Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ..... 00 ~ v ..0 a v u v o \/yinn er Da~ Smit h (above, left) w~s ~ongratu lated in the pits by last year's Victor, Ch ns Crandall . Cranda ll didn t race due t o a recent injury, Neil Christman (above) f in ished first 250cc Expert and f ifth ove rall . Sea n Bradley (below) was third in t he 250cc Expert class and 10th overall. 1985 AltA D-37/Coors Barsfow-fo-Vegas Hare and Hound Husqvarna desert ace conquers 8-to- Vclassic By Farren Williams BARSTOW, CA, NOV. 30 Husqvarna factory rider Dan Smith h ad to shake off a h ard fall in a treacherous, un marked rain ditch a nd cope with a m issing ax le nut late in the race before h e co u ld claim victory in th e 1985 AMA/ D-3 7 Coors Barstow-to - Vega s Hare and Hound, he ld in the Mojave Desert between 6 Barstow , California a nd Sloan , Nevada. T he 22-year-old Smit h, of Visalia, - Ca liforn ia, rod e a brand-n ew 1986 Husqvarna 500 Cross Country to victory in threehours, 53 minutes, beatin g out Honda's Chuck Mill er , 26, o f Huntington Beach , Ca liforn ia, for th e overall win. In a ll, 1170 rno tor cycli sts and ATV pilots com pe ted in the race. "The race wen t great," Smith said. " T he bike (bra n d new especiall y for Barstow-to-Vegas) wor ked rea lly good. I had no prob lems, It was a rea l good ride. " 1 was hoping," Smit h said wi th a smile when asked if he ever was cer tain he was going to win. " 1 had a game p lan. In the co ld (d u ring th-e ear ly portions of th e race) it 's ea sy to seize yo ur engine . I got th e bik e through the hard part, wh ere it was really co ld, a nd just kind of cru ised from there." T he top five 500cc Expert class fin ish ers were rounded out by Husqvarna -rnounted Larry Roe seler of San Diego , California.in third place; T eam Husqvarna 's Scot Harden in fourth and Honda-mounted Ra n dy Mor al es in fifth . First 250cc Expert fini sh er Neil Christman (Hon) took fifth overall by completing th e race ahead of Morales. Husqvarna 's ace took the lead about 10 miles from th e sta rt a nd never looked back until he lost a rear axle nut , j us t before the third gas stop, While he was in the pits making repa irs, Miller took th e lead o n his 660cc, fou r-stroke Honda , Sm ith, who wo n Ba rstow- to -Vega s in 1983 an d wh o is currently the n umber one Open Expert rider in A MA /D- 3Ts desert division, retook the lead about six mi les a fter the third ga s sto p , wh en Miller bailed o ff hard in a ditch , After making sure his Honda-sponsored com pe titor was not inj ured serio us ly, Sm ith ret ook th e lead and . had a n easv tim e wi th th e co urse until he got o ff in a similar section o f ditch a bo u t five m iles lat er. The wa shout wh ere Smith crashed, much 10 th e di sm av o f D-37 o ffic ia ls, was not ma rk ed \~ith danger signs. Fortunat elv, both riders were unhun, a nd th e'pair put th e dangerous stretches o f di tch behind them by di cin g for th e lead durin g th e initial portions of th e co u rse's last section , Smith regained hi s earl y adva n tage some w here during the fin a l few miles o f th e ra ce wh en Mill er slo wed due 10 fatigue. . " 1 backed o ff th e gas o n the last loop, " sa id Mi ller. " 1 wa s gelling ti red and he was on the ga s. H e was a lillie bit in front of me," A spokesma n for D-37 said Smith's margin of victory was estimat ed by th ose present at the finish lin e as about 12 m in ut es, bu t the margin is un certain since offi cia ls had no timekeepers working the race - only Smith's winning time was recorded, " T he co u rse was rea ll y good," Sm ith sa id a fter th e 178-mile race. " T he re were no rea ll y to ug h spots. They (District 37) p ut o n a good, demand ing race." " O the r tha n the d itc h, I thought it was a real good co u rse," Miller sa id when it was all over. "The first ha lf was fast a nd there was no dust, (tha n ks to ra in the n ight befo re, th e co urse no t on ly was d ust less bu t a lso offered plen ty of traction ). T he second half was rough . I commend them , When you go from Ba rsto w-to-Vega s, you can' t expect a ll roads, " At th e start , Dan and I were ru nning fifth and sixth, " said the rider for American H onda. " 1 followed him and we passed everyone. Just before pit three, Da n lost h is axle n ut and I went by. " Abo ut six o r seven mi les la ter I fell off - hard! I got up and Dan pulled up beside me," said Mi lle r. " He was a skin g me if I was alright. I think that was a great display of sportsmanship on his part." Mi ller had nothing but praise for h is big, four-stroke Honda. "T he thing ran perfectly," he said, " 1 wa nt 10 say thanks to m y mechanic, P hil McDonald. The Michelin tires gave me no flats. They'r e definitel y th e thing of the future." Miller's Honda sported Miche lin's new desert tires , the mode l with no valve stems w her e rims a re mounted wit h a combina tio n tire a nd foam liner ca lled a Bib Mousse, wh ich replaces inner tub es, "1 lost my front brake," said Mi ller, wh o is em plo yed as an ATC race mechani c for Ameri can Honda . " So me times I would go for it and ha ve n o brakes; so me time s th ey were th ere. I think I had air bubbles in the line. " While Smith a nd Mill er were out front fightin g for a ll th e g lory, the 28- year-old Roesel er was fig hting against tim e. He was pushing hard o n his H usq varna 5 10 Cross Country four-strok e, trying to mak e up the precious minutes lost while suffering a bad sta rt . " 1 didn 't ge t a rea l good sta rt, " he said. "1 never cr hed , but at th e first as ga s I had 10 stop and fix a cra n kcase breather tube th at was spewing oi l and making a mess. I fixed th e line, but it wa s still leaking a lill ie, so I left it a lone and tr ied catch ing up. " You have to make up time once yo u've lost it a t th e beg inning," RoeseIer said. " 1'rn a lot bett er in th e tight stuff - the enduro-type stu ff. Whe n the co urse gets tight I ca n rea lly pass g uy s. T he fast stuff is not that cha llenging." Roeseler, the fact ory H usq varna rider ~ ho recently claimed a go ld rneda l in rhe 1~85 ISD E 111 Spai n, put h is enduro skills to good usc in the ro ugh terrain between the second a nd third gas stops, and he passed several rid ers to mov e .from seventh p lace to thi rd place dunng th e last 60 mi les o f the course, Why did Roeseler challenge the

• Cover