Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dan Ashcraft won the Huntington Beach M.e. hare 'n' hound. Ashcraft aces HBMC H&H By Shirley Upp Photo by Norm Johnson L UCER NE VAL LEY, CA, APR. 25 It was Dan Ashcraft (Hus) who was able to keep his bike running and take the overall win in the Huntington Beach M.C.'s 50 hare 'n ' hound a t Soggy Dry Lak e. This race ended up being a matter of who could keep going long enough to even get a finish. There were very few rid ers today that finished with out having some sort of problems. The Expert and Amateur start was off at 9:15 a.m . About a mile and a half past the bomb, it was Ken Upp ' (KTM) with a 400 yard lead over the next Open rider, Lee Scheffers (Hon ). Pie pl at e #13 was third with Chuck Stearns (H on ) fourth. Chris Crandall (KTM) was next followed by Ashcraft, By this tim e, Dan Smith was already out with a blo wn shock. Ashcraft had already seized once. Phil Cloward was up with the front runners . Bill Saltzman was running first Open Vet with Gary Charters first Open Senior. The Novice and Beginner start was delayed because of a downed rider in the first start. At 9:59 the banner dropped and Dan Seagondollar (C· A) took charge. Past the bomb, Seagondollar on a 250cc had the lead well in hand. Open riders Ron Shuler (Yam ) and Ron Patrick were doing some dicing for second. First Beginner was Ron Maim (Hon). MaIm was riding his very first race and whoever taught him the tricks of ra cing, knew exactly what they were doing. As the leaders were coming into home check , it was now Steams wi th the lead . Upp was a close second, but starting to develop problems. Third was Ashcraft with the consistent Scheffers fourth . Crandall was staying close and now running fifth. First 250Cc was Doug Winchell (Kaw). As the first Novice came into sight, it was now hard-charging Open rider Shuler who had taken over the lead . First 250cc was 220X (sorry no name). Seagondollar, who had followed some enduro ribbon and gotten off the course, was now running third and second 250cc: Top C bike Novice was Steve Klien . As the rid ers left home check and headed out on their last loop, the leaders were having more problems. Steams had gotten a flat coming into the pits and deciding to go on, he was finding the course rough going. Upp seized and was out ofthe race 10miles into the last loop. Ashcraft had seized a second time on the first loop and would seize four more times on the last loop. The riders had trouble staying on course. Some got lost but were able to pick up the ribbon and get back on course without much delay. As usual with desert racing, the dust was thi ck toda y a nd rid ers were thankfu l fo r th e wind. Doug Winchell, who was runnin g first 25Occ, had go tten off ha rd a nd was hurting too bad to continue after one loop. A few m iles out fro m the fin ish , Stearns got off har d a nd comi ng into the finish Ashcraft overtook Stearns a nd came in for th e checkered. Ashcra ft said he had too man y pro blem s. tod ay, but was happy for the win and tha n ked hi s spo ns o r P ro Ci rcui t. Second overa ll was Stearns, wh o had a very sore thumb which he had hurt when he cras hed. Stearns had a back fla t and had put a hol e in hi s engi ne case 'which was losing oi l. H e was lucky to get a finish. Third was Scheffers, wh o thanked Hemet Cycle. Fourth was Crandall who had a good rid e. Fifth and firs t 250cc was Ted Hunnicut, ha ving another good ride. With two flat tires, Saltzman did some rough riding and came in first Open Vet. Charters was first Open Senior acro ss th e' fini sh line. Ed Pi erce was in for eigh th and at ninth overall it was Phil Cloward. Tenth overall and first C bike was Tom Elias. First 250cc Amateur was Mike Fitzgerald. In the Open Ama teur class, it was Mark Molina in for first after Bennington took a rock in the goggles, shattering his lens . J eff had to return to the pits for a 'new lens . First 250cc Senior was Charlie Goodban. First Senior C bik e was Lou Monteron. First 250cc Vet was Tom Holms. In the Novice cla ss, it was pie plater Jon Gardner taking first in his first race. Shuler was first for points in the Open class. First 250cc was Seagondollar. First C bike was Steve Klien and first Open Vet was Steve Martin. In th e Beginner race, it was Open rider Ron Maim who took first overall. Ron is another rider who rode his first race. Second was 250cc ride r Brett Sh an er for first in his class . Third overall was Steve Feld (Yam ) who took a first in the C bike class. Fourth was Larry Hall (Yam ). Fifth was T im Alk ire (Yam). Sixth tod ay was Bob Cooper (Yam ). Seventh a nd first Open Vet was T .F. Bingenheimer (H us). In the Wom en 's class, it was Lori Farmer who took first Expert. Lori wanted to thank Lakewood Honda for their support. First Amateur was Cindy McCowen. In the Novice class it was Ch eryl Waggoner, Vera Charters, and Sharon Dietz finishing 1·2·3. All results are unofficial. Scheffers COPS Badgers H&H By Shirley Upp RED MOUNTAIN, CA, APR. 18 Lee Scheffers took the challenge this weekend at Red Mountain. He chose the right trails, the right moves, and came across the finish first in the Badgers tough and rough course. The good people from American Pro Grip, Kal-Gard, Duralube and PJ I all donated their product this weekend to help with what turned out to be a very successful race . The co urse was two 40-mile loops and the fin isher pins should have been the Medal of Valorl It had everything a desert racer would expect and more. It had whoop-de-docs, hills, rocks , sandwashes and a couple of spots wh ere you could catch your breath before gett ing read y for th e next challenge. T he Experts and Amateurs were off a t 10:00 a.m . and th e bomb run took ou t many good rid ers. Lee Scheffers (H on ) and Bob Balentine (Hon) were working hard on th e bomb run tr yin g to find th