Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Nineteen-year-old Duane Summers rode a new Cagiva to first in the 125cc class. He was 15th overall. by a good five mi n utes and was really pumped . The co u rse into Gas Two ran over a hill ri ght behind Wh iske y Pete's Ca sino and down a ro cky ledge, p ro viding a spectacula r view for the spec ta tors. Fir st in was Pasqual o tto with a huge five-minute lead over Brad Turnidge (KT M). Oregon rider Turnidge was o pe n ing some eyes with his smooth, fast style and showed no sig ns o f being over-awed by th e mor e well -kn own competitio n. Third in was H arden with ISDE rider Hines moving a ll th e way u p to fourth ! Hines a p pa ren tly was tak in g a lik in g to th e tough desert terrain as he wa s look ing smooth. Fifth ove ra ll wa s the big 560cc Ro tax pow ered fourstro ke o f Cra n da ll. Roeseler had moved h is 250 a ll th e way up to ninth overa ll a fter sta rt ing in th e second wavel The next 250 down th e downhill was McLeod , wh o sca ttered specta tors with a sho u t of "Look out, no front brak e!" as he bounced hi s way down. Su m mers still led the 125s foll ow ed by Virgin ia City and Bar stow -to-Vegas 125 winner j eff Miller from Idaho on hi s KXI25 Kaw asaki. Nevad a rider Larry j ob (Hon) had moved u p a nd th e th ree riders wo uld cha lle nge eac h 'o ther for the I25cc lea d right to th e fin ish lin e. The Cl ass 30 lead er was still Sheeh an with local rider Bobby Davidson on a 250cc Husky tryin g to reel in Shee ha n 's 500cc' KTM. Van derpool moved into the Class 38 lead for good with Preston Gerber (KT M) moving up to cha llenge. Dan Smith 's flu bug had gotte n the best o f h im a nd a fter sto pp ing numero us times to th ro w up , he fin all y quit. " I just could n' t hang on anymor e, I was just too weak . I've had it for three week s an d it has just sap ped a ll m y energy," sai d Smi th. Loop Three was th e deciding loop in the race. A bit o fcon troversy spru ng up wh en some o f th e riders in th e top 10ina dverte nt ly found themselves o n Loop Four, wh ich par alleled Loop T h ree for eig h t mi les. So me ribbon appar entl y was torn do wn , a llow ing the riders to co nti n ue and hit Loop Fou r. T he rider s o n Loop Four were d ivert ed back o nto Loop T h ree and no pen alty was as sessed as it was felt th ey had ridden the same d ista nce as th e riders who found Loo p Three. . The marking was qu ickl y corrected and mos t riders never got o nto Loop Four. Loop Three brought Pasqual ott o 's ride to a n end wh en h is bike o verheated a nd seized. Harden inherited th e lead on ly to seize hi s Husky when a cras h weak en ed th e juncti on whe re th e radi ator h oses come together a nd he lost hi s coolant. Crandall pa ssed Turnidge a nd Hines and ca me in to Gas Three with a five-minute lead. At Barstow- to- Vega s it was C h ris Who? No w th ey kn ew. Crandall was p u m ped. He left Gas T hree and almost lost th e race whe n he h it some ro ugh st uff leavin g th e pits go in g w ay too fast a nd did a big swa p pe r. But Crandall is n ot ni cknam ed " Ani ma l" for nothing. H e muscled th e ATK back into contro l and pow ered o ff onto th e last loop kn owin g th e victory was his if he ro de sma rt . T u rn idge was second into Gas T hree with Hines right behind. Tea m H onda mem ber s Chuck Miller an d Randy Moral es were mounted on new CR500s. a departu re from th eir XR500s. T hey felt th e XR s wouldn't be competitive in the to ug h Nevada desert so H onda let the m ride CRs. T hey really liked th e bikes but th e sma ll MX ga s tanks were th eir undoin g. Mor ales ra n o u t of gas f ive tim es, th e first while leadin g on th e first loop. He fin all y hung it up. Miller left G as T wo wi th two one -ga llon gas cans stra pped to h is belt and finished. Team Husky's Dan Ashcraft broke a handl eba r mountin g bolt and lost a lot o f time repairin g it bu t was makin g up a lot of time . Hunnicutt left Gas T h ree a nd went a lo ng ways up th e trail wi tho u t seein g a nyo ne . H e h ad he ard th e ru mor s of the rider s o n Loop Fo ur a nd fearin g he wa s on Loop Four, turned arou nd a nd came bac k to the gas stop. It cos t him some time as it turned o ut he was o n th e cor rect loo p and shou ld n' t have come back. After a re-gas, he head ed back o ut. Serra nos wa s still riding th e best he co u ld wi thout a rear brak e bu t it reall y slowe d h im d own. R o g er McCabe (Hon) h ad moved into the top 10 but burned himself ou t o n th e fir st two loops a nd was pretty well wh ip ped o n loops th ree an d four. " I was just su rviving, " said McCabe. Kadl ec had a fla t tire on loop three a nd sa w H ard en 's bike parked. A qu ick whee l cha nge an d he wa s back o n his way with H arden 's rea r whee l mounted. Spectat ors at the finish co u ld fo llow