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/126899
' C/l c:: w ... :I: ::l c:: c:: « u ...J ::l ~ >lD C/l a ... a :I: 0.. (A bove) Larry Roeseler gets the checkered f lag from former desert ace Bob Bale nt ine . (Below) Chris Cra nda ll checked in w it h seco nd place. James Tucker was sixt h ove rall and first in the 250cc cl ass. Roeseler is D-38 King of the Desert By Paul Carruthers IMPE R IAL , CA, FEB. 23 Close to 200 rider s co nverge d a t the Sixth An n ual AMA / D-38 King of the Desert offroad race in 90 0 hea t bu t when the dust had settled on Ancien t Dry L ake in the Imperial 16 Vall ey , Hu sq va r n as L a rr y \ veteran use d h is exp erienc e a nd Roese1er stood a lo ne.T he cagey stamina to reel-i n a nd pass teammate Chris Cr andall o n th e fina l loop to become the fourth Kin g o f th e Desert . It was a perfect day for T eam Husqvarna as Cra nda ll a nd Roeseler rode 5 10cc four-st rok es to first and seco nd while Sco t H ard en took hi s 400cc two-strok e to a third-place fin ish . Earlv lead er Garth Sweetland fin ished fourth on yet an other Husq varna. Two-time and defending King o f th e Desert Mar tv Smith was dethroned ea rly as hi ~ Yamaha YZ250 seized before th e start loop was comp leted. T he first 250cc acros s th e finish lin e was J ames Tucker on a H o nda. Th e earl y goi ng , h owever, was tough for two mem bers o f th e H usky squad. Wh en the bann er dropped to begin th e six-mile start loop , Roeseler and H arden had th eir share of problems. Roeseler's b ike didn 't fire on the first ki ck and by th e time he got it going there wa s noth ing in sig h t but du st. Harden go t ca ugh t . napping . " I was puu in g m y goggles o n wh en th ey d ropped th e banner ," Harden exp la ined. "The re was a gu y in m y sta rt in g p lace a nd I h ad go ne o u t to do a run a nd f h ad Randy Moral es save m y pl ace. Wh en I came back that guy was pa rked th ere a nd he wanted me to squeeze into a li lli e space. I told h im n o, so he go t mad a nd took o ff. Wh en h e did that h e roosted me, a nd m y wife a nd lill ie boy were sta nd ing there a nd he roosted th em with roc ks. So I took o ff aft er him and grabbed and shook him. I was j us t a lilli e behind aft er tha t - I guess I shou ld hav e let that gu y go . I was ba ck in th e dust and I had to ea t dust for th e first loop." In the supcrcross p ort ion o f the co u rse at the end o f th e six-m ile start loo p , Roeseler was nint h an d cha rg ing whi le Har den carne through in 12th p lace. Mea nw hi le, Cra ndall wa s fourth. At th e first check o n the fi rst 30-lIlile lo op , it was G arth Sweet land foll owed bv th e 250s o f Mik e Bak er a nd J im -i"ucker; J ohn Bird was fou rt h. Cr a nda ll mad e a move in th e mud hill s o n the first loo p a nd go ing int o the supercross portion of the trac k [or th e seco nd tim e, he was clos ing on Sweet land a nd got by. Swe et land. h owever, em erged before Crandall. Severa l minut es behind was Tucker and Yam aha -m ounted T odd Ken ned y; Roeseler was up to Iilth at th e en d o f th e first loo p with Jimmy Means sixth . By th e third loop Cr andall was clear with Sweetland spend in g some tim e in th e pits and losing positions. Harden a nd Roeseler were sti ll th ere, however , a nd on th e fourth loop Ro eseler got Harden and set out aft er Crandal l, " It wa s gr eat," Roeseler said. " I cau gh t Scot on th e seco nd-to -last lap in th e mud hills a nd as I was com ing down th e back stra igh ta wa y here, I co u ld see Chris leaving th e pits.They told me I was second and I kn ew I had picked up a lo t of time on the fo urth la p , so I thought, 'J ust p ush ha rd a nd I shou ld catch h im .' I co u ld see h im m aybe five or six m iles out and I just gradua lly, gra dua lly reeled hi m in . "Wh en I caugh t him h e p icked u p th e pa ce a nd we rode side-by-side for a bo u t five m iles.just wid e ope n. And the n I passed him a nd pu lled away a lill ie bit. I think he just slowed dow n . I don' t kno w if h e just co nceded to me or no t, bu t he reall y backed o ff. My arms p umped up a lillie bit (ea rly in the race ) and I just sort of ma in tained and th e leaders pulled away. T hey were a bo u t three min ut es in fron t of me after a coup le of la ps. After tha t I just felt rea l good. They said my fift h lap was my fastest. It 's a lon g race a nd end u ra nce is a big part of it. The co u rse had a lillie bit of everyth ing . Fast stu ff, cho p, good ditches a nd yo u reall y had to thin k; you co u ld n ' t just hold it wide o pen because you wouldn 't get aw ay with it." Th e heat co m bined with Roeseler' s en d u ra nce ma y have cost Crandall th e race. He was visably tired a fter th e 150 miles in th e heat whi le Roeseler looked fresh . " He passed me in th e plain old desert ," Crandall sa id . " We raced for abou t five mil es a nd th en he just got me a nd I co u ld n' t go a n y fas ter ; I was do ne . I just tri ed to hang in there a nd go as Iast as I co u ld . He j ust bea t me; Larry is good." Cra nda ll a lso suffered some bi ke pro blems lat e in th e race . "Bike problems ar e no exc use, but it kept sta lling a nd h ad a stuck th ro ttle a nd I do n' t kn ow why . My whole body is sore, very so re." Harden 's h a nds were badl y blistered aft er ho lding o n for 150 miles. " La rry ca ugh t me at the end of the fourth lap and I tri ed to stay with him , but I just co u ld n ' t hang o n a ny more," Harden sa id . " My hands were just gon e. It 's th e same thing tha t happen ed to me here last yea r. My left hand, for so me reason , just keeps d oing thi s. La rr y wa s rid ing rea l good a nd I j us t tri ed to keep th e pace." Th e 125cc cla ss went to Yamahamounted Bob Bell a fter ear lv lead er Du ane S um mers su ffered a seizure o n hi s Cag iva a nd fell to third place. "In th e motocross secti on me a nd Chris (Cra n da ll ) were bumping bars and stuff, " Summers sa id . " I was reall y ha p py with th e start. " The Vet cla ss was won by H ondamourn ed Bill L yons with Ro ber n Dah lgr en (H o n ) laking th e Senior' win over Bob T hompson. • Results OVERAL L: 1. Larrv Roese ler (Hus); 2 . Chris Crandall (Hus); 3 . Scot Hard en (H u s); 4 . Gart h Sw eetland tHu s); 5 . Ji mmy M ean s (Han); 6 . James Tucker (Ha n ); 7. Phi l M ean s (Han) ; 8 . Tom M oen (Han); 9 . Derek Paiment IM ·S ); 10 . Todd M cKay (Kaw ). 250: 1. Jame s Tucker (Han): 2. Rick Paiment (M5 ); 3 . Raeyna rd Morgan (Yam) . 125 : 1. Bob Bell (Yaml: 2. Joe Lane (Honll: 3. D uane Summers (Cag). VET: 1. Bill Lyon s (Ha n); 2. Pete Eun ice (Han); 3. M onte Lee (Yam l. SR: 1. Robert Oahl gren (Honl; 2. Bob Thom pson (Hus); 3. George ert (Husl·