Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126844
o C(') l-. Q.) ..0 o .... u o Dan Smith (above) led from start to f inish. to win the 33rd Ann ual Check Chase . (Below) Brett Howell rode a KX125 to 10th overall . first C bike. 33rd Annual Check Chase/Chuck Stearns Memorial Race Smith unbeatable at Check Chase By larry langley L UCE R NE VALLEY . 'C A, OCT. 13 T eam Husky's Dan Smith led from start to finish to win the 33rd Annual Check Chase desert race this weekend. This year 's even t was a three-loop race at Anderson Dry Lake 14 in L ucerne Va lle y ra ther than th e t raditi on a l ra ce fr om I Lucerne Vall ev to the Co lorado Ri ver; th e Checkers M.e. co u ld not gel th e ne ed ed permission from tw o privat e landown ers 10 co m p lete th e co u rse. The C heck C hase thi s year wa s ded ica ted to th e m em ory of C huc k Sterns w ho passed away la st week a fte r a bou t wi ih leu kemia . All Checkers cl u b m embers wore a black a rm ba nd with St earn s' ini tia ls o n it. The Checkers p romised a tough race a nd d elivered . T heir loo p m ilea ges were so m ew ha t long er than a dverri sed. causi ng so rm - rid ers to run o u t of gas. T he thi rd loop wa s rumored to be m ore of a N ar ional end u rotype loop th an a de sert race, bu t it turn ed ou t to be just halk-ng ing, not a k i ller loop . .. At th e bomb, Smit h held th e lead fo llowed by C ha rl ie ;\[orris Jr.. who wa s im med ia re l y passed b y T ed Hunni cuu (Ya m) . H u n n ic u tt was bein g chased by Ke n n y Pa rry (Ya m ) a nd H onda -m ount ed Derri ck Pa iem ent , Chris C randall powered h is big AT K th umper pas t Pa rr y a nd Pai ement a nd sta rted to run d o wn Mo rr is. A t the end o f loo p o ne, it was Sm it h with a three-minute lead o ver H unn icut t, who led Morris bv tw o m inu tes . Cra nda ll was less l(lan a minute in arrea rs of Mo rr is, a nd closing Iast . Viewfinder s M.e. m em ber Mik e McD onald (Ka w) - w ho sta rte d th e year a s a N ov ice a nd is no w a n Expert - p ined si x th overa ll. with Iellow cl ub member Ear l Sh u ler in ri ght behi nd h im . T he Viewfind er pits we re reall y busy when C ha r ley Ba rn ey p u lle d h is 500 Can-Am in to th e pits w ith a fla t rear tire. Mike " Do wn h ill" Ale xa nder cam e th ro ugh in th e top 10 o n h is Ya m aha YZ490 w ith Brett H owell screami ng h is little Kawa sak i KXI 2S into th e 17Scc class lead , a nd trying to br eak in to th e top 10 overa ll. As th e Experts ca me arou nd to th e end o f loop tw o . th e Beginner riders wer e fin is hi ng. Thi s ca use d a dan- . gerous si tua tio n that better plann in g o n th e pa rt o f th e Check ers co u ld hav e a vo ided. They turned th e Beginner finish ch u te to th e righ t o f th e co u rse . forcing the Beginner r id ers to ride back across th e course to get back to the pits. If th ey had turned them lef t. they wou ld not have had to cro ss tlje co u rse. At the end of the second lo o p . Smith sti ll had the lead , b ut Hunn ic u 11 had closed the margi n to just two minutes. H owever, Smith looked like he was just cru ising whi le Hunnicutt looked a bit tired from playing ca tchup. Crandall moved up to third ov erall a s he finally ca ugh t a n d passed Chari ie Morris J r. Word ca me in th at Parry h ad crash ed hard a n d broke hi s wri st at th e th ird check o n loop tw o . H e a p pare ntly hit a d itch a nd crash ed while trying to pa ss C randall a nd Morris. Fifth o vera ll a t th e horne check was a pi epl ar e ride r w ho turned o ut to be Dal e Kn app. so n o f Art Knapp. o n dad 's SOO Husky. Knapp wen t through the home check. but t u rned towa rds lo o p two by mi stake. realized h e we nt th e wrong wa y. and m ade a qu ick Ll-rurn. b ut g o t the rea r wh eel tang led with the ch u te banner s. He los t a m inut e ge tti ng th em untangled a nd th en took o ff lo ok in g prett y exc ited . A co u p le o f m inutes lat e r h e ca me bac k w ith a rear flat lire a nd had to cha nge wh eels. Next through were Sh u ler . McD on a ld and H o well , w ho fin a ll v mad e it in to th e top 10. Then ca me J ('llm Rudd er on a n ew 500 Cagiva foll owed by rh e lead in g Vet rider . M ike Fitzgera ld o n a 250 Suzu ki . Dan Ashcraft was O il a H usky 250 XC as h e had b low n u p h is 500 Sa rurdav a nd went a ll th e wa v home to pi ck IIp his 250 so he co u l;1 race.rBu t bad luck co nt in ued to d o g Ashcra ft chis weeke nd as t h e 2S0 seized co m ing across An derson Dry Lake o n th e seco nd loop. puui ng' him o u t o f th e ra ce. H e p rovided the hom e c hec k p ersonnel with some amu semen t a t the end o f loop o ne w hen he h it th e berm a nd d id a 360 0 sp in before crashi ng . N othing h urt ' bUI h is pride. T hi rd loo p ca p ta in Pet e Postel was pn-di c ring a two-hour ela psed tim e for his loopa nd was n 'ry surpr ised to see Smith come o ver the h ill after just a n hour a nd a half o n the loop. T he Checker s had cha m pagne for eac h o vera ll class winner . a n ice touch . Smi th wa s tir ed, but did he like th e co u rse? " It was th e bit chen est co u rse I've ever been o n ," ex cla im ed th e T eam Husky r ider. " It was tough , c ha lle nging . but fu n . I won a steak dinner from m y dad (Bu tc h) as he bel m e I wouldn 't rid e down all th e do wnhi lls . I did a nd he o wes m e." said Sm ith laughing... It was to ug h , bu t not as laugh a s they (h is dad a nd Bo b Ashcra ft, who rode the loo p Sa turda y) m ad e it o u t 10 be. " A co u ple of m inutes lat er. the ATK o f C randall ca me booming o ver the h ill a nd cru ised into the finish with a ver y sore a nd brui sed hody. " I gu t o ff lh n 'e tim es a nd m y shou lde r is prett y sore." sai d C ra nda ll. " it was a g rea t co urse, tou gh a n d lo ts o f vir gin ter ra in . It re minded m e a lo t of Whi skey Pe te's." Hunn icutt fini sh e th ird o vera ll d behind Crandall a nd was a lso very ti red . H is hands welt' prert v ch ewed u p . .. It was pren y tir ing a nd tough : ' sai d Hunnicut t. Next in wa s th e first 2S0cc r ider, you ng So. Ca l. l\1.e. m em ber C harli e Morris J r. o n hi s 2S0 Husk y. " Boy, th at was a to ugh , rocky ra ce. I got a greal sta rt. seco nd to the bo m b, when Hunn ieu ll passed m e in a di tch . I just tr ied to maintain a nd use m y head to till' fini sh . After Parry go t hurt , th ere we ren 't a ny 25 0s aro u nd, so I kn ew I had till' class win if I didn 't screw up," ..lid Mortis. H e is sponsored by DRS. An swer Products and Trarv's Husk v. Mike Alc-xand er pulled in just r.IVing a bo u t th e cou rse. " Best co urse I ever rode ex cept for Whiskey Pete's," shou ted Alexander to th e Checker s member s. Dale Knapp was next in after making up h is flat tire defi ci t, and wanted to ment ion Van N uys Husky and Pro Ci rcui t for their hel p . Ken Oviatt ca rne thro ugh th e finish chu te nex t and is ha ck in form after bei ng out for a while with an injury. " I really warn to th an k Mark Zoller from Pro Cycle for bringing me out a shock Sat urday night and to Dave Stroud for loa n in g me a water pump sea l, Without th eir help, I co u ld n ' t have ran-d ," sa id a g ratefu l Oviatt. In at eigh th o ve ra ll wa s th e fir st Vet eran , Desert M.C. m ember Fitzgerald o n his R M250 Suzu ki. Shuler fin ished ahead o f fell ow clu b m ern ber McD onald and th ey we rt' followed by H owell , for fir st C bik e hon ors. H owell is spons ored by Kawasaki Mot or Corp, Bell , Scali , Champion Spark Plugs, An sw er P roducts a nd Silkol ene O il. Th e hard lu ck a wa rd goes to Novice Kevin Mehlbrech w ho wa s run n ing rea l well. hu t ran o u t o f g as o n the th ird loop a nd wait ed tw o hours befo re he got enough to fin ish . • Unofficial Results OPEN EX: 1. Dan Smit h IHus ); 2. Chr is Crandall IATKI; 3 . Ted Hun nicutt IYaml . 250 EX: 1. Charli e M orr i s J r. (Hus ]: 2. Phil Gc rgon n e (KTM); 3. Stev e We bb . 17 5 EX: 1. Brett How ell (Kaw) ; 2. Guy Kibbs. 250 VET EX: 1. M ike Fitzgerald {Suzl. W OM EN EX: 1. Den ise Devin es. OPEN AM : 1. Steve Kirk IYam l. 250 AM ; 1. Tom Bradsh aw . 250 BEG: 1. Steve Cookus. OPEN BEG : i . Ben Wh eeler . SA 250 EX: 1. Wa lt Baehr . SU P SR EX: 1. Red A u st in . OPEN NOV: 1. Lon Brand. 175 EX SA: 1. Larry Gorden . OPEN VET EX: 1. Aichard Ja ckson IHusi . VET AM 250: 1. LoUIS W r ight . VET AM OPEN: 1. Br uce Upe .