Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Clockwise from top left) Scot Harden takes the checkers in a big hurry to claim the win by 48 seconds. Kurt Pfeiffer hustles to first 250cc Pro . ~ Kevin Welch pilots the second-place Maico across the desert. Th ird placer Jack Johnson gets a pit. HardenjRoeseler top Las Vegas 400 By Wayne Gales/Nevada Moforsport News SLOAN . NV. AP R. 16 At the finish line, a place about 25 miles from Las Vegas , several hundred p eopl e h ad gathered to watch the drama unfurl. Almost . nine hours had elapsed, over three hundred miles h ad passed ben ea th th e wheels, a n d over 80 cha lle nging tea ms had d wind led to just two speck s of dust o n a d ry lak e 16 bed in the d istan ce. . St ill o ver seven m iles away. h igh powered bin oculars co u ld tell tha t th e lea d bi ke was red . That mea nt tha t Kevin Welch had been a ble to keep h is Ma ico 490 ahead of the wh ite fa ctory Husk y with Scot H arden abo ard. But h o w mu ch ? Welch 's lead h ad to be at lea st a minu te and a half . to tak e th e overa ll wi n . At tha t di stan ce it looked close. but H arden looked closer tha n a m inu te an d a h alf from th e cha rging Wel ch . Sco t h ad been chas ing Kevin fo r the las t42 m iles an d had bee n una ble to ma ke u p any time o n " Koo l Kev, " despite th e fac t tha t th e Ma ico had been run ning o n a rear fla t for the las t20-p lus m iles. As thev neared th e finish line. it became a p parent tha t neith er rider had a ny pl ans o f cr uis ing to the checkered flag, Welch crossed th e finish tapped o u t in fifth gea r across so me o f th e ro ug hes t desert in th e world. and blasted th rough the cro wd . m ir acu lously m issin g th e specta to rs . So me 48 seco nds lat er . Hard en did a re pea t performance o f Welch . taking the flag a lmos t tot all y o u t o f control, a nd in do ing so , win n ing h is th ird Las Vegas 400 (pa rt ne r Larry Roeseler ha s four ) a nd h is fir st m aj or o ffroad vicrorv si nce h is 198 1 o vera ll Baj a 1000 ,,:in , In its seven-vear h istorv, the La s Vegas 400 h as esta blis hed {tse lf as th e prem ier o ff-roa d mot o rcycle race in the co untry . It 's th e best pa yin g , th e ro ug hes t and a lways field s the most ta len ted gro u p o f racers in the wor ld . T h is yea r, in add i tio n to th e h osti ng H acien da H o tel hein g involved, th e race a lso welco med th e su p port o f th e S tro h Br ew i n g Co mpa ny, wh o bro ught cas h fo r the purse ($2000 ad ded) and p rovided a n a fter race party wi th p len ty o f O ld Milwau kee beer to soa k u p . T he to ta l package made up o ne o f th e bes t run a nd m ost exciti ng races ever seen . At th e sta rt it was Cl ass 30 fav orite A .c. Bakken ta kin g ad va ntage o f hi s fir st o ff th e lin e sta rt ing po sition to lead ph ysicall y for th e first lap a nd a half. T he d us t was un bel ievable early in th e da y a nd a n ea rly sta rt was a definite h el p . Roeseler, stuc k nearl v at th e back of the pack . was forced io just mainta in fo r th e first .40 m iles. fig hting d us t a nd a sic k mot orcycl e. " It tr ied to sq uea k abo ut three tim es: ' recall ed Roeseler afte r th e first rider cha nge. wh ich left th em severa l m inutes beh in d . Actuall y, in elapsed tim e th ere were severa l team s with in a few m inut es o f eac h o ther a fter th e fir st comp lete la p , includ in g Harden / Roeseler. J ack J ohnson and Kris Mor gan. Kevin Welch and Ant ho ny Pasqua lot to, and th e Pf eiff er Bro th er s, SCO lt and Kurt! At the ha lfwav p oint o f lap two, J o hn son a nd Morgan had • made I mo ve a nd p ili th em selv es m to th e lead , stre tc hi ng i t to over 10 minut es by the beginnin g o f lo o p three. T h is was don e aboard a pai n fu lly bo x stoc k H onda XR 50 0. whi ch wa s pressed into service whe n th e p la n ned race bi ke bro ke d uring pre-run. Mo rga n had o n ly a bo u t 50 mil es to ta l o n a

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