Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jeff Fredette was six points off the pace as he finished second overa ll on hi s Kawasaki KDX200 w ith a score of 27. Terry Cunningham took his 500AE automatic to the overa ll w in in ro und two of the 1985 National Enduro Championship. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 2 Cunningham romps in Brickhouse 100 By Gary Van Voorhis WHITMIR E, SC , FEB . 24 In a co m m an d performance, Terry Cunningham tu r ned in a su per b ride to h andily win the Brickh o u se 100 National and give notice he is out to win a third se ri es t i t l e . Cunni ngham, ridi ng h is H usqvarna Automa tic in a very aggressive man ner, turned in a 2 1-point score to ' easily beu er . 12 " th e 27-p oint ride o f Ka wa sa ki rid er J eff Fred ett e. " If all th e Nation a ls were like this o ne I'd sa y righ t now th at I co u ld win a third titl e with no swea t," sa id Cunningham a fter hi s win. " Unfo rtunately, th ey a ren't," Mik e Melt on , th e 1983 National Ch ampion, took himself o u t o f co nten tion for th e ti tle in crash two da ys before the National. Melt on broke two bones in h is lo wer left forearm a nd wa s operated o n 10 repair nerv e damage on Tuesday fo llowing the even t. Melton. with a win in th e series opener, had been favored in the Ca ro lina Nati ona l. The sponsoring Columbia End uro R iders used th e Brickhouse Campgrou nd area in th e Sumter Nationa l Forest for th e first tim e since 1979. T he three-loop la yout ga ve th e riders a n optimum time o f six hours o f rid ing. Included in th e nea rly 400 riders o n hand were a stro ng cross sectio n o f th e best in hare scra m bli ng a nd ISD E competi tion as well as nea rl y two thirds of the AA-ranked riders in th e seri es. Dwigh t Rudder a nd fellow H usk y rider Ray Mungen astl ed the AA class riders - each spaced at least o ne row a pan - off the start, :'At first I though t th e early n umber and being th e seco nd AA ride r out wou ld be a pro blem ," said Mungenast, " bu t o nce I got sta rted it worked o u t a lright. T hey threw th e good stu ff at you right away w ith a lon g section o f bogs and some cree k cross ings wh ich had sa n dy botto ms. Th e cree ks were a problem and cost me so me poin ts." Darr yl Kuenzer, wh o fini sh ed third overa ll a board a Hu sky, was a lso a mong the first AA riders o ut, but Kuenzer is o ne o f those ri ders wh o likes a n early number. " I tr ied 10 ge t th e orga nize rs 10 ch ange m y n umber 10 a lat er o ne beca use I wa nted to replace m y rear brake shoes a nd I d idn ' t have m uc h time. They wouldn' t and I did a rush job th at tu rned out alrigh t," said Kuenzer aft erward. Gas crews were treated 10 a very easv day since the orga nizers loca ted th egas SlOpS at the end of the first a nd seco nd loop righ t a t the stan/fi nis h ar ea. That a llowed many riders 10 ge t in a bit of extra ma in ten an ce which th ey othe rwise might not hav e had tools and/or pans for. Geoff Ballard was one who used hi s ti me at the seco nd sto p 10 repai r a p robl em with his front brake, but hi s work went for nothing. " I thought I had th e brakes fixed, " sa id Ba lla rd , " bu t soon a fter I left the gas stop I lost the use of the fro nt brake co mpletely. T hen it sta rted to rain and the two thi ngs co m bined cost me a poi n t or two," Can-Am 's Ba llard carded a 31-poi nt tall y 10 land hi m in seventh overa ll via some good sco res in th e two tiebreaker checks whi ch p u t h im o n top of a tied score wi th Bar ry H iggin s and Mungenast , Fifth ove ra ll was also decided a t the tiebrea kers with Ca n -Am 's Joh n Martin edgi ng Husq varn a's Dave Bertram a t 30 points. " I need two or three even ts 10 get back th e edge," said Marti n. "You ca n' t ge t too much practi ce in th e wintertime in Dulu th , Minneso ta. Th is wa sn 't the best type of terrain for me with all those swa mpy sect io ns because I'm too cotto n pi ck ing short 10 do much wh en I rea lly ge t stuck." Bertra m not ed th e soggy co nditions in the first to ugh section sayi ng th at ge lling stuc k two tim es wh ile tryin g 10 ge t arou nd other riders bogged down cost him two to th ree poi nts. " After ge ll ing stuc k a n d kn owing I lost those ex tra p oints I go t a bit detuned and wasn 't on th e gas enough for th e rest o f th e da y." H iggin s, who took th e overa ll wi n in th e A di vision , had o ne o f the funn ier inci de nts o f th e day happen 10 h im . " I wa s ru n ni ng a lo ng fu ll tilt in th ird gea r wh en sudde n ly th ere was this chec k right in front o f me," rel ated Hi ggin s. " I locked up both brak es, tipped th e bi ke over a nd slid th rough wh ich ca use d qu ite a bit o f exci teme nt. It didn 't faze th e guy who was do in g the chec ki ng beca use h e came ove r and marked m y ca rd wh ile I was lyin g on the ground," H iggin s, aboa rd a KTM out of his H &H Ma ico-H usq varn a-KTM shop, a lso h ad advice for those riders who got stuck or had problems with th e creek cross ings . "Turn th e thrott le wi de open in third gear a nd shu t yo u r eyes," he said whi le trying 10 su p p ress a gri n. Pete Leonard, the New Engla nd T ra il Riders Association's enduro and hare scrambles champion, made h is trip to South Carolina worthw h ile by p icking u p seco nd place in the 250cc A class. Fritz Kadlec had o ne of those days yo u a lways hear a bo u t and hope it n ever happen s to you. " If one thin g went wrong, everyt hi ng went wrong," sai d Kadl ec 'after th e run . " I burned th e first check an d th en sa t the re di sput in g it wi th th e chec k p eople. After tha t, I go t stuck in rnudhol es a co u p le of tim es a nd th en , to top it off , I got th e m il eage o ff at a reset a nd th at cost me m or e poi nts . It was a dumb da y, that's th e on ly way to describe it ," 'H u sky rider Kad lec sti ll ma naged 10 salvage 14th overa ll. Kevin H ines had what he described (Con tin ued to page 31)

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