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AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 11 Cunningham wins Baby Burr ~ ~ ...J ...J W '" > a: a: :3 > '" tJl a .... a J: l!':l CO O"l e, ........ By Larry Bell McARTH UR , OH , C(') o cr. ........ 20 l-o Cl,) Husqvarna 's Terry Cunningham delivered "on time" to win the 24th Annual Baby Burr National Championship Enduro. In the process, Cunningham dropped 14 points a nd became o ne of o n lv a ha n dful of men to wi n th e Babv " . c . '_ Bu rr 1\\ Ice o r J?o re, unrung ham last wo n III 1982. Fo llo wi n g def endin g N at ion a l C hampion C u n n ing ha m in t he o vera ll fi n ish in g o rder were Hu skymounted J eff Russell a nd Hu sky's Fr ill Kadl ec. Russell lost 22 poi !1ls a nd won t he AA class fo r th e first lim e in h is career, wi th Kadlec run nerup a t 25 p oints. The sco res o f th e lap th ree wou ld have been good for a d ry r un , bUI co ns ide ri ng the hea vy rai ns whi ch pelted th e riders th rou gh out the en d uro, th ey were so me wh at spectacu lar, Fo r C unn ing ham . wh o cl in ch ed hi s th ird ser ies title a t rhe Septem ber 15 Black Co al Nat ional in Ind.ia na , th e wi n wa s h is sixth o f th e serres. In co n j u nc tio n with the o vera ll troph y whi ch C un n i ngh am ge ls 10 kee p . he a lso received a ro tati ng troph y. T h e win n er' s n am e is en g ra ved o n it a nd later return ed to t.h e cl ub - th e End uro R ider's Associatio n - for p resem a rio n to nex t year's o vera ll winner. " I rea lly en jo yed th e weath er. An yo necan rid e in the dry," Cunn in g ham sa id short ly before th e 8 a .rn, key time. T he wea th er h e wa s referri ng to wa s a co ns ta n t d ow npou r w hi ch star ted Saturda y even i ng and ca n t inued o n through th e tro ph y p resen tat io n Su nday eveni ng. T he h eav y ra in s may ha ve been pa rtl y to blame for the h igh a u ririon ra ie. Nearl y 60% o f th e 115 sta rters fai led ~o fini sh th e run , which sho wed 170 m iles o n t he ro ut e sh eets. Th ere were I I I actual ridin g miles, w ith th e rest tak en up in resets, Trail co nd ili ons worsen ed a t th e en d o f th e day a nd o ne 16-mi le sectio n was dropped co m p letely. " We tr ied to have a good m ix o f trails and have pl enty o f resets. We wanted to keep it in th e woods," sai d Buck South , a clu b mem ber . " T he mud will slo w every th i n g down . Points w ill be dropped. " Club president Vic El y, sa id, "We wanted 10 lake p.oints from everybo.d y plus hav e 35 mil es of reset s, We Iigured eight o r nine points for o vera ll o n ~ dry day, 30 o r 35 o n a wet ~ay. T' h is was not a to ugh co u rse, Just lon g . Most riders went o u t with elemen t ( wea l h~r) problems." E ly a lso sa id cl u b members were o n rh e tra il by 6 a .m. Sunday re-mark in g th e co u rse in th e heav y rain . " We h ad one bike with a light and we just so rt of turn ed th e bars to lo ca te th e a rrows," h e sai d. Th e weath er wreak ed havoc o n the terra in . Beca use o f a dry spe ll in so u the rn Oh io, th e wa ter was j ust la yin g o n th e trail s. ac ting as a g lu e to h old the fallen leav es in pl ace jusl eno ug h to h ide Ih e hol es or logs or rUlS. R u ssell had a few p ro blem s w ith th e co urse - bo th ment al an d ph ysica l: " I h ad a good ride. I ga l lost by foll ow in g th e wrong a rro ws fro m a no the r end uro in st ead o f looki ng a t ' m y ro u te sh eel. I mad e a 'rookie' mi sta ke. I lost five poin ts a t t he seco nd c hec k vth en I slid o u t a few li mes . BUI I thou gh t I wa s goin g fa st an d ca tch i ng Fr il l (Kad lec) a nd (Dave) B~r tram. T hey were o ne a nd two mmu tes ahead o f me." Kadl ec had th e co urse di a led in . excep t for a few sec tio ns wh ich ga ve a ll the riders fi ts - m ost no ta bly the o ne befor e th e seco nd gas and th e long last o ne . " T hey were th e long sectio ns an d it was hard to maint a in 24 m p h ." Kadl ec sa id . C u n ni ngha m d ropped h is poi nts spora di cally th ro u gh out the run. "Th e last section ga ve me th e most p rob lems. I d ropped five a t th e la st ch eck. o ne before t he first ga s a nd o ne a fter. " Cu n n i ng ha m sa id. As fo r mech an ical p rob lem s, C u nn i n gh am 's bik e ca me up w i t h a shorted kill bu tto n wire, which he p ro m ptl y pu lled . At th e noon layo ver, C unni ngha m a nd Kad lec stopped for food an d fu el a nd a brief resp ire from the rai n. C u n ni ng ha m said a briar bush h it h i m in t he mou th, d ra win g a littl e blood. Kadl ec sa id , ' 'I'm runni ng 10 0 slo w , bUI I' m havin g fu n ." Cu n n ingha m 's prima ry ri val in t he seri es a nd tea mrna re, Bert ram , ran into p robl em s wi th the mud o n th e co u rse but nOI the co urse per se. " I need p racti ce in th e slick m ud ," he sa id with a grin. " I th ought th e tra il was p rett y ea sy. bUIh ard to go fast o n because it was so slick. Yo u kn ow. wh en it rains in California th e forestr y service GIlls o ff th e end uro. " T .C . a nd Russell caught me in th e lasI section. I 'rode with th em for a few m iles th en ga ssed it. I didn 't rea lize we cou ld go rhat Iast in th e mud. If th ey wo u ld have cau g h t me ea rl ier I would ha ve turne d in a beuer sco re." Di ck Nall e a nd Dann y J ames co nrinued th eir season-lo ng battle i n th e Senior cla ss with Nalle co mi ng OUI th e winner thi s lime around despite having a broken co lla rbo ne. " T h is is a Iantasric r u n . It just go t a little muddy. I'm four weeks into a healing broken co llar bo ne an d j us t had to gel back. I ga ve J ames three end u res whil e I wa s o ff, bUI thi s win puts me 42 points up a nd cl in ch es the Oh io Se n io r title," said Nalle, The o n ly different parr of th e course, a ccordin g to Nalle, was th e lasI hill. "The lasI hill was the worst - it was like a m ountain ," Nall e sa id . Nall e, 44, d ropped 59 p oints o n h is H i-P o int/Husky-supporred 400WRX. J ames made it to th e third o f II checks o n h is Yam a ha before h e ran o u t o f 'gas . J eff Fred ell e rod e a " very co n serva liv e ru n " a n d dropped 34 points o n h is Ka wasa ki backed KDX 200. ' 'I' m ,D 8 Cl,) >- 0 Z (A bove) Terry Cunningham capt u red h is sixth N at io na l w in of the ye ar in Ohio. (Below) Class AA win ner Jeff Russell (left) and Cu nn ingham . still recov ering from Black Coa l a nd t h e Six Days so I j us t wanted to keep it o n two wh eels ," sa id Fredette. H e, too , a lso had h is problems in th e la st sectio n . " Yo u n ever sec a n ybody a nd yo u just ha ve 10 keep push ing . I lost II points th ere." -Frede ue a ppears 10 hav e th ird in th e seri es sew n up (beh in d Bertram ) a nd m a y n ot a tte nd th e fin al round. " It depends o n how th e points are wh ether I go to Del aware. I'm st ill having p roblem s with breathing (from a rib injury)." Next yea r he plans 10 co ntin ue his ride with Kawasaki . The " p io neer" for th e end u ro wa s Bu zz Wh itl at ch . Whitla tch wa s th e fir st o n e to fin ish th e run . " I tra ilblazed th e whol e da y. It was slick. If i t would ha ve been dry less th an five would hav e wo n i t. I dropped 17 a t th e la st check. I overshot th e trail an d had to ge l o UI of a creek a nd th en I got tired . After th e seco nd gas sto p I got real ti red, stiff a n d co ld . Th e tr ail s were lea f-co vered and yo u co u ld n' t see u nder th em ," sai d Wh itla tch. AA rider Mike T ool e dropped 33 points, whi ch was a few po ints from the lead er s. but " d id n ' t feel I rode 100 well. I burned a co u p le checks a nd lost a few po ints. T he Husky 400WR X ran g reat. The o n ly p ro blem I had was wh en th e fro nt fender brok e; th e sp ray o n th e two-track s hurt. By th e lime I galla th e hard-packed, lea fcov ered sectio n , it was lik e icc." Aft er th e run ended a nd th e troph ies had been handed o u t, o ne cl u b member su m me d up th e experience: " Bo y, eig h t wee ks wort h of wor k a nd it 's gone in a da y." • Results OV ERAll: Terry Cunningham (Hus) . HIGH POINT A: Randy Kli ne lYam) . HIGH POtNT B: Walter Burdett e lYam l. AA : 1. Jeff Russall tHus); 2. Frill Kadlec (Hus). 200cc A: 1. Marvin Buttrick (Yam); 2. Craig Dickens (Yam); 3 . Dave Br idge (Yam); 4 . Tom Klausler (Yam); 5. Cris Gillespie (KTM ). 250cc A: 1. Mike Frazee (Yam ); 2. Gallie Ward (Hon); 3. Buzz Whit latch (Hus); 4 . Kevin Vollmar (Hust 5. Dave Stevens (KTM). OPEN A: 1. Wa lly Wilson tHus); 2. Bill Moroz (Hus); 3 . Rick Nalle (Hus); 4 . Scan Price (Hus) ; 5. Leslie Wolfe (Hus) . SR: 1. Dick Nalle (Hus) ; 2. Ronald Monnig (Hon); 3. Roben Vollmar IHus). SUPER SR: 1. Georg e Townsend (KBw); 2. Cletu s Kuhn (Hus); 3. Richard l enover (Kaw) . 125cc B: 1. Jeff Keegan (Kaw); 2 . Donald Zinz (KTM) . 200cc B: 1. l yl e Townsend IKaw) ; 2. Dick Ack er s (Ka w ); 3. Ja me s Va nde nbe rghe (Yam ); 4 . St eve Brooks (C-A). . 250cc 8 : 1. David M in or (Hus); 2. Vietor Cline (H us); 3. Stan Bell ville (Hus); 4 . Garland Stov er (Hus); 5 . Charles Dai ley (Hon t. OPEN 8 : 1. W ayne Hen sley (Hus); 2. Pau l Jordan (Hus); 3 . Fred Leg leitn er (Hus); 4 . Pat W est (Hus); 5. Ter ry Ov erl y (Hon). 7

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