Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126809
; > Ul --' t:l Z ~ > a: a: ~ > a3 e - rJl ... 0 0 ~ 00 O"l :l: e, ~ CD ...c:: u M C"j ~ _ . Yam aha rider Ted Hunnicutt rode to the ove rall and Open Expert wins at the Brushbusters hare scrambles. Brushllusters »-37 .Ha re SeramllJes Hunnieutt brushes off eompe~ition By Larry Langley LUCERNE VALLEY, CA. FEB. 24 T ea m Yamaha/ AXO / Dural u be-sponsored T ed Hunnicutt edge d Honda rider Ch uck Miller for the overall win at the Brushbusters AM A D-37 hare scrambles on a dusty.ichallenging course. The Brush busters promised a new camping area off of Camp Rock R oad in Lucerne and 24 ended up pitting a bo u t three miles north o f Anderson Dry Lake a t the intersect ion of Camp Rock Ro ad a nd the powerline road. The bomb run ran par allel to Camp Rock Road south tow ards the pit area , crossin g the powerline road and funnelling into a rocky canyon . The 10 a.m . start gave every one a little extra sleep and a few anxious riders saw the banner twitch and fired up their bikesjust a tad early. Number one 250cc rider Derrick Paiement (Hus ) kicked his Husky to life and let the clu tch out only to rea lize the banner was still up! He immediately stopped and waited for the banner to actually drop but a couple of other riders reportedly got a five-second head sta rt on th e field whe n they al so thought the banner had dropped. When the dus t cleared, num ber one 250cc Senior rider Jim Brin gh u rst had crashed in a gully and In vaders M.e. member Cleon Loonsfoo t gave up his ride for the day and stopped to assist. Loonsfoot rod e back to retrieve a nd guide Rescue 3 to the accident scene an d then rode back to th e'sta rt to make sure th e Novi ces/Begin ners didn 't sta rt until Rescue 3 had Bringhurst o ff the bomb run . T heracea t the bomb had Hunnicutt in th e lead closel y foll ow ed by Miller. Third was 250cc rid er Eddi e Ogden (Yam) with P. Krause, Ron Shuler ( Ya m) , AI Cunnin gh am , Mik e "Downhill " Alexander (Yam) , Eri c H allgath ( H o n) a n d Ken Oviatt (KT M) chasing th e leaders o n a singlefil e ro cky trail th at mad e passing extremely ha zardous. Near the en d o f th e pack came a three-wheeler (#B40) obviousl y not knowing he was supposed to start with th e Novic es, n ot th e Experts/Amateurs. H e rod e a good race but ended up being disqualified. Viewfinders M.e. member Craig Rimlinger fell during th e bomb run a nd wisel y decided to pit for his club members instead of riding. Dunn Voyer was right up in th e pack on his YZ80 Yamaha but was soo n pushing hi s bike back. He hit a rock that crushed the ex haus t pipe so flat th e motor wo u ld n' t run l Pai ement came limping back aft er the bomb with a flat tire. Luckily th e pits were just before th e bomb and he changed a wheel. However, he did not get going again u ntil the Novices started. Finally 45 m inut es a fter th e Experts/ Am a teurs left, th e Nov ice/Beginner race started. At the bomb, Randy Mclntyre had th e lead with Veteran rider Robert Lancaster in th e top five followed by Steven Otis. Just 10 minutes a fter th e Novi ces go t going, the leading Ex pert riders Chuck M iller fought his way through t he dust for second overall on his Honda CR500. He held the lead momentarily before Hunnicutt took over. came through th e pits for their gas stop. Hun nicutt still he ld a slim lead over CR500-mounted Mi ller. Miller wasn 't taking a ny chances of running out of ga s like hedid at Whiskey Pete's, so h e had a Turtle Tank mounted on th e rear fender for add itiona l gas. Hallgath had powered h is Answer Products CR250 Honda to third overall . first 250, with Ogden right on hi s tail. Duralube-sponsored Alexander moved up to fifth with Viewfinders M.C. member Charlie Barney (C-A) look ing to mak e a move o n him. Th e next riders th rough were Wes Anderson j r., O viatt o n his new Pro-Cycle-spon sored 500 MX liquid coo led KTM a n d new Expert Jullian Guerr a leading the 175s o n h is Kaw asaki. Sh u ler mad e it to his View fin ders pits, but hung it up as he sei zed hi s new Yam aha YZ490 o n the first loop. Brett Howell (H us) cra shed so hard on loop one th at he broke his handl ebars in hal f. Hunnicull left h is pit and too k the wrong