Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Co-winner Dan Ashcraft is interviewed at the finish line. It was Ashcraft and Smith's fourth-straight off-road win.(Above right) Gary Jones and Bill Boyer rode to second overall, overcoming clutch troubles. Dave Wasden and Jim Mattox teamed for the Class 21 win after leader Mike Sixbery fouled a plug with two miles to go. SCORE Off-Road Series: Round 1 Smith/Ashcraft take Parker 400 By Lance Bryson PARKER, AZ, FEB. 4 Showing up amidst a surprised crowd at the finish, Dan "Book-'em Dan-O" Ashcraft and Dan "Sano Dan-O" Smith overcame a four-minute deficit to record the overall win on their XC500 Husky, posting a time of five hours, 13minutes and 17.58 seconds. The crowd at the finish line 12 wasn't expecting Ashcraft, but rather the XR500 Honda of Chuck Miller and Kevin Hopkins. They had four minutes on the Team Husky duo as they left for the second time around the 89.!J6-mile loop, but a broken transmission put an end to their stellar ride. Second overall went to the duo of Bill Boyer and Gary Jones on a semiHonda-support effort followed by the Husky of Larry Roeseler and Kurt Pfeiffer. They finished in spite of the fact that Pfeiffer had a nasty get-off on the California side. Fourth went to the Honda-mounted duoof Morgan Malocco and Chuck Pettigrew. David Wasden and Jim Mattox put their Yamaha atop the 250cc Class 21 when leader Mike Sixbery fouled a plug with only two miles left to go. The Honda of Donnie Morrison and Larry Fife were winners in Class 20 for 125cc bikes, despite the fact that Fife had not been expected to ride. Rider of record Pete Postel, however, was the unfortunate victim ofa traffic accident while pre-running just five days before the event, and he suffered two broken legs. Superstar Roeseler was the first to arrive at the first checkpoint on the IIO-mile California loop, where he quickly turned over his ride to teammate Pfei£fer. Pfeiffer, who had been looking for a ride for sometime and was now teaming with the master, blasted his way up Thunder Alley. Wildman Ch uck Steams seemed to have things going his way as he pulled into the second position by the first highway 95 crossing, but he suffered a rear flat which then came off the rim. Unable to cut the tire off, Stearns proceeded to wedge the tire between his knee and the bike. "That was the only thing I could do at the time," said Stearns. "The one thing that stuck in my mind was get to the next pit, which was Thunder Alley." Riding on the rim at speeds upwards of 50 mph, Stearns reached Thunder Alley in 15th position. Following Roeseler by five minutes was Miller, who was about to turn Hopkins loose. First Class 21 rider was Mike Sixbery who was riding solo and he trailed Gary Jones. Ashcraft had been in the hunt in third, but as the other front runners concerned themselves with changing riders and getting gas, Ashcraft concerned himself with trying to find his co-rider and gas before Thunder Alley. The 110-mile California loop is considered to be the tougher of the two loops, in particular, Thunder Alley. Without a doubt it's the longest stretch of road, 14 miles, and it sees speeds of 80-90 mph, but if there isn't any wind to blow the dust away, it's blinding. Word blasted across the radio that there was a leader change. Waiting for his teammate, early leader Roeseier could only comment, "I had no problem with my section - it was really pretty steady, Ijustcan't figure out what could go wrong." It was about that time Hopkins was spotted in the distance. Word came across that Pfeiffer had gotten off big time, but was up and headed for the finish. Boyer was next to come into the finish area after taking over from Jones at Thunder Alley. "The ride was neat - not one problem," said Jones later. "But there sure was a lot of dust." The Morgan Malocco/ Chuck Pettigrew Honda was the next to come in. When Pfeiffer arrived, it was evident that major damage had not only been done to Pfeiffer, but the machine as well. Sixbery was the first Class 21 machine, followed not far behind by the first Class 20 machine of Fife who had taken over from Morrison. Ashcraft and Smith ended the California side seven minutes down. With all riders being timed as they finished, they now had one hour of down time. In that hour, they had to travel 17 miles to the Arizona side and make any repairs that were needed. At the start of the two 89.!J6-mile Arizona loops, it looked as if Team Honda had a great chance at the title, but then anything can happen even with a seven-minute lead. Miller shot 0[£ the line on his XR big bore, followed by Jones four minutes later. When Smith started he knew what he had to do in order to place well: "I couldn't think of anything else, but to ride as hard and as fast as I could. At that point nothing else mattered." Sixbery started the Class 21 clocks first with the Second Class 21 team of Wasden/Mattlox getting away some five minutes later. Morrison started Class 21 on the Arizona side with a new top end that was changed during the downtime. "I felt it starting to slow down," said Fife, "and at one point it felt like it did stick, but it kept running." With repairs made to the Roese- Larry Roeseler and Kurt Pfeiffer finished third. ler/Pfeiffer bike, Larry took over the controls and the decision was made that Roeseler would solo the remainder of the race. "The front hub broke," Pfeiffer said. "I had almost a three minute lead going up Thunder Alley, then in the back section I felt the hub break when I hit a ditch, and the next thing 1 know I'm catching air. When 1 hit, it pitched me hard. What really hurt was my goggles pushed up inside my helmet, and as you can see it messed the right eye up." Uneasiness became apparent in the Honda pits when they heard that Miller was having some sort of transmission trouble, but Miller ended the first Arizona loop still four minutes ahead of the now-second-place Smith. Jones then blasted through on his way to start the second loop as did Sixbery, still leading Class 21. Ashcraft took over for Smith, with Smith saying, "I got word from one of the pits that we were only six minutes down, and when I turned the bike over to Dan they said we were then only three minutes down. I think we're still in the hunt." It was now a matter of playing the waiting game as to who would take checkers first. Ashcraft blasted into the finish area first a!Tlongst a sur· prised group of onlookers, saying, "] knew I was only three minutes down so 1 went as hard as 1 could. At my next pit they said 1was leading. I saw Chuck off on the side of the course, but 1didn't know if that was his race bike or pre-runner or if he was getting ready to change riders. Other than that, the day was quite easy." With Miller and Hopkins out, neXl into the finish was Boyer, not more than five minutes down. Jones stated earlier that, "I had clutch problems at the start of my section, and at times 1 couldn't even pull fifth without nursing it." Boyer said, "It was the worst dust problem I've been in. There was one time when 1 was following Roeseler the dust was so bad that 1 hit something, flew in the air, and remained there long enough to ask myself if I was on the ground or still in the air. I got real tired the last eight miles: 1 don't know if the suspension went away or if I did - but it was fun." First in Class 21 was another surprise. Instead of Sixbery, Mattox blasted his YZ into the finish. "Everything went great. It was just a matter of charging all day. Sixbery was the big leader aJl day, and it was only four miles out that we passed him off the side of the road." Sixbery then came in, saying that he had fouled a plug only four miles from the finish. He finished third behind the Dave Chase/Brett Howell's Husky Class 22. Morgan Malocco/Chuck Pettigrew made up a considerable amount of time on the Arizona side, in fact

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