e best trail. Scheffers came in on th e same trail Bal entin e was on and, movin g over to find another trail , Balentine got into a lo t of ro ugh terrain. Too late, he found hi mself going too fast. H e bailed off hard and was ou t of the race. Scheffers was now alone in th e lead where he likes it. A mile pas t th e bomb, it was Sch efIers co ming out of the first ca nyo n with th e lead with Chris Crandell (KT M) in hot pursuit. T hese two rid ers were to see eac h o ther change lead s before the first loop was over . Third at this point was Open rider Ron Bauman who also was having a super bomb run. Fourth was firs t 250ccriderTed Hunnicutt, but Ted's grea t ride wo uld only last until aft er check one as he got a flat tir e. Fifth was Phil Cloward (Open) and sixth was Mike Mulconery (Open ). These two riders were to do some dicing before Mulconery seized. First Arnateur at this point was 250cc rider Mark Torgeson, who was really get ting with the program. At one point, Mark was to move up to third overall. First C bike was Tom Elias. The Novice and Beginner start was at 10:22 a.m. and these guys were off and running, everywhere! As they sta rted on their bomb run about half of them went too far west and getting closer to the bomb, these lost souls had to work their way back toward the bomb. Leading was 250cc rider Bryon Stathan, having a top notch ride. Ace Ron Shuler, having another great run , was running second and first Open rider. Ro n Hetherington had his throttle rolled on and was running third (seco n d 250cc ). At fourth overall was first Beginner Brett Shaner. First Beginner C bike, running with the front runners, was Robert Olchawa. Coming into home check, it was Sch effers who had th e lead well in hand. Lee had gotten off and Crandell took th e lead for awhile until he bailed in the rock s. Lee regained th e lead and then held it for the final 40 miles. Dave Ch ase, doing so me terrific riding, had moved up to third over all. Phillip Cloward wa s holding it together and staying with the front runners, now up to fourth. Steve Zollinger was fifth and first 250cc Expert aft er the first loop. First 250ccAmateur was none other than Mike Fitzgerald (Hus). Mike was rid ing his first race today as an Amateur and doing a fine job of it. First C bike to home check was hard charging Amateur Fred Heacock. First Open Vet was desert ace Richard Jackson and the 'leading Open Vet Amateur was Jan Merrison. First in the Open Senior class was Ron Surber. Charlie Goodban was holding down first 250cc Senior. First Novice and still charging hard was Byro n Stathan, Ro n Shuler was keeping his mind on nothing but business and still running first Open Novice. First girl was Diane Holeman with Jolene Pa yne the very next bike into home check. As th e riders left home check, it helped to be in good physical condition. If the rough terrain didn 't get to you on th e first loop, it would on the la st time aro und. The course was marked with white ribbon and the Badgers had warned each and every rider to make sure to only follow th e white ribbon. There was an enduro already marked for th e following weekend and needles s to say ther e was pl enty of ribbon to co nfuse a rider if he di d not pa y a ttention to the color. You co uld n' t ask for better desert racing wea ther and each rid er intend ed to get hi s shar e of great riding on thi s weekend. Lee Scheffers had a near perfect last loop and he made sure he enjoyed it all th e more by sta ying out in front. With hi s Honda running great, he came into the checkered flag first overall . Lee lik ed th e course a nd had no trouble staying on it. He said it was a course that made you work hard and a t th e same time en jo y every whoop-de-doo. For his reward, Scheffers received a Yashica 35mm camera that went to first overall. Scheffers also wanted to thank his sponsor Hemet Cycle. Second overall was Crandall, who said th e course was on e rough ride ; he was dead tired. Third was another Open rider, Chase while fourth went to Cloward. Fifth and first 250cc was Zollinger. First 250cc Amateur was Fitzgerald and in his first ride as an Amateur, to finish sixth overall is nothing but fine riding. Seventh was Paul Christenson, another 250cc rider. Eighth was first O pen Vet Richard Jackson. Ninth was first Amateur C bike Heacock and rounding out the top 10was Ray Conway. First Open Amateur was Jeff Bennington. First Open Ama teur Vet was Jan Merrison. First 250cc Vet Amateur in was David Kersting. Top 250cc Vet Expert was Ray Waldraum. First Open Senior today was super Ron Surber. In the 250cc Senior class, top honors went to good guy Charlie Goodban. The first Senior C bike had Rod Lundstrom aboard. Jolene Payne took first today in the women 's class. Jolene said she was really tired. It was a hard course! In th e Novice class, it was hard charging Stathan on his 250cc who took th e overall win. Byron also received an electric razor for his effort today. First Open Novic e was Shuler. First Novice in for the win in the C bike class was speedster Larry George. First Vet Novice in the Open class was Steve Martin. The Beginner cla ss was topped today by Jame Davenport, first overall a nd first Open. Second overall and first 250cc was Robert Cooper. Third was another 250cc rider, Robert Hall. Fourth was Gerald Segler. Fifth was Dwayne Dunn. Sixth was another speedster Eric Dorler. Seventh was Loren Holtzen. Eighth overall was Lee Lindsey and ninth was Chuck Bordenave. Holding down the 10th spot today was John Reed. First C bike was Robert Olchawa. All these fine riders did some outstanding riding today. The Badgers want to thank all the sponsors who donated their great products for this race . Thanks to the riders for their supportI All results mentioned in this article are unofficial.

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