Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.~ w w w en a: x w a: > <0 en ~ 0 ~ 0 J: 0. ~ 00 Q") ~ eo ..!=: u l-o es ~ Former MX Champion Marty Smith won the King of the Desert by almost a m inute. (Bel ow ) Chris Crandall was second overall, first Open bike. First 125 in'the King class was Dan Morgan. riding a KTM . Racing got ' under way at 9:30 a .m. sharp . On th e fir st row were th e riders in the King class and all Expe rts; th ey launch ed first. On th e second row and sta rt i ng a bo u t five minutes later were th e Am at eurs. Novices a n d ' Beginners. T he pos itio n ing of th e start ing lin e sent riders looking into th e su n. a nd w ith th e h eav y du st probl em, it was difficult tr ying to pi ck goo d lines without running into some bo dy else or wi nd ing up o ff-co u rse. Up front . Sm it h . Harden , Rocseler, Dan Sm i th a nd Ashc ra ft were a mong th e leaders; severa l p ositions back in th e dust wa s Cra ndall. By th e tim e the co urse hit th e first o fsevera l tigh t, gnarly sectio ns , Marty Smi th was in th e lead with H arden in clos e purs ui t. Also in th e to p 10 were Roeseler, Da rr yl Fo lks (H us ), G art h Sweetla nd (H us), Dan Sm ith an d Ashcraft. Cra nda ll was rid ing a bo u t 12t h overa ll. As th e pa ck made its wa y back to th e dry lak e bed and p it areas. th e ra ce was a lready takin g its toll. T he ru gg ed a nd silty " m ud hill s" which mad eup a bo u t a quarter o f th e co urse were litt ered with broken bik es and cras he d riders before th e en d of th e first lap. Among th e casua lt ies wa s Ca giva rider Duane Su m me rs, who got a flat rear t ire sh ort ly after th e sta rt th en ' seized near th e mud hi lls. Once rid ers reach ed the dry lak e bed . it was wide open for a bo u t a mi le unt il riders rounded a co rner to find . " narro w" margin o f abo u t 55 seco nds th emse lves o n a supercross track , over Crandall. ' . co m p le te with double j u m p s ' an d stu tte r bumps. Fo r riders lik e Sm i th . H ard en 's third overa ll. fo llowed by teammate Larry Roeseler, wh o p laced handling th is part o f the course was - seco nd 25Q. sa lvaged a n ot h erw ise n o pro ble m , .but o th ers took i t ea sy unhappy day for Husk y, wh ich a lso on th e j u m ps a nd ca ref u ll y p icked fielded Dan Smi th a nd Ashcra ft to th ei r way th rough t th e stu tte rs. But p lace a ll of th eir btg g u ns in co n ten th at -d idn ' t keep so me ride rs from tion for the wi nner 's circ le. But the bai ling h a rd , es pe c ia lly O R t he rear sho ck bro ke o n Ashcraf t's 500X C double j u mp . o n the th ird lap , a nd Sm i th - w hi le T he ba lance of th e course made i ts ru n ni ng a bo u t fourth overa ll - pa rkwa y pa st pi t row . throug h abo u t a ed it oil "t he sa me la p a fter a co u p le of m ile o f hard-pcked wh oo ps, th en close enco u nters w ith sp ectator vehi eig h t m iles to th e firs t check. Fro m cles in the p its. the re . th e co u rse headed.east th rough Fin ish in g in th e to p 20 was Da n sa nd an d whoops, :!I"ng th e ba se of Mor gan, who pi lo ted his KTM to the Superstiti...n Mountains and up it first 125cc mach in e. Firs t Vet overa ll fire road to check two. After th e was Ama teur Steve Pl o u rd.(Yam ), in seco nd ch eck,' th e co urse Ioll ow eda 17th overa ll , fi nis h ing ahead.of King lon g, sa ndy downhill and went ba ck class rid er Wa yn e Carlton (M-S). wh o tow ard th e dry la ke bed wh ere riders rolled in for 22nd. First Senior was go t a brief res t before he ading back Up-Tire Husqvarna o wne r George up into the treacherous m ud hills. •. . . __ • Erl. . • • < "" It was .. __ at! ud hi 1$ here th_ e, D·38 King of the Desert Smith reigns again, Crandall second By Rex Reese IMP ERIAL. CA. FEB . 