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(Above) Early leader Dan Smith crashed twice and hurt his shoulder. but
still finished second overall. (Below) In a farewell motorcycle racing
appeerance. Jack Johnson played the hare to the hounds. He seized.
Dan Smith continued to ride hot. winning the tough 157-mile event with
an eight-minute "ad. Smith has proved to be tough in Nevada.
World Championship
Hare & Hound
Smith smokes as
Husky sweeps
By Dale Brown
STATELINE/SLOAN, NV, JAN. 8
Team Husqvarna's Dan Smith continued
his hot streak, turning in a torrid performance to dominate the 157-mile World
Championship Hare & Hound. Teammates
Dan Ashcraft and Larry Roeseier were only minules behind
Smilh, laking second and lhird
for a Swedish sweep.
''I'm tired," was the first thing
Smith had to say to race director
Casey Folks at the finish, adding "Il
was a good event, really challenging.
I must have been the last one of( the
line, but I passed Dan (Ashcraft) for
the lead about 60 miles ago."
Other H usqvarna riders doing well
were 250cc winner Kent Miller and
Class ~8 champ Richard Jackson. In
the 125s, Caqiva pilot Duane Summers overcame a 10l of adversity for
the win, while Honda-mounted Steve
Subith had a smooth ride en route to
the Class ~O blue ribbon.
This event grew out of an idea five
months ago to have the country's top
deserl racers going head to head in a
professional event as opposed to the
team race format of Folks' other
money-paying race, the Las Vegas
400. Folks enlisted the sponsorship
aid of Duralube, Skoal Bandits and
Whiskey Pete's Casino, then laid out
the well-marked, tight and challenging course. Allhough less than 70
riders started, al most all of the big
guns in deserl racing were there.
The race began at Stateline, with
each class starling in its own wave,
five minutes aparl. Counting the
ATVs and the real "hare"- for this
race, there were seven starls.
The "hare" or "Skoal Bandit" was
none other than Las Vegas star Jack
Johnson, making what could be his
final motorcycle-competition appearance. The rules were simple. Johnson
got a five-minute headstarl, and the
first rider to catch him before the
finish would get $500 from Skoal. As
it turned out, Johnson maintained
his five minutes over the nearest
competitor for the first ~O miles or so,
but then the Husky he was riding
