Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~--"'---".., The start of the 250cc A class involved a pileup which ended the day for Jack Penton (on the ground) and several other riders. ' AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round I Ballard blasts River Ranch By Suzi Henry LAKE WALES, FL . MAR. 3 Can-Am teammates Geoff Ballard and John Martin romped to first and second overall at the River Ranch National Hare Scrambles, the first of 10 races in the 1985 series. Suzukimo u nted Ed Swearingen was third over a ll a nd th ird in the 250cc A class beh ind Ball ard and Marlin . Team Husk y's 24. Ma rk Hyde was fou rt h overa ll and fir st in Open A, wit h Gary J oh nston o f Laurel , Mis sissippi, round ing out th e top five. T his was the th ird a n n ua l Ri ver Ra nch Nationa l Hare Scram bles- th e second hosted by th e Later Gators M.C . of M ia m i, Florida - a nd it may sa d ly be the last, u n less a la nd use agreeme nt ca n be rea ched with th e State o f Flo rid a prior to the 1986 ra cing season . T h e sta rt /fi nis h/pit a rea a n d a portion of thi s yea r's 12.5 mil e tra ck were recently p ur chased by the State as part o f th eir p la n to return th e Kissim mee R iver to its o rig ina l, natural stat e. The maj ority of 379 entra nts exp ressed the fervent hope th at a so lu tion can be fo und to preserve o ne of th e prem ier sto p s on th e Nati on a l H are Scrambles circu it. Th e day 's ac tivities bega n wi th a 9 a. m. pa ra de lap , follow ed by a Su pp ort race a t 10 a.m . At noon the m ain even t go t u nder way , wit h 39 O pen -c la ss riders first of f th e lin e aft er a dead- engine, stradd le-yo ur-bike sta rt . KTM Am eri ca's Jack Pen ton was a mon g th e 52 250cc A riders who starte d a mi n ut e la ter, but a first turn pi leup ended th e race for h im a nd severa l others. Lat er a bru ised Pen to n said, "This guy ca me o u t of no where a nd took me o u t bi g time. In stead of tu rning wh ere we had to go betw een the trees, he kept going stra ig h t a nd hit m e broadsid e a t a bo ut30 m iles an hour. " T he co llision broke th e tripl e cla m p o n hi s KTM . At the en d of lap o ne, Husky/Bel Ra y/H i-P oint/ AXO/ Autoli te Spark PI ugs/ Sm ith /Metzeler/ BeiIlP it Stop Racing-supported Mark H yde held a slimlead ove r R andy Sm all and G ary Joh nston, wi th Bob Bea n a nd Barry Bell abou t a mi nu te an d a ha lf behi nd . After lap tw o , H yde a nd h is '100W R were nea rly a m in ut e a head of Sma ll a nd J ohnston , while Hus ky's Kevin H in es moved into fo urt h . H in es remai ned in co nten tio n for severa l la p s , b u t eve n t u a lly D N F wit h a pp arent ig ni tio n prob lems. Small rode extre mely well , sli di ng int o th e scorin g chute rig ht behi nd Hyde a t th e end of la p fo ur and passi ng him on lap five. H yde rep assed Sm a ll o n th e sixt h la p . " I never saw hi m after that ," H yde sa id. Mean while, tight ba ttles were shaping up betwee n Ed Swearingen , Geo ff Ball ard a nd Randy H a wkin s in 250cc A, Mi ch ael J ones, Bobby G ri ffin a nd Allen Wo mble in 125cc A, and Barry Higgi ns a nd J ohn Fero in Senior A. H us ky/Caro lina Too ls support ed Haw kins said, " I wa s riding wi th th a t Suzu ki rid er (Swea ringe n) and Ballard for a wh ile, but th en th ey j ust pu