Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ >- '" lJ) a fa :I: ~ 00 O"l ll. ...... ~ eo C'I >- l-l C':l ~ C C':l ~ Larry Roeseler entered in the 250cc division and ended up fourth overall. first 250. Hu sky rider Brett Howell was second in the class . Chris Crandall rode consistently on his 1985-model ATK four-stroke for his second major off-road win in two months, Whiske)J Pete's World Championship II Hare and Hound Crandqll thumps cQmpetition By Larry Langley STATELI NE, NV, JAN . 13 ATK rider Ch ris Crandall proved his Barstow-to-Vegas win was n o t a flu ke by ta ki n g the o verall win o ver p erhaps the most ta lented group of riders ever ass embled for a desert race in the second a n n ual Wh isk ey Pete's World Champi o ns h ip II H a re a nd H ound. Crandall rode his ATK four- 12 stro ke to a five-minu te victory margin over second overa ll Na tiona l endu ro and ISD E rider Kevin H ines (H us ). H ines had never co m pe ted in th e desert before thi s event which really bl ew th e m inds o f th e experts. Bu t th is race did not go to form. O rgan izer Casey Fo lks p romised a World Champ ionsh ip ca liber co u rse and h e prod uced . Ma ny riders sta ted that it was the best desert race th ey h ave ever ridd en . It was certain ly cha llengin g as less than ha lf the over 200 riders fin ish ed th e 160-m ile, fourloop event . T h e course was nc:'t set u p for high speeds, ra th er it was m ostly a tigh t, tech n ica l ski ll co urse with a lot of roc ks thrown in to keep ever yo ne o n their toes. Wh ile last year 's inaugural event o n ly dr ew 70 rid ers with a $300 entry fee, Fo lks lined up th e Whi skey Pete's Casi no at Sta teline to put up th e $20,000 cash p urse a llowi ng a much more reasonable $100 entry fee th is yea r. With th e big purse up for gra bs th e race beca m e the race to enter. Not enough credi t ca n be given to G ar y a nd G reg Prim m , owner o f Whiskey Pete's Casin o for th e h osp itali ty th ey affo rded the riders. After registra tion o n Sa tu rday, p it crews co m pe ted for over $ 1,000 cas h in the Du ra lu be P it Crew Challe nge. Th ree classes were ru n : 0-200, Open a nd ATV s. Th e co ntest wa s set up as fo llows: Two peo p le were a llowed to pit for eac h rider. The riders in each class lin ed up in a mass start, rode to th e waiting pit crews (ap p ro xim a tely 50 yards ), There th e bike was thrown o n a cra te o r sta nd . Th err the fro nt wheel had to be co m p letely taken off th e bike, lifted over a pit crew member's h ead a n d re- ins ta lled, Mean whil e, th e rider ha d to h ave a goggle cha nge; a nd a washer th at was zipti ed to on e si de of the bik e, had to be re-insta lled on th e o ther side o f th e bi ke, Then it was a dr ag-race to th e fin ish line. Senior rider Art Kna p p put together a pr etty h eavyweig ht pi t crew o f former desert ra cers A.C. Bakken a nd Brent Wall ingsford a nd they sm oked th e co mpeti tio n with a time of 24 secon ds to win th eir class a nd esta bli sh the fastest overa ll time, They sp lit $250 for th eir effort and the specta tors go t a big kick o u t of it. T he 0-250cc class was wo n by (rac e promoter 's so n) Daryl Fo lks a n d his crew with a time of 48 seco nds At8: 55 a.m ., Ja ck J oh nso n left th e sta rti ng line o n h is four-stroke Husky as th e " ha re" wi th a bountv on hi s hi de. T h e first rid er to ca tch him wou ld ea rn $500. If he got to the first ga s with out being ca ugh t, th e first ri de r th rough gas o ne would earn th e $500 with eac h lead in g cla ss