24 . Marty Smith , 'for m er ru ler of the N a tio n al motocross scene, retained h is Ki n g of the Desert crown wi th a stro n g win in the fifth annual Distr ict 38 Fudpucker R acin g classic. . Once a factory rider for T eam Honda, Smith rode a stock 1985 Yamaha YZ250 in the ISO-mile even t to singlehandedly defeat th e best effo rts of T eam Husqvarna a nd fini sh a lmos t a minute a h ead o f Ch ris Cra nda ll . wh o manhan dl ed h is ATK past H us ky rider Sco t H a rd en to ca p ture seco nd overal l. Harden, who was bare ly able to han g onto h is bike on the last lap of th e race due to . severlv blist ered hands, was third . Before the five-lap desert marathon wa s set to begin, Smi th wa s ac kn owledged as a virtual " sure th ing" for th e top spo t. si n ce he wo n last year's Kin g of the Desert by a bo u t 20 mi n ut es over seco n d-place Dan Ash craft o f Team H us ky. But because of the ruggedness of some portions o f th e. 30-m ile long loop which com p rised the race course. this time around 1Smith was.; "': vable to 'fi n ish by the ' race wo u ld be won or lost. a nd for -very good reason. Rim-deep si lt made riding squirrelly and tractio n a lmost neg ligible wh en it was need ed most. And where there weren 't hills th ere were lots of whoops. T he co urse wound over som e small h ill s a nd down into a sandwash then back up int o a silt-filled gu lley leading to a not ch betw een two more hills, effec' tively crea ting a bottleneck for less experienced riders if th ey wer en't on th eir toes o r on th e ga s. Mor e wh oops. hills , an d even a 12-foot n ear-vert ica l drop-off mad e life interesting before rid ers reac~ ed the beginning o f th e co urse ag a m. , , On lap four, H arden was shadow- : ing Sm i th an d th en pa ssed him just. before th e mud hi ll s. Smith sa w H arden co m ing . the n proceeded to turn up th e gas , re-passing and leavin g th e Tea m Husk y rider beh ind. Crandall wa s lurking in third afte r hav in g passed Roeseler , Swee tla nd a nd Fo lks. At the end of th e fourth lap , specta tors got one last ch ance to see Sm ith blast across th e dry lak ebed before beginning the fifth a nd final lap. Ea rlier in th e race. H arden wa s only 15 to 20 seco nds behind Smith, and o n ' th e fin a l go -around th e margin wa s up to abou t 30. Smith didn't stop riding WFO until he rea ch ed his pits loca ted nea r the end of the row. There, he got a quick refill a n d one last ch eck-over of his bike by hi s crew before go ing back out. When H arden sto p ped a this p its, he stall ed his bik e and had diffi cu lty restarting before he was on his way aga in . This cost th e Husky team va lu able seconds, an d unl ess Smi th bailed- o ff hi s bike or broke, the re wo u ld be no wa y to ca tch him -they ' co u ld n 't. H ard en's slow restart and the in cr eas i ng ly seri ous blis te r prob lem w ith hi s ha nd , now p ut ' him w ithin str ik ing ra nge o f Cra nda ll. who was ridin g a n in sp ired race a s he lof ted . his 250-plus pou n d AT K over th e supercross secrion double-ju mps. As' th e fin al la p wo u nd do wn , the ATK rider got closer to h is prey; fi na ll y, just 12 mi les from th e finish, Cra ndall ove rtoo k Harden fo r second overall and first Open bike. At th e ch eckered flag . Smith styled his way over the finish line jump. well ahead o f a nybo dy else, Almost a minute' later, Crandall ,q,?~!\e,li[ ~q.e

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