Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Lucerne Valley - Red Mountain _ Pinter City _ Searchlight - Sidewinder Road - Superstition Mountain - Jean - Rand Mountains - Lucerne Valley - Red Mountll Desert Hotline Smith smells of success at Desert M.C. 0·37 H&H By Shirley Upp LUCERNE VALLEY, CA,JAN . 17 Dan Smith (Hus) isn't that fond a the Soggy Dry Lake area for racing but it sure never slowed him down and he came in first overall in what turned out to be a super desert race, the Desert M.C . hare and hound. This time of year in the desert is the perfect time for some good racing and this is exactly what the spectators got this fine Sunday morning. The bomb run was one of the longest in a long time and wide open. The start was unusual in one respect and it caught a lot of riders off their kickstartersl Instead of dropping the banner, the Desert M.C . burned the "Checker" banner - what excitement! As the banner burned a few riders realized what was going on and were off the starting line, with many more to follow. A mile past the bomb it was KTM speedster Ken Upp riding out of Jesse's Cycle who had a nice lead over another KTM rider," Chris Crandall. Running third was Chuck Miller (Hus) with Larry Roeseler (Yam) fourth . These two riders had a collision as they came together at the bomb; neither rider went down but it was scary l Dave Wasden (Yam) was in hot pursuit of these riders and running fifth overall. Chuck Stearns (Hon) was being chased today by first Open Amateur Keith Tullar who was fired up for this one! Eighth was Open rider Sm ith and ninth was Dave Chase. Rounding out the top 10 was Senior rider Marvin Van Sickle. The Novice/Beginner start was off about 20 minutes later with Novice Oliver Rathlien leading a mile past the bomb. Hot on it and in brutal pursuit was Ron Shuler, another Novice. Third was Rick Price and Andy Mathers was fourth overall, first 250cc . Fifth and sixth were two more 250cc speedsters, Robert Adams and Troy Swafford. Hard riding Grant Palenske held seventh position. Eighth was Mark Molina working hard to stay in front of charging 1212 and Richard Stuetzel, who were ninth and 10th respectfully. At home check POSItIOns had changed dramatically, and it was Miller leading now. Miller had taken the lead after Upp had seized about three miles past the bomb. Chuck Steams had worked his way up to second overall. Third was Roeseler with Smith fourth. First 250cc rider Dan Ashcraft was now fifth overall. Crandall was sixth with Chase seventh. First Open Senior was Gary Charters at eighth. Ninth was first 250cc Amateur _ Torgeson, followed by Murray Kappko (Yam). First Open Amateur was still Tullar and dependable Bill Saltzman was first Open Amateur Vet. First C bike was Paul Palmer with obby Charters in hot pursuit. First in the Open Novice class was Rathlien with Price and Shuler one bikelength behind and trying to close in on the leader. Stu etzel was up to first 250cc Novice . The last loop consisted of some very rough terrain and exceptional riding for desert racers. Miller had a few problems, like having his seat come off, minor things like that! Steams seized his big Honda and Roeseler ~d a few things go wrong. Doing battle on the last lap were Chase and Gary Charters. Another pair who were having it out were Palmer and Charters. Taking the checkered was th e high flying Smith. It was a few miles out from the finish that Dan overtook Miller and Dan just kept his bike to the "max" and it paid off. Dan loved the course, as did most riders. Miller managed to hang in for a second with Ashcraft in for third overall and first 250cc . Crandall was fourth. First 250cc Amateur was Torgeson at fifth overall; Mark really turned in a super ride today. As usual the "Super Senior," none other than Gary Charters, was sixth overall and first Open Senior. Now in seventh spot was "Animal" Chase, riding out of Cross Roads Cycle. Eighth was Kappko, Another Amateur turning in a terrific ride today was Tullar, taking ninth and first Open yellow bar. Rounding out the top 10 was Open Vet rider Bill Saltzman. Taking first C bike was Palmer, who really had to work for it today. Second C bike Bobby Charters was right behind Palmer on the finish. First 250cc Vet was Jim Bringhurst who was being chased by Monte Lee and these two aces came across the finish 16th and 17th. First C bike Amateur was Jim Mattox. First Open Vet Amatuer was hard riding T im Saueressig. First 250cc Senior was Ron Bebo. First girl was Lori Farmer (Hon). First Novice ace was Open rider Price. First 250cc Novice ace was Stuetzel. Taking the checkered as first Senior C bike was Willie Eveland. Taking a decisive victory in the