Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

say about it . They liked th e first two loops but the rocks and whoops on th e third loop wore th em down. And 10 fini sh th em o ff wa s th e infamous Invaders Downh ill where gravity beco mes yo ur worst enemy. Once yo u sta rt dow n brak es a re worthless. For a ll those riders wh o were just a little p etr if ied , yo u sho u ld h av e seen Downh ill Alexander come down , with o ne ha nd waving a t th e ga thered specta tors! It 's ho w he got hi s n ickn am e. Cranda ll's rid e ca me 10 a screechi ng halt - fig ht in g a n at rear tire, he h it a bush off balance a nd high sided , inj uri ng h is shou lder. Hunnicu tt stopped to hel p and went for Rescu e Three. givi ng up hi s ride. 10 ~ 00 - O"l - .. . 0. ""' < Dan Ashcraft (rig ht) dominated the 1 OO-mile lo ng Invaders M .C. ha re and hound in Red Mountain. California. beating teammate Dan Smith (left) by 10 minutes. (Inset) Ashcraft taking the checkered flag . Invaders AMA D·37 Hare and Hound Ashcraft leads Husky sweep By Larry Langley RED MOUNTAIN , CA , MAR. 24 Team Husky rider Dan Ashcraft finally put together a p roblem- free ri de and dominated the Invaders M.e. AMA D-37 H are and Hou nd by over 10 minutes at the finish of th e over IOO-mile even t. Ashcra ft (sponsored by Bel-Ray/ Autolite/Cold BelL/Hi Point/ Scott/Pro-Circuit) work ed on '26 ge tt ing a one- ki~k stan a nd succeeded - h e h ad th e lead a ll th e way to th e born b, where newIy-sponsored H usk y rider Eric Hall gath (Answer P roducts/ Tea m Husk y) swe p t in front on hi s n ew 250XC. Anothe r 250cc r ider, Eddie O gd en (Yam) , was third 10 th e bo m b follo wed bv T eam Yamaha 's Ted Hunni cu tt , \~h o was rig h ting a sore th roa t. Ca n -Am ride r C harli e Barney was fifth followed by fell ow View fin der Ron Shu ler (Ya m) , Ashcra ft's tea mma te Dan Smi th (H us), Alle n J ohnson and Mik e " Do wn h ill" Alexa nder (Ya m) . First Amateu r was Rob Murray (Hon ) ru n ni ng 10th wit h ATK rider C h ris Crandall righ t on h is rea r fender. T he bomb ru n ran East fro m the p ip e lin e road th rough T eagl e Wa sh towards the Na vy sta tio n . It was ro ugh a nd cho p py a nd Derr ick Pai ement ba iled off hi s Husky just 100 yards o ff th e sta n, sufferi ng possibl e rib in juries. The Inv ad ers h ad a pro blem wh en so me riders wanted 10 exten d th e rig h t side o f th e starrin g a rea - wh o were a lre ady in position (so me for a coup le of hou rs) were opposed . T he Invaders fin a lly mad e th e lat e a rr ivals m ove back do w n th e lin e to a n o pe n spot, leavin g th e stan bou nd a ries in tact. A half hour after th e Expert/ Am at eurs started , th e Novice/Beg inn ers began th eir charge .a nd -at-rhe- bomb it wa s Randy Mcln tyre with a hu ge lead over J eff Bocohillan a nd Jim Ok ie. Wh en th e first loo p mad e its retu rn back towards th e pit area. Dan Sm ith had ass u med th e lead comi ng into chec k two . H ow ever , the Invade rs ha d ribboned off a shan cu t for th e AT\' riders into the ch eck and Sm ith took o ff backward s o nto the ATV section, a llo wing Ashcra ft to a ssu me th e lead. Smi th quickl y rea lized h is mi stak e when h e sensed somethi ng was wrong a nd looked ba ck 10 see th e check person ne l fra nt icall y wav ing h im bac k. H e got back on co urse but co u ld never aga in cha llen ge for th e lead - a n ign it ion wire shorted o ut slo wing h is charge. He did stay a head of H all ga th for th e rem ainder of th e race, though. H al lg arh wa s adap ti ng p re t t y q ui ckl y 10 th e Husky af ter a co u p le of vears o n H ondas. J ust before ch eck one, Barn ey hit a sand bump and lau nch ed over th e bars spectac u la rly. T he check wo rke rs rat ed him a " 10" for style. L ucki ly he wa sn 't hu rt , but h e was definitel y det uned . a nd h e d ropped o u t after co m p leting th e loo p. Novi ce Steve Hasert m ade th e mi stak e o f takin g th e ATV tra il. short cu tt ing th e co urse a nd will pro bab ly be di squal ifi ed for hi s error. A bunch o f o ther rid ers tri ed 10 foll ow hi