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/126456
Desert Hotline o 00 0') IAbove) Chris Howard. first 250cc Expert. sails through the Nevada air. IBeIow) Kevin Welch led before mechanical troubles. distance for the class lead with the roughest sections of the course yet to come. Harden passed Davis on a road and motored to the checkered unmolested. Davis was in too much pain to battle for the lead, and could barely hang on to the bike enroute to his second place finish. Welch garnered third overall, and keeps looking better every race. Howard, now hampered by a flat front tire as well. was scraping plastic with Avels for fourth overall through the last 50 miles. Avels made a last· ditch effort to pass Howard and crashed in the last ditch before the finish. Howard cruised in for fourth overall, first 250cc Expert. In full view of the spectators, Avels tried in vain to free his scooter which was jackknifed in the ravine. Finally his pit crew went out and got him going, but not before Ahlstrom pushed by for a gift fifth overall and a hard-earned second 250cc Expert. Avels finished sixth. fourth Open Expert. Husky·mounted Chuck Rush left Benny Brown behind and finished seventh overall, tbird 25Occ. Anthony Pasqualotto came from obscurity to eighth overall on his Vegas Cycle Maico 400. Sid Tarbett finished ninth overall and dropped Benny Brown and Bobby Davidson to 10th and 11th overall, respectively. Sam Bass took another sip from the fountain of youth and pushed by Over 50 class winner Chuck Grimsely at the finish.for 12th overall, first Over 58. Vegas Cycle owner Bill finiShed 16th overall. second in the Over 50 class. and won the motorcycle shop owner's bragging rights as he finished one spot ahead of Sportsman Cycle's Casey Folks. Mel Chapman flogged his Suzuki RM all the way to finish 28th overall. first 125cc Expert. Danny Anderson was first Amateur, finishing 25th overall on a 250cc Husky. And in only his second race, Bob Sweet took the overall Novice win, finishing 45th overall on his 250cc Husky. Results Harden charges to MRANwin By Or. Gonzo KANE SPRINGS. NV,JAN, 27 Team Husky/Sportsman Cycle rider Scot Harden made it three in a row with a come-frombehind win in the I IO-mile Mo- 22 torcycle Racing Association of Nevada hare and hound put on by the Charg· ers West M.C. The win didn't come easy for Harden as he had to overhaul Maico West/Vegas Cycle-sponsored Kevin Davis 20 miles from the finish. Davis showed a lot of heart by lead· ing nearly the entire race despite a cut· cast that wore painfu I grooves in his throllie hand. Kevin broke his wrist two weeks ago while dicing with Harden for the lead in the Moapa to Vegas race. When the banner dropped "Cousin" Chris Howard hammered tbe holeshot on his Team Valley Cycle YZ 25OG. "Cousin" stayed on the gas and in the lead until the course jumped out of a sandwash and on to some bumpy cross grain that caught him off guard. result· ing in a spectacular sixth·gear endo. Kevin Welch too!!. over the lead on the Can:Am Support Can·Am 570, with Davis' 440cc Maico Megaform and Harden's Husky 590 CR in hot pursuit. Howard collected himself and was running fourth. Jamie Avels of 29 Palms, CA, brought his YZ 465G around next fol· lowed by second 250cc Rod Ahlstrom (Hon). Sam Bass pitted his Sportsman Cycle Husky 590 CR in seventh, first over 58. As the leaders pitted, Howard jetted through without stopping and retook the lead. They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but don't tell that to Chris as he crashed again on the same bump that bailed him on the first loop. Welch regained the lead but his pipe came adrift and Davis and Harden stormed by. Davis led by two minutes at gas two, but at gas three, the lead was cut by Harden to only 15 seconds. Welch reo mained in third while Howard. Avels and Ahlstrom pitted within seconds of each other. Howard exited first but his rear tire was flat and "Super Swede" Ahlstrom was in definite striking OPEN EX: 1. Scot Harden IHusl: 2. Kevin Davis lMaI: 3. Kevin Weld1IC·AI. OPEN AM: 1. Sheldon Otto IYern': 2. Jeff _hint (Yern': 3. Kevin Colan (Husl. OPEN NOV: 1. Tom Mamilla (Husl: 2. Ihel Caton (Yern': 3. TIm ~ IHUIl. 