Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I o;;;riH~tiinco;----~----~-----~~ I! Ii o 00 0') The CRC Iron Horse enduro featured a couple of tunnels. Smith kicks'em all at Donkeys D·37HS By Joyce May LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, OCT. 18 Dan Smith took the lead at the bomb at the Desen Donkeys hare scrambles and held it all the way to the finish. Dan 16 Ashcraft chased him the whole way and finished a strong second. . With only about 200 entries, including a number of sidehacks, the line-up at the start was spread out and thin. It included, however. alot of riders that haven't been out for awhile ... all trying to get in shape for the Check Chase. Even thumper afficianado Dennis Greene was out. after a year's lay-off. but this time he was on a two-stroke. The hacks took off a half hour before the rest of the entries. The Donkeys had brought an ancient hack "wreck" out to the bomb to become an "accidental" bomb. They lit it for the second start, but few riders saw it as the dUSI was very heavy. Prior to race time a play rider discovered four people. about five miles out from the pits, removing and changing ribbon and placing hazards on the trail. The Desert Donkeys have set up a $100 rewa rd for the identifi· cation of this group. They were in a '78 or '79 red Bronco with white on the side panels. The first digit of the license number was "9" and there was a "Save the Whales" sticker on the right rear window. Anyone having any information on this vehicle should contact any member of the Desert Donkeys M.C. The course after the bomb dropped into a severe whoop·dee sand wash. causing the bikes to slow down 'and spread out. By the time they got all the way around the 44-mile loop, they were well scaltered. Smith took the immediate lead past the bomb with Chuck Miller and Bruce Ogilvie in hot pursuit. Ogilvie crashed but was back on his TTlachine without losing a spot, even though Ashcraft. Ed Whisenant. and Bill Saltzman were hot on his heels. First to reach the first check were two sidehacks with a third side hack betweenAshcraft and Whisenant. Not far beyond the first check Miller's transmission went sour. Ogilvie took over the second spot and began to threaten Smith. But then he threw a chain, which put him out of any serious racing, especially when his main bearing also began to go. Two-thirds of the way around the extra long loop the number 08 hack was Kill in the lead and was the only double machine still in the running. Smith (Open) was moving well with Ashcraft (25Occ) in third, still some distance behind. Whisenant was next, while Brett Howell (Open) had moved in front of Saltzman (Vet 250cc). Darin Cartwright (25Occ), riding with a still-mending shoulder injury. was in the n~xt overall slot, followed by amateur Tony Megla. V..t Open pilot Rich Jackson was ninth followed by Howard McCasland (Open). Gary Charters, Senior superman riding a 250cc. was the first Senior through the check. Further back down the trail a battle-royale was going on between three Seniors: Morris Norman, George Zuber and Art Knapp. The first four bikers managed to get past the side hack 108 before they moved thr&ugh home check. Smith had the lead followed, still, by Ashcraft, Whisenant and Howell. Whisenant was now running on a flat r~ar ti~. Megla was next, followed by SaltzmjlD, Mike Matlock (Open), Charters, Cartwright and Zuber. First "C" machine was piloted by Doug Winchell followed only three bikes back by three more Cs with Pete Postel, Tom Elias (Amateur) and Kevin Hopkins in the pilot seats. Lori Farmer was well ahead of any threat from any of the other female riders as was Pete Andelman (Trail) ahead of any threat from his class. Three of the gals were having quite a struggle for position, however, as Diane Holeman, Lynette Zuber, and Tricia Farmer (Amateur) were tirc;-to.tire as they came through home chec.k. Another battl.. was raging between Trailbikers Dave Wilson and Bobbie Charters. It was the end of the race for the Beginners as the C bikes dominated the finish. Fred Heacock was the first to pass the checkered followed by a pie plater and then two more Cs, Bill Childers and John Thatcher. Mike Santoy (Open) was fifth overall, first ~pen Beginner follq,wed by another pie plater and then the frrst 250cc Beginner, 1~84x. Two Vets, Robert Coyle (Open) and Bob Bullington (250cc) were next, also first in their classes. Novice and beginner Trailbikes to finish were piloted by Novice Scott Colbert, David Duke and Tony Russett. Gals who took the one loop checkered were Helen Ajay and Sandy Perkins. Out on the second loop things were moving well. Smith continued to hold the lead, but Ashcraft would give him no slack. Whisenant was still running hard and holding his position, even though his n'ar tire was now coming off the rim and flopping against the earth with every revolution of the wheel. The second loop riders were having quite a difficult time beyond the first check as they were catching the slower Beginners and Novices, and had that extra dust to contend with. Smith continued to lead with Ashcraft still in second, followed by Whisenant. Howell, Saltzmann and Matlock. Megla (as first Amateur) was in the seventh slot followed by Chaners, Canwright and Jan Morrison (250cc). Veterans Jim Bringhurst and Monte Lee were now battling neck and neck in the lIth and 12th overall spots, with Morris Norman (minus his tank card) coming through next. Amateur Elias had taken over the first C slot. Smith piloted his Husky past the checkered for the overall Win while Ashcraft earned the first 250cc honors. Canwright had moved up into third when Whisenant was finally forced to slow down as bath the ..ear tire and tube were off the rim, causing major problems. He still managed to finish tenth overall, however. In fourth was Saltzman (first Vet), followed by Matlock, Megla (first Amateur), Charters.. (first Senior), Cartwright and Scott Postma (who had moved up from back in the teens). .Bringhurst held his position ahead of Lee with Norman moving past the checkered behind them. C pilot Scott Atchison had moved up and ahead of amateur Elias. Lori Farmer .was the first gal. while Andelman held onto his first Trail spot. First Novice honors went to Paul Baxter, who fmished !17th overall. Notable on the finishing roster was seven·year-old Jason Jones, who rode a 60cc Suzuki and was accompanied by his dad, who looked more worn out at the finish than did his son. Grant Palenske survives CRC . Iron Horse By Larry Woodruff Photo by Action Photographic RED MOUNTAIN. CA, OCT. 12 The California Racing Club held the most demanding t>nduro in their 1D-year history, fittingly named the Iron Horse. The enduro is one of two three-loop bonus point runs held yearly and traditionally is one of the better attended enduros with this year's turnout at 600 riders. . The terrain this time out was not any different than usual, it just seemed like the layout crew got a hankerin' to get into some hillclimbing and sky diving on the third loop. to see if the A and B riders were worthy of their skill level. The Open class bikes were at a definite advantage as SQme of the hills were quite awesome, both up and down. The steeper hills had "easy way" arrows at the base, but most were going too fast down the hill before to get a run at it. and they did not Stop to read. The downhills included the infamous Invader's Downhill (labeled Dave's Bulldog Downhill for David Rees, one of the set up crew, as it seems to be Dave's riding style), numerous lesser but challenging down hills and one gawdawful, wherethe-hell·is·the-bottom? hill. After taking away points from everybody in this section. CRC surprisingly did not lower the speed average, which turned the rest of the loop into one neat hare 'n' hound race to the finish. A few B riders were wupped by the last downhill and either quit or haured out by the finish. Most A riders made up all or part of their time dt·ficit by the finish. Number One District ~7 Plate hold..r Grant Palenske (DMG Mai) literally flew to the overall win with a SCOR Q( t1l\:~ {oJlpl'V~ by_I.¥JY WOQd· ruff (Doug Douglas Can-Am), losing three points. At five points dropped stood Brett Tilly (Yam) and Jay Tullis (CR250 Hon); Brett getting the nod on the tie breaker. Harry Keast took the Senior class and fifth overall with six points lost and Craig Lair (Yam) wrapped up the 1980 200cc class Number One plate with a score of eight for sixth overall. Last year's CRC number one Gamer Palenske (DMG Maico) appears to have taken anotheo' number one, this time in tbe 250cc class with a fim in the points coLumn . as Jay Tullis is not a member this year (Come on Jay, join!). Gregg Blackwell (Suz), I I points down, repeated last month's top B win by ban'ly edging out Rick Bieniak (Suz) on seconds. Rick is a top Expen trials rider making a good effon at becoming a top notch enduro rider as well. To attest to the difficulty of the thii'd loop, the average B class winn..r lost 25 points. The second loop was not a cakewalk for the C riders either as almost all of them managed to drop a couple of points. Once again John Owen (Yam) proved that he is definitely not a C rider by losing no points or seconds to become the best C score. Max Marker, of Clean Sweep Racing Team, used to race CRC desen races and instead of racing Grand Prix. decided to give enduro competition a try. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and took the Open C Senior class for his reward. The second loop went north from the pits, across the tracks and into the "Bar Bender" rocks, with check points following afterwards. The course led across the hills and down the same canyon that we rode up last April that caused the bottle neck. No trouble going down this time and, disappointingly, no check. From there it was easy going into the finish. As varied and interesting the first loop was, the scores were the usual plethora of zeros. The list of perfect scores included Chaparrals' Larry Stefan, Ronnie Owens, and John Adams. Barbender Lori Edmundson headed the long list of women riders with a near perfect point loss of two The terrain proved seconds. challenging for the one loopers and still maintained interest for the A and B riders. The ribbon led the riders across Trona Road, along some neat canyons, under the tracks by way of three tunnels, one big, one JUSt b..ely large enough to ride through, and one wooden, and through the painted desert area before winding back into the pits over some relatively large hills 'and long miles of open desert. ext month's CRC enduro, the Roadrunner, will be Nov. 9 in Fremont Valley. As there are signs of tbe BLM. bless their posey pickin' souls, closing the Rand Mountains to bird watching and hunting, it would be a good chance to enjoy those hills before that time. An Jensen asked to mention that he could definitely use more checkpoint personnel and is accepting applications for full and part time help for the set up crew. See • you at the Roadrunner. Results (Class Winners) THREE LOOPS: Open A. Grant Palenske; 250 A, Jay Tullis: 200 A, Craig UIir: Open A Vet. Did< Harrill: Open A Sr.• '-ry Keast: 250 A Vet, Joe Brown; Open B. Greg B _ ; 250 B. Rid< Bianiek; 200 B. Tom Wilhelm; 125 B. Paul Luuier; Open B Vet. Ron Nelson; Open B Sr., Howard Smith: 250 B Vet, Bill Daniel: 250 B Sr., Ray Bauchamp; 200 B Vet, KUr1 Dietrich. TWO LOOPS: Open C. John Owens; 250 C. 'Mart< Yturralde: 200 C. Scott Conrad; 125 C. Dennis Gouvion; Open C Vet. John Willoh; Open C Sr.• M.. Mark..: 250 C Vet, Bob Stelem: 250 C Sr., Johnny Sampson: 200 C \ et, Lowell Gomes; 200 C Sr.. Hoo_ Burnett; Woman A, Debbie 0 - . . ON.E LOOP: 250 C-16. Steve B-.:homp; 200 C·16. Ronn.. Owens; 125 C·16. John AdIomo; 80 A. Larry Stefan; 80 C. Ky K _ ; W/B 200. Bevarty Donat; WI8 125. Lori Edmundson.

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