Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

z w 9 a:: w > w co z « > ~ ~ 0 t- > '" 0 f/l t.O t- oo 0 ... :r O"l 1""""4 ~ C\f ....... . ,...; ~ 0.. < Duane Summers blitzed the field on his 125cc Cagiva in the 81·175cc Expert class to keep his undefeated streak alive. Dan Smith won the third round of the National Hare and Hound Series in Nevada and with the win regained the points lead. AMA Championship Hare and Hound Series: Round 3 Smith wins in Nevada By Anne and Tom Van Beveren SEARCHLIGHT. NV, MAR. 16 Dan Smith recaptured the early points lead in the AMA Championship Hare and Hound Series with a win in the third round of competition at Searchlight, Nevada, hosted by the Groundshakers Motorcycle Club of Las Vegas. In a hard-fought race, Smith, who won the first round of the 20 . series but slipped into second behind Husky teammate Dan Ashcraft after round two, was once again locked in a head-to-head battle with Ashcraft to come out on top in the third race of the nine-event series. In a good turnout for a southern Nevada desert race. almost 180 riders from throughout the western U.S. braved cold. windy. and occasionally rainy conditions lO compete in the three-l,oop. IOO-mile event. In typical Nevada desert racing style, the start was divided into four waves; Experts first, followed by Amateurs. Novices, and ATVs. Another typically Nevada feature - the rapid banner drop at the start - caught many California riders napping, as they waited in anticipation of their usual one-min ute-plus starting banner. In the Expert start. Ted Hunnicutt led the way on the short, uphill bomb run and as the riders cleared the thick. black smoke of the bomb. it was Hunnicutt, So-Cal M.C.'s Ed McCoy and Curt Crandall. with Smith and Ashcraft in hot pursuit. After jockeying for position for about the next mile. the lead settled into a three-way tussle between McCoy (KTM), Smith and Ashcraft. Two major contenders in the race. southern California hot shots Chris Crandall (Hus) and Mike Baker (Yam). dropped out in the first few miles. both victims of Nevada's unfamiliar rocky terrain. "I hit a rock, crashed, and broke 'Mr. Bike·... said Crandall. who had to be LOwed back into the pits. "Uptite Husky will get to rebuild the bike again for me next week." Baker. who was second overall and first in the 250ccclass in round two of the Championship Hare and Hound series. was forced to withdraw after a high speed crash in the Nevada rocks sheared the top off his Yamaha's throttle. A bloody-nosed Baker explained that he had kept going after the crash by pulling on the end of the throttle cable until the bike got away from him in another rocky ection. "It got away on a rocky hill and I went down hard," he said. "I th.jnk I pulled the cable out loO far and it got stuck." I Another early withdrawal from the race was Chris Crandall's little brother. Curt. who was running third in the Open class at the bomb. but was forced inlO early retirement when his HuskY's rear brake arm broke. At the end of the 36-mile first loop. which the leaders completed in just over 50 minutes, it was Ashcraft and Smith neck-and-neck, with Ed McCoy a scant 10 seconds behind. The next four Open class bikes passed in a blur. with Nevada heavyweight ace Scot Harden and Arizona's number one desert rider Garth Sweetland. both Husky-mounted, in the hunt for fourth. Next bike through and first 250cc Expert. was Charlie Morris Jr. (Hus), with fellow 25Occcompetitors Scott Morris and Darryl Folks, both from Las Vegas and also on Huskys. tucked in behind. In his rush to get into the second loop, Smith attempted to double jump a din road crossing at the end of pit row but didn't quite make it, which resulted in a rear-wheel-high. feet in the air, handstand on the bars, which had spectalOrs gasping. Smith landed back on the bike and disappeared. seemingly unaffected by a maneuver that has spelled disaster for many a less-gifted rider. The second loop. which was 35 miles long and had two "push your bike across" highway crossings. took Smith and Ashcraft about an hour LO complete. It was "all hands on deck" in the Team Husky pit as the two came in for gas simultaneously. and the Husky gas caps were barely off the bikes when McCoy's KTM ploughed through the So-Cal pit with .a brokenI . brake . arm. Not rear wanting a DNF 111 the tmportant championship event, McCoy elected LO push on into the toughest loop of the race. which featured 33 miles o[ enduro-like terrain. Next inLO the pits in the Open class was weetland. with Harden's Husky, minus the silencer core, thundering through close behind in fifth overall. Next through were the 250s o[ CharIie and Scott Morris. Also high in the overall running going into loop three were first Senior Open Expert Richard Jackson. first Veteran Open Expert Mike Sixbery. and the 125cc class Cagiva of the consistent Duane Summers. Smith. Ashcraft and McCoy on his ailing KTM. kept a good battle running throughout the last loop. although with no rear brake. McCoy spent a lot of time on the ground doing close-up studies o[ Nevada's soil. With McCoy struggling to maintain the pace. Sweetland and Harden slipped in ahead as the race was nearing the finish. And then. in a surprising break for the Sweetland-Harden duo. secondrunning Ashcraft was forced to slow drastically when his Husky developed engine problems. "I was about 15 miles out on the last loop and the bike started running really bad." said Ashcraft at the finish. "I just didn't have any power. I think I lost compression. I rode it hard for a while to try to keep with Dan (Smith). but it got worse and worse. so I tried to nurse it in. In the end it just wound down and stopped." Ashcraft's Husky finally quit within a mile of the finish line, forcing Ashcraft to get off and push the bike in. costing him at least a second place finish in the event, and the points lead in the overall Championship Hare and Hound series. With Ashcraft out of the running for first place. it was an easy victory for Smith. who crossed the finish line more than two minutes ahead 0 Sweetland and Harden. who were hard on the gas right to the checkere flag. Sweetland edged into secon place overall by about half a bike length right on the line. and McCo held on to take fourth place. Next home. and first in the 250c class, was Charlie Morris Jr., who finally managed lo shake the engind problems that DNF him [or about hi~ last 10 races. Scott Morris arrived right on his tail lo take sixth overall and second in the 250cc competition The 250s were followed in by Ope Expert Tony PasqualotlO (Hon). an Paul Krause (Suz) and Darryl Folk (Hus) in the 250cc class. Krause, wh limped away [rom the bike and lai

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