th e p rogress o f th e lead rid er across th e valley by wat chin g th e h el icopter tr ack him. Finall y th e booming sou nd o f a four-strok e annou nced th at Chris Cr andall had repeated h is Barstow-to-Vegas win with a well -earned victory over th e best desert riders an d machines in th e Un ited Stat es. Crandall was wh ipped but oh-so-ha p py . His dad was bounc- Eastern woods spec ialist Kevin Hi nes came to Las Vega s to rac e his first desert race ever; he w ent home w it h sec on d overall. ing off everyone and H orst Le it ne r (designe r a nd manufacturer of th e ATK ) was o n hand wi th a big sm ile on h is face. Five minutes lat er Kevin Hines slid into the fini sh line much to the amazeme nt o f all th e cri tics wh o predicted that th e eas tern riders would ge t th eir doors blown ' o ff in ' th e desert. H in es wa s exha usted but sa id he would be back next year to win it a ll. A few minutes la ter Brad T u rn idge coasted h is 495 KTM in for a well earned th ird overall . The Oregon desert racer wa s ver y, very happy a nd ' pleased. In a t fourth overall in an amazing rid e was Larry Roe seler o n h is 250XC Husky. Roeseler ma y have had a ch ance for the overall if he had started in th e fir st wave. H e did n ot h a ve any problem s and said h e was just cru ising since it didn 't make any sense to race with th e big bikes wh en they weren 't in h is class. The 125cc Class Ch ampionship ca me right down to th e fin ish with eithe r Sum mers, job or Miller having a ch ance. Luck helped decid e th e cham pions h ip wh en both j ob a n d Su m mers ra n o ut o f gas. Miller had a cha nce to win but ran o ff a five-foot ledge a rid crash ed , costi n g him a few minutes an d the win. Su m mers got gas and passed j ob wh o ran o u t within sight o f the fini sh line. j ob fin ished 20 seconds ba ck. First in Class 30 was Pete Sh eeh an, who led all th e way o n hi s new KTM . His o n ly p robl em was w he n he hit a h idden roc k, flew through a cac tus a n d landed with th e bike o n top of h im. It took him a few minutes to get o u t from undern eath it. But he had a big enoug h lead th at it didn 't matter. Shee ha n wanted to especiall y thank Duralube an d KTM for busting th eir ta ils in gett ing th e new bike to him. Local rid er Bobby Davidson (KT M) took seco nd in Class 30. Class 38 wa s dominated by Gar y Vanderpool o n h is 495 KTM . Vanderpool ca me in 40th overall while secon d in Cla ss 38 went to Kirby H ouston in 54th overall, edging ou t long-tim e rider Preston Gerber (KT M) wh o finished right behind him. Art Knapp received a specia l troph y for th e o ldest rider to fini sh a t 53years-o ld. Kna pp seized hi s Husky on th e bomb run an d so babied it to the fini sh . Dan Hu skey from Idah o h ad a good 250cc ride until a flat tire a n d a 12-minute tire cha nge put him back a bit . H e still finish ed fifth in class, ninth overal l. Wh at was reall y g reat a bout th is race was that any desert racer could enter without the need of ex tens ive pits and expensive pre-running. None was a ll owed. The $100 entry fee was rea son abl e and a lot of riders got it back as promot er Folks tried to pa y back as many places as he co u ld down to ei gh th place O pen, for exam ple. The even t was well -ru n , wellorgan ized an d well- received by the riders . - Results OVERAll: 1. Chris Crandall (ATK); 2. Kevin Hines lHus); 3. Brad Twniclge (KT~); 4. Larry Roeseler lHu s); 5." r ed Hunnicun (Yam); 6. Cerlos Serrenos (Hus); 7. d ab Runen (Han); B. Brett Howell (Hus); 9. . Kurt Pleiffer (Hus); 10. Rodger McCabe (Han). OPEN: 1. Chr is Crendell (ATK); 2. Kevin Hines (Hus); 3. Bra~ Turnidge (KTM); 4. Ted Hunnicutt (Yam); 5. Carlos Serranos (Hus); 6. Bob Runen (Han);. 7. Kurt PlelH.r IHus); 8. Rodger McCabe (Hon); 9. Oan Ashc reft (Hus); 10. Royd Bradley (HuI). 250: 1. Larry Roeseler (Hus ); 2. Brett Howell (Hus); 3. Daryl Folks (HuI); 4 . Frilz Kadlec (Hus); 5. Dan Huskey (Suz); 6. M ike Powers (Han); 7. Karl Seiberling (KTM); B. Chuck Rush (Hus); 9. Rendy Hawkins (Hus) ; 10 . Alan Peterson (KTM ). 125 : 1. Duane Summers(Ceg); 2. LarryJobIHon); 3. JeH Mi ller lKaw); 4. Brya n Folks (Suz); 5. Kevin Cese (Yam); 6. Mike Palmer (Yem); 7. M ike Kelly (Suz ~ B. M ike Jewell (Sud; 9. Gene Elzenberger (Kew ); 10. Joey Lane (Han). CLASS 30: 1. Pete Sheehen (KTM); 2. Bobby Davidson (Hus); 3. Steve Subith (Han); 4. Paul BennenlKTMI; 5. Stave Pinl(C·A); 6. Rick Jones(Yam); 7. Darryl Ellis (yem ); 8. Richard Welch (Yam~ 9. Wayne Cartton (M· S); 10. Wes Anderson (Kaw ). CLASS 3B: 1. Gary Vanderpool (KTM); 2. Kirby Houston (Yam); 3. Preston Gerber (KTM); 4. Max Swttzer (Hus); 6. Don Whitehorn (Suz); 6. John Dialogue lHonm) ; 7. AI Guzman (Suz); B. Lae Carmody (KTM ); 9. George Erl (Hus); 10. Art Knapp (Hus). 13

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