Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 0') !Above left) Check a.. ovenIII wk• • Kevin Welch appioeches 8 c:hec:kpoInt. CTop right) NIIte ScI8cqua rode hard to 8 fourth ov....lI. first Senior finish. !Above right) Cory TImms placed second overall. MCOnd Heavyweight Expert. Welch wails at 29th Check Chase By Gary Laudlg LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, ocr. 10 Las Vegas' Kevin Welch oudasted the competition to take the overall win at the Checkers M.C. 220-mile Johnson Valley to Parker Check Chase. This race was the result of a five year battle fought by the AMA, District!l7 and the Check· ers to get approval of the race 20 from the Bureau of Land Management. Finishing lleCond overall behind Welch'l 490 Maico were two more Open Experts, Cory Timms and Brett Howell. Lining up on the long forgotten bomb run to the left of 8esIemer Mine Road, the racers waited anxiously for the banner to rise. Receued in the back of their minds was the thought of 220 miles of honest deaen racing. Promptly at 8 a.m., the well known banner rose, dropped and the Check Chase was underway. So were Bob Balentine, Morgan Molocco and Tom Kelly. When the bikes entered the flatland landwash, these three racers had quite a lead over the rest. Entering the foothilla, Scott Pfeiffer, Kevin Welch, Cory Timms and Brett Howell picked their way up the shaley hill that led the racers into Iron Ridge. This area is well know for its tricky sandwashes, narrow trails and rocks. Terry Thomp80n and Bob Bauman passed and repassed each other through this IeCtioo while up ahead Bruce Lewellyn, .charlie Inman, Gary Conner and Steve Ballmer lined up for check. one. Obviously nothing was sacred to the Checkers. When Paul Palmer and Jeff Vaughn approached the old hollowed out van, U8ed in many deaen Itories, the Checkers routed them t/aTovgla the old landmark., not around it. From this point on it was neat trails and washes all the way along the military reservation. Bill Elam was just ahead of Guy Cowdy and Dale Conner and right behind An Knapp as the course jutnped onto the powerline road. Soon the WebcOi pointed left and before long, Roland Wood, Keith Tullar, Dave Chase and Dave Wasden all had their hands full al they were working their way through the lint section of lava beds. AI Guzman, Rich Jackson, Larry Froelich and Bill Mc· Daniel lingle filed down the narrow trail trying not to pay any attention to the crevices to the right. Richocheting through the last IleCtion, first Novice Scott McManus headed back onto the fireroad section in hot pursuit of Mike Holmes and RusaJones. Kun Mann and Paul Sorensen saw Balentine and the red Honda fourstroke off to the side, broken down. "Chargin' Chuck" Miller dropped out a little later and Morgan Molocco would soon become pan of the real estate as he rigged when his bike wanted to zag. Enjoying the fireroad and a brief re1axing period, Jeff Alter hit the blind· ers in order to navigate the tum into the deaen. D.R. Deichman hit the blinders in order to avoid running into Jeff. Soon Jim Bringhurst, Sam Demp. sey, Ken Miller and Rich Stuetzel hooked a left hander and entered the realm of high weeds and watennelon sized boulders. By the time Scott Pfeiffer cleared the access road beside the railroad tracks, he figured the leader was so far ahead he couldn't see his dust or Scott was in the lead and second place was not in sight. The latter was defmtely the case because Scott was working on a five minute lead over second place Kevin Welch. Ron Danley, Craig Harris, Larry Brown and Dan Drew entered gas one at the same time. Exiting in speedy fash· ion was Guy Gowdy in hot pursuit of Dale Conner and Keith Tullar. Mike Finkle and Terry Thompson cleared a desert section then jumped on to the pole line road with the check two marks on their cards. After about 10 miles of road the Webco turned the races back into the desert. This section Was really nice, but it was tricky enough that a racer didn't dare lose concentration or he would be in trouble instantly. Meanwhile back in the pits, Brent Wallingsford was having his problems. Inheriting the lead briefly, "Sprint" developed a front flat. Continuing on into the pits, the crew discovered they had the wrong wheel and had to change the whole tire losing valuable time. Tom Kelly seized his scoot and put him out of the race for good. The Beginners reached the second section of lava and Rick Price had a lot of company. Pat Smith, Rich Patterson, Helen Ajay and Mike Highsmith picked their way through the gnarly flows and the scattered sandy sections. Yup, this is the same area in the movie On Any Sunday 11. About eight miles of this later, the course headed across a dry lake with the surface similar to a soda cracker. After a couple of jeep trails Charlie Morris and Sterling Varner raced into gast two. Kip Wood, Steve BaUmer, Ray Conway and Ray Short raced past Neil Maninen and Chris Bosen realized simultaneously that they had better slow down because just ahead were four white knuckler rollers. Hit these babies too hot and the racer will change his shorts at the next check.. Steve Webb and Dan Powell didn't realize it but they were racing down a historical trail - General Patton's Trail - good for about 10 miles of WFO. A guy named D. Petersen on a Honda four-stroke cleared the frreroad ahead of John Karell and Fred Heacock.. The thumper had fun in the sand rollers. Hank. Cooper and Allan Tork.k.o cleared this section in good shape while up ahead Andy Matthews, Jun Draves, Guy Kibbe and Ron Nelson were heading for pit three. Scott Pfeiffer jammed his bike in gear and headed for the check. at the end of the pit. Turning left, he headed across the vast basin, the Aquaduct and then into the hills, the ones Deaen M.C. used in their famous '74 run. Five minutes passed before second place Kevin Welch streaked through the pits. A consensus opinion was that "Scott had this one in the bag." The old desert axiom of never give up would prove true in a very short time. The racers were strung out several minutes apart. Nate "Din Digger" Sciacqua and Rick Shirey thrilled the spectators as they cleared the check running fourth and fifth, first Senior and first Veteran respectively. Sid Ahuero, An Casio, Ron Hetherington,

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