lled away fro m me. Th e dus t rea lly made it tough . It wa sn 't so bad o n th e o pe n stretches wh ere th e breeze co u ld blow it a wa y, but in th e tree sections the dirt was black. a nd it just hu ng in th e air a ll da y." Bo th Balla rd, th e defendi ng Natio na l H a re Scramb les Cha mpion , a nd Martin were rid ing n ew Can-Am wat er pum pe rs , a n d th ey sa id th e bi kes p e r for m ed fl aw le ssl y. Martin 's skill and endura nce prevai led as he stead ily worked h is wayup to seco nd i n 250cc A, wh ile Ball ard moved into first. Florida Tra il Rider Alle n Sco tt event ua lly fin ish ed fifth in 250cc A, one of less th an 20 ent ra nts who would co m pe te nine laps in th e grue ling, nea rl y fo ur -h our ra ce. an d he sa id, " I was d icin g with Mart in th e first eig h t laps. H e's a fantast ic rider. I sa w h im' do an en do-cro ss o u t in the palmettos for.about. 50 feet one time. Can-Am'sJohn Martin (left) and Geoff Ballard dominated at River Ranch. with Ballard taking the 250cc and overall honors over Martin. and he never lost it. " H yde, who recent ly moved fro m O h io to Ft . P ierce, Flo ri da , pu t in a near-perfect ride until hi s seventh la p. " My pit crew told me Ballard wa s closin g o n me for overa ll, so I tu rn ed it up a littl e an d made up th e tim e, a nd then I crashed ." Mom entaril y stun ned , H yde spe nt abo u t 30 seconds on th e grou n d before · remo unting h is 400WR. " I j us t kind of cru ised after th a t. 1 kept looking over my sho u lder to mak e su re th ere were n't a n y yello w p la tes (Open A riders ) co m i ng up o n me." Even a t crui se speed, H yde fini sh ed the rem ainin g two-and -a-half laps o n ly six m in ut es beh in d Ballard o n correct ed tim e. Swearingen , a n 18-year-old Florida Trail Riders member from Avon Pa rk . sa id , " I had no rea l problems tod ay . I j ust n eed to work o n m y pi t SlO pS. Every ti me I ca me in , it took them abo u t two m inu tes to giv e me ga s and stu ff." T he Sen ior A class was wo n by Sco tt Wolfersberger, wh o fin ish ed second in th e Fo u r-Stroke class in the 1984 series. He sa id, " I loved it. I was hav ing a ball until I gassed up h alfwa y through . T he n th e bik e was full o f ga s, and I ra n o ut of gas. It was snowing in New J er sey until tw o week s ago , a n d I j us t wasn ' t in sha pe ." T wo- time Sen ior class cha m p ion Barry Hi gg in s DNF on hi s seven th lap . It happened righ t a t th e eig h t mile mar ker, in a sec tio n man y riders ca lle d th e "Palmetto Freew ay" - a len gthy stretch of whi te po wd ery sa nd wh ich de ter io rated by race en d into gi a nt , bike-swall o win g wh oops. Fero fell o u t of co nt ent io n with apparent bi ke prob lems, and AI C h uppa finished seco nd on Senior A despi te losin g nearly fi ve minu tes on th e fir st la p wh en he sto p pe d to assis t a 250cc A rider wh o took a bad tu mble a nd was struck in th e back by hi s ow n bik e. Winner Tony H endon was th e o n ly mem ber o f th e 200cc A class to turn ni n e lap s, whil e Miam ian s Michael J o nes, Bo bby G riffin an d Barry Doan fini sh ed 1-2-3 in l2 5cc A. G riffin sa id , "Mike and I co n sidered it a tie. We ro de together th e w hole race. We just se t a p ace an d kept it . Other g uys tr ied to Jock o n , but th ey co