trail a nd bailed pretty hard rig h t in front o f th e main pit area a nd go t right back up. but Miller got a ro u n d him to assume th e lead. Soon th e Experts/Amateurs were passing th e lat e-starting Beginners/Novices which was a problem du e to the heavy dust. Hunnicutt rep assed Mill er in traffi c an d th e dust was so bad Mill er never saw Hunnicutt pa ss him. "I thought I was sti ll in the lead until I ca me into a checkpoint and they told me I was seco nd!" said Mill er. " I don 't know wh ere he got me for sure, the dust was real bad. " . " Ch uck (M ill er ) went wide on a corner and I cut inside and got him" sta ted Hunnicutt. Miller's rear tire went flat soon th ereafter and anv chan ce of cat ching Hunnicutt evaporated with th e loss of air. At the finish it was Hunnicutt with a comfortable lead over Miller. Hallgath took third overall, fir st 250cc for the fifth race in a row; the yo u n g man is certainly on a roll. Alexander got b O gden for fo u rt h overall. In at seventh ove rall was a pie p Iate on a new 1985 Honda XR600 - it was end uro/ ISDE rider Drew Smith do ing some du ra bi li ty testing for AI Bake r a n d Hond a. Another fou r- stroke Honda in at ninth overall was the first Veteran , former number one rider Jim Fishback. The Veteran class is ge tti ng pr ett y tough this year with some o f th e best desert racers in D-37 h istory turn ing 30. Ph il Gorgone (KT M) rounded o u t the top 10 and wanted to thank Pro -Cycle a nd Lubridyne. First 175cc bi ke in at 11th overall was Tom Elias (Pro-Cycle/ Duralube) on hi s new KTM . Veteran rider Bob Adams came in with hi s Yamaha so u nding kind of ratty. His pipe had sp li t open and his pit crew in desperation had zip-tied an a lu min u m Mountain Dew can over the hole in his pipe. Amazingl y it held togeth er a nd he finished. Joanna Brownell (AXO / H us) took th e fir st lady honor s again and lookin g good do ing so. Troy Swafford (Hon ) fin ish ed a bo u t 25th o vera ll but was sa tisfied as he is comi ng o ff a very bad sho u lder injury two yea rs ago. His sho ulder looks to be a bo u t 80% well a n d he is happy to be riding. Desert M.C . member Dave Wilcox won th e Sen ior Open Novi ce class for th e la st tim e, it was hi s fin al transfer to Am at eu r sta tus . Sen io r rider Ed Farrell (who is back from a triplebyp ass open-heart su rgery) was a proud papa. h is son Brent rode his firs t-ever desert race and won the 125cc Beginner class. Most riders like th e co u rse, it was challenging a nd well laid ou t. The Brushbusters included at least 15miles of virgin trail to tie in with regular trai ls. • Results OVERALL: 1. Ted Hunnicutt (Vam t 2 . Chuck Miller (Hon) ; 3 . Eric Hallgath (Han ); 4 . Mike A lex· andar (Yaml; 5 . Eddie Ogden (Yam); 6. Ken Ov ian (KTM I; 7 . Drew Smith (Hont 8. Charlie 8arney (CA ); 9. J im Fishba ck (Han); 1D. Phil Gorgon e (KTM~ OPEN EX: 1. Hunnicutt (Yam~ 2. M iller (Hanl; 3. AJexander (Yam) . 250 EX: 1. Hallgath (Honl; 2. Ogden (Yamt 3. Gorgon e (KTM) . 175 EX: 1. Tom Etias(KTM~ 2. SconAnderson;3. Jullian Guerr a (Kawt. OPEN AM: 1. Dale Unek; 2. 11340; 3. Steve Garn er. 250 A M : 1. #211 X; 2. D. Hopk ins ; 3. J . Panain. 17 5 A M : 1. Sean Brad ley; 2 . Brian Str achan; 3. Gary Christie. OPEN NOV: 1. Randy Mcintyre; 2. Jeff BocohilIon ; 3 . Lon Brad. 250 NOV : 1. #2 68. ; 2. #2 82.; 3 . M . 8 urch . 17 5 NOV : 1. Nor ma n Howard; 2. David Alford ; 3. Robert a aehr (Yaml. VET OP EX: I. Ji m Fishba ck; 2. WesAnde rsonJr.: 3. Doug Er lemann. VET OP A M : 1. #V206; 2. Tom Sagehorn ; 3 . Joe Krogstad. VET OP NOV : 1. M ike Mulconery; 2. Stev en Mitchell; 3. John M ars h . VET 250 EX: 1. Bill Becker (Han); 2 . #V11 2x ; 3. B. Eise le. VET 25DAM: 1. Ted OYerh olt ; 2. T. Morgan ; 3 . K. Hogden . VET 250 NOV : 1. Eddie M cK en zie; 2 . #V I44x; 3. Chuck Lennox. SR OP EX: 1. Art Kn app (Hus ): 2 . Di ck Postma; 3. John Reev es. SR OP A M : 1. John Hesskk ; 2. Lee Denning; 3. 80b Scon (Han). SR OP NOV: r. Dave Wilcox; 2. Jim McC lure; 3. Bill M itchell. SR 250 EX: 1. Earl Shuler (Yam) ; 2. Don W hite· horn; 3. A I Guzman (SUt) . SR 250 A M : 1. Denn is W il son; 2. Les Stiffler; 3. Wayne Goodman. SR 250 NOV: 1. Jim Aunt. SR 175 EX: 1. Ed Ogde n; 2. Dave Kiersting; 3 . Ji m Harper.