Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

; >w -' t:l Z ::i >- ~ 0: 0: ::i >- al '" 0 I- l!") 0 - :x: a, 00 Q') ~ 0 ..... lo-< 0- < Randy Morales rode an XR 500 for the last time and finished third. Dan Sm it h be gan the race and rode with D an A shc raft t o the ov erall win on their 500 XC Husky. Can-A m rider Chuck Pettig rew was second . SCORElHDRA Desert series: Round 2 SmithlAshcraft wi n Great Mohave 250 By Larry Langley L UCERNE VALLEY , CA, MAR. 30 Team Husqvarna's Dan Smith and Dan Ashcraft rolled to yet another major off-road victory by taking a two-minute victory over Can-Am rider Chuck Pettigrew in the SCORE-sanctioned First Annual G reat Mohave 250 desert race. While it was billed as th e " Firs t Annual ," the race had 10 it s roots in th e event run last year whe n SCO RE p ulled o u t o f Baj a a t the last mi nu te and pu t on the " Baja in Barsto w SOOkm," and th is year's race was act ua lly h eld o n the same co urse in Lucerne Valley as th e Baj a in Barstow . But , th is year's event was put o n with th e cooperation o f th e town o f Lucerne Vall ey - sig n- u p , tech ins pectio n , cont ingency row , impound a nd th e ac tual start were in L ucerne Vall ey itself. The town really got beh ind the race a nd a n estima ted 10,000 people poured int o the area to watch or pit for th e 27S ent ra nts, wh ich included bikes,ATVsand car/trucks. Sparks flew during th e riders' meet- . in g when SCORE Presid ent Sa l Fish made a re mark abo u t mot orcycli sts cu tt ing the co u rse wh ile pre-running. Ashcraft poi nt ed out th at th e bulk o f racers shou ldn 't be indicted ove r a few co urse-cu tters. Fish lat er sta ted th at he d idn 't mean to im p ly th at la rge n umbers o f mot or cycl ists were cu tt ing th e co u rse. Mor e serious ly, Ashcraft po inted out th at th e bikes were gett ing around th e co urse so fast th a t th ey might be fin ish ing whi le the ca rs a nd trucks were sti ll sta rti ng. Since th e start/ finish rou te was th e sa me roa d run in opposi te direct ions, it co u ld possibl y be a very dangerous sit uation. Fish contem plated th e possibi lities and decided to end th e mo torcycle race at checkpoint 13, just . before th ey were,to head back to wa rds town . As it turned o u t, th e bikes d id in deed fini sh befor e a ll th e cars a nd trucks sta rted. The Smith/Ash craft victory was not easy. A p ipe smashed by an enco unter with a rock led to th e expans io n cha m ber sp litti ng o pen , caus in g a loss of horsepower a nd a fear o f seizin g tow ard th e en d o f th e race. '" thought Pettigr ew wa s go in g to ca tch us for sure tow ards th e end." sai d Ash craf t. "I look ed back an d saw hi s dust and since th e bike had trouble p u ll ing si x th gear with the sp lit p ipe, I wa s afrai d he was going to get us fo r sure." But th e Bel-Rav/ Autolit e/Gold Belt /H i-P o int/ Sco tt /Pro Circuit SO OXC Husky h ad enough steam left to hold off Pettigrew 's charge. Petti g rew 's ride started o ff o n a sou r no te when h is big Can-Am seized o n th e wide -open d irt road leading o u t of to wn to wards j ohnson Vall ey. T he co ld (38 0 F) morning ca used a few je tt ing problems wh en th e first bi ke left a t 6:00 a.m. sharp; th e res t o f th e bik es a nd ATVs followed in ISsecond inter val s. Most o f th e rid ers co mpla ined abo ut hands tha t were so co ld th at they'd lose. feeling in th e fingers for a while. T he sta rt a lso headed righ t into the ri sin g su n , and with no wi n d , th e dust crea ted major visibility p roblems. T ed Hunnicutt j r. d idn ' t mak e it but 10 mil es before seizing hi s Yamaha YZ490, putting h im a nd teammate Mik e " Do w n h ill " Alexa nde r o u t of th e ra ce. "I