u ldn' t. We just went o u t there to hav e a good time." Florida T ra il Riders also took th e top three spots in Super Senior A, with Don Thrasher passing the early lead er, .George Singler. and 'hanging • .. • f on for th e win. Past Super Senior ti tlist Dave H enry worked hi s way from eigh th p lace to seco nd in th e fin al two laps, rid ing Kevin Hines' 400W R bik e. "T ha t bik e is just lik e a tra cto r," H enry sa id. " I never sta lled it a ll day." In "the fini sh ch u te a dusty but happy Ge off Ballard sai d, " It all went (accord ing) to pl an tod ay. I told J eff (Smi th , Can-Am 's Product Manager) I' d tr y to ge t a good sta rt and "th en wea r th em (the O pen A leaders) down. Those 500s ca n be hard on yo u ." He reported no p roblem s, othe r th an a n ai r filter w h ic h becam e in creasin gl y clogged with dust as th e rac e wore on . " I was p ro ba bly running a littl e ri ch , too ," h e sai d, " bu t I wa s af rai d o f seizing, which so me of th e o ther bikes did. It 's very close to sea level here." Husk y's Edd ie Lojak , th e 1983 Na tion al H are Scr a m bles cha m p , fin is he d ninth in 250cc A a fte r running o u t of gas i n h is fourth la p. " I was rea dy to stra ngle so meone (i n hi s p it crew)," he sa id . Terry C u n n ingha m, the 1984 Nati onal Enduro Ch ampion, rode a 125cc single-shock Husky in hi s fi rs t-ever Fl orida race, but mec ha nica l problem s in th e first lap p u t him o u t of co ntent io n , an d a hard get -off in h is sevent h lap en de d h is rid e. - Results OVERALL: Geoff Ballard IC-A ). OPEN: 1. Ma rk Hyde (Hus) : 2. Gary Johnston: 3 . Wally W ilson (Hus) ; 4 . Ken Boyd (Yam); 5 . Tommy Harris (Hus ). 250cc A : 1. Geoff Ball ard (C-AI ; 2 . John Martin (C-A ); 3 . Randy Hawkins (Husl; 4 . Bri an Mull (Hus) ; 5. Allen Scott (Hu sl. 200cc A: 1. Ton y Hendon (Yam); 2. Pete Ap pel bau m lCagl; 3 . Mark Lambert(Kaw); 4 . M ike M cCar · ren (Yam); 5 . Kent Stanley (Kaw). 125cc A : 1. M ich ael Jon es (Yam) ; 2. Robert Grit · fin Jr. (S uz); 3 . Bar ry Doan (Yam ); 4 . David Fallas (KTM); 5. Edw in Lawerna. 4 ·STROKE: 1. A lan Bark er ; 2 . Gary DeBock(Honl; 3 . Gr egory Teeter (Hon): 4 . Robert Ruby (Hon); 5 . Brad My ers (Hon). SR A: 1. Scott Wo lf ersberger (KTM ); 2. AI Chuppa (Hus); 3 . Hank Stankiewicz IHus); 4 . Terry Mea ler; 5. Tom Ebersole. SUPER SR A: 1. Don Thrasher ISuz) : 2 . Dave Henry IHus); 3. George Singler (Hon); 4 . Larry Hayes (C-A): 5. Bob Haviland (KTM) . OPEN B: 1. Ronald Neeley IKTM): 2 . Joseph Light: 3, Charles Oakes : 4 . Daryl Neety (KTMI : 5 . David James IHus) . 250cc B; 1. Gregor y Bagenl ISuz); 2. Paul Milliken (Hus) ; 3. Tim Manning tKTM); 4 . Ed Schmidt; "5 . Glen Davis . 200cc B: 1. Mike Pascarella; 2. Cha rles Northey; 3 . Richard Wetherald; 4 . Edward Staney; 5. Roben caraway. SR B: 1. Allen Beck; 2. Bill Ungefelter; 3. Steve Sealey; 4. At Talbott (Hus); 5 . Vietor Nedat (Yam). SUPER SA B: 1. Terry M iner; 2 . Bill Hermann (KTM); 3 . Ed Butcher; 4 . Barry Barnes; 5 . Don Barstow (Hus) . WOMEN : 1. Lee Kahn (Hon~ 2. Lynda Ledlow; 3 . Vick i W ilcox; 4 . Virg inia Pride (Han); 5 . Darlene Krell (KTM). JR : Hunter Manfredi. MtNt: 1. Aron Aldridge(Yam); 2 . Ray Bell (Kaw); 3 . Troy Nadal (Kaw); 4. Mark Siebe~ 5, Shawn Brooks.

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