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8lwIt Walllnpford pilots the runner-up Huaky through IOl'IMI ArizonlI greveI. Chuck Miler lleftland Bruce Ogilvie 8t the finish and in action Iinset.l. SCORE Off-Road Series Ogilvie/Miller scorch close Parker400 By Dale Brown PARKER. AZ, FEB. 9 "Those guys were smokin'. That's all there was to it," was how one competitor summed up the SCORE International Parker 400 winning ride of Bruce Ogilvie and Chuck Miller. The Team Yamaha duo pushed their YZ 465G across the 300mile route over California and Arizona in a time of five hours, 22 eight minutes and 59.14 seconds. The win was on elapsed time. Fint across the finish line after having led most of the race was the Husqvarna of Brent Wallingsford and Scot Harden. They had an early start number. and knew that nine and a half minules would have to pass before they won. When Miller appeared before the time limit, the race was his with a slim three·minute margin of victory. If the margin of victory was close, the difference between second and third overall was razor·thin. The KTM of Tom Kelly and Bob Balentine finished only 29 seconds behind Wallingsford and Harden on elapsed time. It was a good day for Yamaha. Team Yamaha membenJim Fishback and Bob Rutten took the 250cc CJUI . 21 victory. while Bob Maxwell and Randy CouJter won the 125cc Class 20 on a Mac Douglas-sponsored Yamaha_ In Class 30. for riders over 30, Las Vegas legend Max Switzer teamed with Bill Hill to win on a Vegas Cycle Maico. Solo rider David Miller from Arizona won Class 38 (riders over 38) on a Yamaha sponsored by Southwest M/CSales. This year's Parker 400 was the largest ever in terms of entries, with 116 motorcycles entered and a total vehicle count of 467. The total purse, based on 50% payback of entry fees, was $77,550. Motorcycles started one at a time, 30 seconds apart. The fint two to leave the line were the Charles Welk/Milte McGowen Yamaha and the Wallings· ford/Harden machine. They hit the first check running on the same minute. One of the favorites to win, the Yamaha entry of Larry RocseIer and Jack Johnson. ran'into t1O'Ubl~ early. Johnson. who was riding, said later, "I got a flat four miles off the start and I was riding back in the dust with the 2505. At Turtle Mountain Road, I c1ir.ped a rock or something and batled. I don't know what I hit. but I hurt my knee. I picked the bike up and rode it to where Larry was." By check four, the 70·mile mark, Harden was out in front by himself. McGowen and Wellt were still in second physically, but a battle behind them was shaping up for the top four spots as Miller and Ogilvie. Balentine (riding the California loop solo) and the 390 Husky ofJeff Kaplan and Rick Finger charged up from their starting positions in the middle of the pack. Miller crashed while trying to catch Balentine and Kaplan. but didn't damage much and was soon back on their tails. There was also a close battle going on in Class 21 as they finished on the California side. The Premier Yamaha of Scott and Kent Pfeiffer. the Fishback/Rutten Yamaha and the Roland McFadden/Brad Baum Yamaha were very close on time. In Class 20. the KTM of Randy Teel and Jeff Cloutier had about a minute's lead on the Maxwell/Coulter entry. In Class 30. George Erl and George Luther (Hus) had the physical lead. with the Yamaha of Rick Shirley and Smoltebomb Gaetz about a minute behind ~ ·&aetr cnIsbed. (Tltey- p replaced the front forks during the down time.) Late starters Switzer and Hill appeared to have the lead on time, however. Despite 5larting last. David Miller had the Class 38 lead - physically as well as on time - by the California fmish line. All entrants were given a 9O·minute downtime to transport machines the 20-odd miles to the Arizona stan. as well as to perform mechanical repairs. Balentine and Kelly used the time to change the top end after Balentine seized it badly on the II-mile straight known as Thunder Alley. Things stayed very tight on the first of two lap' around the 95-mile Arizona course. By the end of the first lap, though, Ogilvie and Miller appeared to have moved fractionally ahead· of Wallingsford and Harden. Kelly rode the KTM through both Arizona loops, but at the end of the first, he had dropped back a couple of minutes when the engine continued to stick. The Pfeiffer brothers appeared to have grabbed control of Class 21 after Fishback and Rutten came up with a flat tire on the Arizona side. Both the front-running teams knew they had to go for it on the last loop, and both did. Wallingsford hit the line first. WFO. as the Huaky supporters shouted for a stopwatch for the nine and a half minUte'CDUnrdbWTr. '. • - ....