guess I was just too pumped up," sai d Hunni cutt. " I just push ed it too hard do w n th e ro ad ." S pec tators were surp rised to see AT K ri der Chri s Crandall o n th e co urse. Crandall had crashed in th e In vaders M.C . AMA D-37 har e a nd hound th e week befor e a n d was reported to have a brok en co llarbone . It turn ed o u t to be a sp ra ined sho u lder a n d he a ttacked th e co urse on th e big thumper until he bail ed o ff in th e ro llers pas t An derso n Dr y La ke righ t onto hi s sore sho u lder. A bro ken thrott le and a very sore shoulder p u t Crandall o u t o f th e race. Pett igr ew h ad th e lead unt il th e p it nea r Bessim er Mine Road wh ere Smith passed wh en he p itt ed. Other p roblem s reported by Smi th a nd Ashcraft in cluded a spectator tr uc k o n th e co u rse a nd spectator bik es crossing .in front of th em . T eam H onda rider Randy Mor ales, riding so lo, powered h is four-stroke H onda XRSOO to thi rd in Class 22, thi rd over all. Moral es had a gr eat duel go ing with Larkin Wight o n a n AI Bak er-prepar ed XR600. At th e la st ga s at Soggy Dr y Lak e, both riders pitted and powered o u t together in a d rag race . Moral es got th e bett er line th rough th e hills a nd Wight co u ldn 't ge t pa st him agai n. It cos t Wight, as th e payback in class o n ly went down th ree posi tio ns. Wi ght spen t a lot o f time p rerunning as he is a Lucerne Vall ey resident, bu t he suffered bik e prob- lerns o n T hursday. Bak er p u lled th e motor a nd worked a ll day Fri day a nd just made it back in time 10 insta ll th e motor for im pound. Wight was prepa ring the pre-ru n ner for im pound in case Bak er did n' t mak e it back with the race bike. Moral es sa id it was hi s last ride on a n XR - he' s p icki ng up new CRSOOs to race in the fu tu re. The team o f Garth Sweet la nd an d Mark Hildebrand (H us) suffered bad lu ck wh en H ildebrand lost th e nu t o ff th e rear ax le. A nearby specta tor loaned h im a nut so he co u ld co ntinu e. T he n th e new nut a lso ba cked o ff, thi s ti me breaking th e brak e backin g pl at e a nd lu nch in g th e rear bra kes. T hey fini sh ed I Ith in cla ss. Class 2 1 (2S0cc machines) winners wer e Team Husqvarna riders Larry Roeseler and Kurt Pfeiffer, sponsored by Bel-R ay, Aurolite, H allman,jones G oggles (P feiffer) a nd Sco tt USA (Roseler). They edged th e Brett H owell/ Cha rl ie Morri s j r. team by just Sl seco n ds . H ow ell a nd Morris led most o f th e way until a rear flat nea r Soggy Dr y L ak e slo wed the m down. They still proba bly would have won after cha nging th e rea r wh eel. but th e brak es were not functi oning and Morr is had to re turn to th e pi ts to fix them . The extra down time cos t H owell a nd Morris the class lead a nd eventual ly the win. Seventeen- year-ol d Mor ris wasn ' t schedu led to ride, bu t wa s ca lled in to replace Derri ck Pai merit . who injured hi s back th e pre· vio us week a t the In vaders hare and hound. Their bik e was prepared by o ff-roa d ace Dave Chase, wh o was reall y pumped up. " I usuall y ride, but th is wa s reall y d ifferent. I was as excited as if I was riding," said Chase. " Be su re to mention An swer Products, Kern Cycle and Maxima for th eir help." Third in Cla ss 21 went to H em et, California Pro mot ocrossers Dale Dondel a n d Mich ael Neff (H a n), wh o were parti cipating in the ir first off- c; ro ad race. They were sponsored by • Ri verside Mitsubishi and Hemet Cycle Center. C h uck Pettigr ew' s brother Dave teamed -up with Ra nd y Yeuo o n a Ca n-Am 2S0 o u t of Appl e Valley Cycle Cent er to lead th e cla ss for th e firs t SO miles, until they seized af ter

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