Novice C bike class was John Braasch. First Beginner was J im Bryant (H us), who took his bike to the limit todayl First C bike Beginner was Dennis Smith. First Vet Beginner was Jim Farrand. First girl Novice was hard charging Vera Charters. Number one plate Dan Smith took the Desert M.e. overall win.lFile photo.) th e fi re by ge ll ing o n th e PA sys tem a nd tellin g the crowd to head back to th e sta rtin g lin e. H e suggested th at if th ey didn't kn ow th e cou rse th ey sho u ld follow him. Steve fin ish ed a very respecta ble fifth overa ll and gai ned th e respect o f anyone who d oubted hi s abi li ty. Because Steve sta rte d his racing ca ree r ridin g a 650cc T ri u m p h TR-6, th e casua l raci ng was done o n p ush rod fo ur-stro kes. O f the a pproxi mat el y 50 d inosa ur bikes tha t tu rned o u t, 25 o wne rs fo u nd th e sta rt ing line a fte r th e Di nosaur Associat ion bu siness meeting. It was remi niscen t of th e days when yo u coul d look down th e sta rti ng lin e and know most o f th e riders. The onl y d ifferen ce n ow is tha t so me have becom e close friends. A quickl y erected banner fell a lmost in stantl y and th e " d inosa urs" h eaded toward existin g tra ils an d a fast downhill sa n d wa sh . Gen e Smith took th e lead short ly a fter th e sta rt. " Steady Eddie" Mulder, " Fas t J ack " H at ely . a nd Don "Sq ua lly" Surplice were temporaril y distracted and lost th e co u rse for a short time. T his gav e Gen e Smith an o p po rt u ni ty to stretch hi s lead an d to be the fir st rider around th e 14 mile co urse. Challenges from p ot ential winners Mike Haney a n d " L ill ie J ohn " H at el y never m ateriali zed as M ik e lost an oi l lin e a nd " Li ll ie J ohn" ra n ou t of gas. The winner, Gen e Sm ith , wa s fol lowed to th e fini sh line by "Steady Eddi e" a n d h is two close friends, Demo de Mich el e an d "Sq ua tty ." Bob Bail ey, rid ing h is Ascot TT Triumph with low pipes a n d h is famous #33 p la te, 'p laced fifth . The fini sh ers stayed for a pictu re. Of the 25 bikes th a t sta rte d , 17 sa w the checkered n ag a t the end o f the 42 mile. three la p race. " Ch ief" Morley ro de a 1927 H arl ey JD with ex posed rock er a rms and push rods. The JD was the co nversa tion hi gh light with its hand sh ift and foot operated suicide clutch. .. - Prod ucts to su pport this event were donat ed by T riumph Motorcycl es of America, Kal-Gard Coating a n d Lubricants, an d Barnell Tool a nd En gin eerin g . Becau se it wa s a n n ounced at th e business meet ing befo re th e race, the drawi ng for the prod uct s was dela yed un til th e co urse h ad been co mp letely clean ed of ribbons. Gen e S m ith son of Buck S m ith, District 37 n umber o ne Desert H ea vywei gh t; was th e fi rst rider on th e co urse pull in g ribbon. Bob Bail ey was th e seco nd to leav e, ridi ng do ubl e w ith hi s wife, Caro le. They co llect ed most o f the ri bbon in a larg e p las tic bag. In less tha n a n ho ur a ll 14 mil es were stri p pe d clea n with th e hel p of man y o th ers. As it turned out, all that helped were rew arded with eith er a Barnell ca p o r a boule of Kal-Gard fork o il. The trophy presentat ion will be informal on Saturda ya ftern oon, April 17, from 5 to 7 p .m . a t th e Pasadena Ro se Bowl Brookside Clubhouse Restaurant. For those interest ed in stay ing to a ttend th e T ra il Blazers Banq uet, pl ea se co ntact Earl Flanders a t Flanders Compan y. 340 South Fair O aks, Pasadena , Californ ia 9 1105, to p urch a se tickets a t Sl 4 per person. Earl h as donat ed ti me durin g th e banquet so tha t Bud Ekins. o ne of Stev e Mcqueen's cl osest fri ends, ca n present th e perpetu al troph y from Los Arigel es T ra de-Tech n ical Co llege to ove ra ll winner, Gen e Smith. Jack Ross wi ll keep track of th e points earned by riders. Event number th ree will be th e a n n ua l Che rry Ch ase H a re a nd H ound near Delta, UT. Ma y 30. Even t fou r on Sep tem ber 5 will be an nou nced in Cycle News. T he la st even t will hopefull y be th e 1982 Barstow to Vega s Hare and Ho un d , Novem ber 27. • .. - Results 1. Gene Sm ith (Tri 650); 2. Eddie Mulder (Tri 6501 3 . Demode Michele(Tri 650); 4 . Don Surpl ic e ; (Tr i 650); 5 . Bob Bailey (Tri 750); 6. Dave Maryoll (Tr i 650); 7 . Tom Lee(Tri 650); 8. Randy Palmisano (BSA 500); 9 . Jack Halely (Tr i 6501 10 . Dav id Kroh n ; (Tri 6501; 11 . Carl Krohn (Tr i 6501; 12 . Pat Owens (Tri 500); 13 . Joe Lewis (Tri 650); 14. Bob Tryon (BSA 500); 15. Jim Kelly (Tr i 750); 16 . Jack Far ia (BSA 500); 17. Bill Getty (BSA ). •. •.•.•.• "ww w ... ·.·.·,· rr 27 r-, ,. . ..

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