lewellyn finishing ninth oveall, second Amateur 250cc. In the 11th slot was second "C" Expert bike piloted by Chris Austin. First "C" Amateur honors went to Kent Pfeiffer. Harry Cantrall (0 17c) stood mos t of th e last part of the race as a fall had "customized" his bike to the extreme, dropping at least 30 to 40 pounds off the bike . The frame had broken just as cleanly on both sides as if Harry had taken a saw to it. The entire rear portion of the frame behind the shock was gone. along with the seat! Trudy took first Expert gal honors, while Lori Farmer captured the first Amateur gal spot. Craig Freeman hung onto the first place position in the Novice class all the way to the finish with 127 9x staying right with him and taking the second place honors. Riding in the Beginner class behind a pie plate was Rick Sowma from Long Beach on a 250cc Yamaha. His lead over the next Beginner was quite no ticeable making it q uestiona ble how long he'll ride pie plate Begin ner. First District Beginner honors and poin ts went to "C" bike rider Mike Pu rm er. The Begin ner class continues to be dominated by the "C" bikes as Ed Ho uston and Ga ry Artis were next overall Beginner riders to tak e the checkered. T he Larry Pfutzenreu ter Perpetual Trophy went to Ogilvie while a new trophy given in honor of Dave Doney by Dirt Explosion and Co lor Action Photo will perpetually go to the oldest finisher of this race . This year Bill Bisco, 62 , of the Prospectors, ea rne this award on his 250cc Bultaco, Big Piney, WY , resident Ken Guio, 53, made one of his numerous journe -..,;,,;,,,.

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