winner pi ck ing up $100. At 9:00 a.m., th e Duralube banner dropped for th e O pen class and th e fir st wa ve ki cked th eir bi kes a nd head ed for the smoke bomb near Kactu s Kat e's Cas ino a short two mil es away. The co urse funnel ed into a narrow ch ute a t th e bomb and th e firs t rider th ro ugh was Yamaha rider Ted Hunn icutt with T eam H usky rider Dan Ash craft in ho t p urs uit fo llowed by loca l favorite Ant hony Pasq ual otto (M-S). Hunn icutt's lead was short lived as h e bailed off. H e was u nh u rt and was right back u p sti ll in th e top 10. T h e nex t wave was the 250cc class and m ot ocross rider Eric H allgath (H a n) h ad a very short lead ove r Dav id Wasden (Yam), Idaho rid er Dan Husk ey (Su z), Brad McLead ' (H a n) , Sea n Stee le (H a n ) a nd favorite La rr y Roeseler (H us). H all gath 's ride ca me to a n en d a co up le of m ile s do w n the tra il as his bike seized . H e li m ped ba ck to th e pi ts very di sappoi nted . Kur t Pfeiffer (H u s) endoed and hurt h is elbo w a nd wr ist putting h im o ut. The I25cc start had Duan e Summers (Ca g) in second trying to ca tch David Hoesch (H a n) , wh o go t to th e ch u te first, wi th Joh n Braasch J r. (Kaw) in th ird follo wed by Mi ke Palm er (Ya m ) a nd Mike Kell ey (Suz), T h e Class 30 (30 years a nd u p ) sta rt had Pete Shee ha n (KT M) in th e lead followed by Pa ul Bennett (KT M) a nd Steve P itts (C -A). Sheehan had the only 1985 500MXC in the Uni ted Sta tes . H e p icked it u p fro m KTM Wed nesday nigh t, ra n a tank of gas through it T hursda y a nd Fr ida y to brea k it in a nd raced it Su nday. Wh en th e I25cc class sta rted, Sheeha n moved to the starting line and p romptl y fo u led a p lug! H e to re h is fann y p ack o ff to ge t h is too ls o ut, fumbl ed around a bit and got the p iug cha nged, put hi s fan n y pack a nd goggles back o n , looked u p a nd th e banner was up! Si n ce the bike h ad been sitting for so lo ng, it was a bi t co ld a n d took th ree kicks to fi re it off bu t he sti ll led a t the bo m b. C lass 38 (th e o ld er g uys ) ha d Nevada legen d Max Switzer (H us) lead ing a t th e bo m b, chased by ISD E rid er and AMA D-36 nu mber o ne Gary Van d erpoo l ( KT M) and favori te R icha rd J ackson (H us) . Chu ck Pett igrew had to return to th e sta rt to find his pit cre w when h is tri ck P a r i s-to - Da ker fo am -f i ll ed Mich elin tire popped o ff th e bead ! App ar ent ly th e wire bead ca me apa rt . After a rear-wh eel chan ge, Pett igrew go t go ing aga in , down 15 minu tes. Loop One ac tio n saw hare J ack Joh nson break down abou t 30 mi les out. Pro MX er Carlos Serranos (H us) was the firs t bike to pass J ohns on a nd ca p tured the 500 bounty. First 250cc to pas s the hare was Brad McLeod (H a n) wh ile Duane Summers (Cag) pi cked up the $ IOOfor th e first 125cc through. At Gas One. the first bike th rough was Anthon y Pasqua louo looki ng very smoo th on h is factory M-Sta r. Se rra no wa s seco nd w hi le Tea m Husk y ride r a nd defending cha m p io n Dan Smith was th ird with a flat front tire. Sm ith was su ffering from th e flu , th ough , an d was not feeli ng very good. Another T eam Husky rider. Sco t H ar den , was fourth fo llowed by Hunn icu tt who had m oved up co n sidera b ly a fte r hi s ge t-o ff. Mi ke " Do wn h ill" Alexander (Yam) ca me in dragging h is rear brak e arm as o ne of th e many rocks took its toll , First 250cc in was Brad McLeod w ith RoeseIer right behind him. Su mmers was exten di ng hi s lead over th e next 125cc

• Cover