m but were turned back by spectators, T he In vaders ran o u t of florescent a rrows a nd used so me h om e-m ade black-an wh ite paper arrows w h ich were n ot ",very'visible in th e d nse • , , , ... (A bove) Mike Alexander finished seventh overall. while Eric Hallgath (below ) f in ished third. At th e finis h it was Ashcra ft with a big , big lead over Smi th , Hallgath an d T eam Husk y rider Sco t H arden to complete a Husky sweep. Fifth ove ra ll went to Kern Park on a four-stroke Honda 10 win the Vetera n Open cla ss, Levi 's and a ll. A folded rear brak e lever slowed him slightly locking up' th e rear wheel until h e got it free enough 10 not rnauer . Park th ank ed Sco tt's Scooter Servi ce for. m aking his th u m per run so well. Ogden (An swer Prod/A I Holley Tuned/Yam) got six th overa ll, second 250. Alexander was ready 10 pass Ogden on th e third loop when his big 490 Yamaha (Ans wer Prod.lDuralube) broke a mot or mount, throwinga sca re into him. Sixteen-year-old Charlie Morris jr, (H us) nailed down eighth overall with Mr . Consistent, Ken Oviatt (Pro-C ycle KTM /HiPoint), in th e top IO again. Duane Summers mad e up for th e radiat or hose com ing loo se to win th e 175cc cla ss, com ing from wa y back for th e win. H e had little help when Jim McGrath (KT M) got lo st com in g out o f a railroad tunnel. First Amateur in was Chr is Crandall 's brother, Curt Crandall (Yam) . Rob Murray had a big lead but somehow ended back up on th e seco nd loop after m aking h is seco nd gas stop , Spe cial mention should go to Senior rider Don Whitehorn (H us) wh o fin ish ed 19th Ov erall! Also 10 Senior 175cc Novice rider Glenn Armstrong who beat all th e 175cc Experts and Am a teu rs. In fact h e may have been th e o n ly 175cc Senior to finish . The on ly Women a t th e fin ish wa s a very exh a usted Joanna Bro wnell (AXO / Span Track Tire/Hus) wh o kept h er win strea k intact. She was mumbling so me th ing a bo u t th e ro cks an d downhills. • Results UNOFFICIAL RESULTS OV ERA LL: 1. Ashcraft (Hus l; 2. Smith (Hus); 3. Hallgath (Hus); 4 . Harden (Hu s); 5. Kem Park (Hon); 6 . Eddie Ogden (Yam ); 7 . Downh ill A lex ander (Yam); 8. Char lie Morris Jr . (Hus); 9 . Ken Oviatt (KTM I; 10 . Tom Willi s. OPEN EX: 1. Ashcraft (Hus); 2. Smith (Hus); 3. Har den (Hus), . OP AM : 1. Russ Warne; 2. Nic k You ng ; 3 . Doug Cla rk. OP NOV; 1. Jeff 8 oucho llon ; 2. Steven Ot is. 250 EX: 1. Eric Hallgath (Hus); 2. Eddie Ogden (Yam ); 3. Charlie Morris Jr. (Hus ). 250 AM : 1. Curt Crand all (Yam); 2. Dave Kennedy; 3 . Ken Han sin g. 250 NOV; 1. J eff Jac kson. 175 EX: 1. Duane Summers (Cag); 2. J im McGrath (KTM); 3. John Braa sch. 175 AM : 1. Micha el Ma rtin; 2. Mar k Guen in . 175 NOV; 1. 17Oc; 2. Robert Baeh r; 3. Mike While th e Ex pe rt /Amat eu rs pitted and went o u t on loop two , th e Novi ce/ Beg inners were sta rt ing 10 filt er into th e p its. A lot o f interminglin g took pla ce wh en th e Expert/Amat eurs com p leted th e seco n d loop and pitted in th e sa me pits as th e loop o ne pits. D isast er almost st ruc k a number o f tim es wh en in experi en ced rid er s pulled ou t o f th eir gas sto ps right into the pa th of th e in coming rid ers who were n ot goin g slo w. Chris Crandall a lmost h it one Beginner but somehow a voi ded h im. Loop three wa s long a nd tough. • Notmany rider s h ad a ny tfling.gOOd , Koncur. VET OP EX; 1. Kem Park (Hon); 2. V246 ; 3. Darryl Elli s. VET OP AM : 1. V300; 2. Bru ce Lipe; 3. Rick Sowma. VETOP NOV: 1. V261 ; 2. Mike Young ; 3. V257 . VET 250 EX: 1. V140X ; 2. Wayne Carlton (M ·S); 3 . J .. Vince nt . VET 250 AM ; 1. Ted Overholt; 2. K. Hogden ; 3. G. Hall. VET 250 NOV; 1. Eddie M cKenzie; 2. Chuck Lennox. SR OP EX; 1. 0186; 2. Lawrence Nickolson. SR OP AM ; 1. John Hess ick; 2. Rudy Wi llis; 3. John Johnson. SR OP NOV : 1. J im Hammons; 2. Wayne King ; 3. Ed Hales. SA 250EX: 1. Don Whitehorn; 2. Aay Wa ldba um ; 3. Ron Hall {Yaml. SR 250 AM : 1. Bill Newkirk. SR 175 NOV: 1. Glenn Armstron . W OMEN : EX: 1. Joanna Brownell (H u ~). , I •

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