250 EX: 1. Chris _ (Yern': 2. R o d _ CHen,: 3. Chuck Rush CHusl. 250 AM: 1. Danny _ _ CHuaI: 2. Bob l.ouer CHusl: 3. Oon O'KuIy CHusl. 250 NOV: 1. Bob S _ (HUll: 2. _ _ (Yern': 3. Gary Pr_ CHusl. 125 EX: 1. Mel a-- (Suzl: 2. Mike Welch fC·AI. 125 AM: 1. BiHy Hill (SUlI: 2. ScxJn _ 1Suz': 3. Floyd Bredley CHusl. 125 NOV: 1. 0INe _ (Hen,: 2. Bob ClerIt (Yernl; 3. Len 0eIIis (Yam'. OVER 30 EX: 1. Chuck GrimsIev CHUIl: 2. Bill Hin CMaI: 3. Ceoey Folks (Husl. OVER 30 AM: 1. Chris T"".. (Yern'. OVER 30 NOV: 1. _ White (Yern': 2. Roger Hudec CKawI: 3. ~ SiIIon (Yernl. OVER 3B EX: 1. Sem _ CHuIl: 2. Buddy Cole CHuIl: 3. Ramsev.o- CHuIl. OVER 311 AM: 1. Den S _ (SUlI: 2. Steve Hempton Chusl. OVER 3B NOV: 1. ClerIte ~ CSWMI. Balentine captures Sled Riders' roving trophy By Joyce May LUCERNE VALLEY. CA. JAN. 27 KTM's Bob Balentine showed no hesitancy as he flew along the Sled Riders Hare Scrambles course to take a resounding overall victory the last Sunday of January, even though he had to race through the same general area in which he received his broken pelvic bone last fall. Two former desert stars, Larry Roeseler and Terry Clark. ~ through his dust into the second and third overall spots. A total of 550 riders were on the starting line (many of them behind pie plates). This group included 21 trailbikes, primarily from the Novice and Beginner classes. "To Hell With Iran" was the stan stamp placed on each tank card on the line and caused many smiles and positive responses. It took Balentine exactly 59 minutes to traverse the 58-mile loop the first time. His appearance sent' the pit crews into a tizzy because no one was expecting the riders in for at least another eight to 10 minutes. Thirty seconds behind Balentine came the new Yamaha factory rider, Larry Roeseler. aboard his speedy Yamaha. In the third slot was a former trailbike rider who used to strike fear into the heans of his fellow trail riders back in the early '70s. It was Terry Clark, the former H-D Baja 100 king. It was obvious that Terry's long absence from the desert racing scene hadn't made him lose his talent for reading the terrain. Mike "Sizzlin' Six" Sixbery, another desert racer with a supported ride from Yamaha. was through the pits in the fourth spot with Yamaha's Bruce Ogilvie in fifth. Amateur 250cc rider Ed Pierce. Jr. was next in for gas followed by heavyweight expert Ed Zarp. First "C" bike, in the ninth spot. was piloted by Amateur Tom Elias. who had moved ahead of C bike Expert ace, Charlie Hamill, aftef Hamill had had bike problems between third check and home. Amateur ·25Occ Charles Steams and Mike Baker (!50cc) were followed by Dan Smith (Open). Senior Morris Norman (Open) had managed to over take Bob Doig (Open). who had been the eady leader in their class. rlTSt Vet 250cc in for gas was Richard Jackson with Bill Elam close enough behind him to get sand blasted from Jackson's rear wheel momentum. C Senior. Gary Charters (celebrating his 41st birthday on this race day) found it impossible to beat the big bikes on this course as it basically pitted speed against speed. But he still was the first Senior C in for a pit stop. Fifteen·year-old Yamaha Trailbiker Bill Mallox. now an Expert, had a monsterous lead over the next Trail· bike (also a Yamaha) ridden by amateur John Stoffel, while Amateur Bobby Charters, aboard a Suzuki. was only three bikes behind Stoffel and nipping at his heels. Reliable Trudy Beck was first gal to make a pit stop. ~ Leading the Novice pack past home check off the first loop was 250cc rider SCOll Hodgson. Back in the ranks a real battle had been raging between two Beginners for quite some distance. The battlers were two Trails, number 72T (I5-year-old Daniel Pope of the Dusters) and number ?!IT (12'year-old David Duke of the Desert Vipers). For a couple of youngsters, these kids were really serious. Andy Cassio earned the. first Beginner Trail honors while Duke slid by Pope for the second spot just before the checkered, leaving Pope in the third spot. The Novice Trail honors went to Mark Torgeson of the Barbarians with Robert Smith of the Desert Rats taking second. Other one loop finishers were as follows: 125·175cc: I David Schneider; 2. David Allen. 250cc: I Ray Brown;