z
w
~
a:
w
>
w
til
z
e
s
0
I-
>
til
lJ)
(,,0
0
0
00
I-
0')
:I:
.......
a.
~
eo
C'J
.......
.....
....
0-
-<
Charlie Mor ris . J r. ro de hi s Hu sky to fifth overall and fi rst 250cc Ex pe rt
after a bad start and getting lost with Ashcraft and Sm it h.
Husky 's Dan Smith co ntin ued his dominat ion of the dese rt in ro und f our of
the seri es in Plast er City. .
.AMA Championship Hare and Hound
Series: Round 4 .
Smith goes three
out of four
By A n ne and Tom Van Beve ren
P LAST ER C ITY WEST , CA. AP R. 6
Team Husky's Dan Smi th ran away from the
competition in round Jour of th e AMA
Cha m pionship H are and H o u n d Series at
Plaster Ci ty West - and with only five even ts
'
left in the cha mpio ns h ip compet ition Smith ha s o pe ne d u p
• di
.
d
a ~?m ma n m g pom,~s lea .
U nbea ta ble Dan LOo k the
I
16
chec kered Ilag wi th more tha n a
minute to spa n' in the La s. Coyotes
Na tiona l Ha n -and Hound , hosted bv
AMA Distr ict- 38's Tank Slappers
M.C.. for a to tal of th ree win s a nd a
n int h overa ll in the series.
Bu t th e race was n ' t a ll smooth sai lin g for Sm ith , as th e District-S? supersta r had to hold o ff a strong bid for
the lead from Arizo na 's N u m ber One
desert ride r, G arth Sweetla nd , in the
ea rly ru n n ing , a nd a lso fig ht a bailie
aga ins t fat igue a fter racin g to a win
in th e SCO R E G rea t Mojave 250 held
in Lucern e Vall ey, Ca lifornia th e day
before.
Smit h gra bbed the lea d on th e
bomb run a n d as th e trail came o u t of
th e sa ndy wa sh a n d under a rai lway
brid ge, it was Smith in front. wi th th e
h ard-ch a rg in g Sweet la n d ba ck in
fourth.
. In typical Distri ct-38 sty le, th e first
of th e race's three loo,?s was a wideopen , sandy course.whJ~h used .sha rp
tur ns 10 keep th e riders a u en u on 10
ch eck their speed. And wi th Distri ct 38's relatively un raced terrain , th e
lead ers were a ble 10 complete th e 34mile express way co urse in exactly 34
mi n utes.
T he co urse wa s well-marked with
rib bon , but wit h Iewer direction ar rows than Smith is used to, he overshot
. a co rner a nd lost the co urse, a llowi ng
Sweetla nd 10 brea k th ro ugh for th e
lead, a nd forci ng Smi th to eat d ust for
the second half of the first loo p.
T he ba tt le for firs t overa ll was in
fu ll sw ing as th e leaders slid into
h om e chec k a t th e end of the first
loo p , wi th Sweet la nd 's Husky a head
o f Smi th by about 100 yards.
Husky's Dan Ashcra ft stormed into
the pits in th ird o verall o n ly seco nds
behind, wi th 25Occ-class racers Pa u l
Kra use a nd Cha rl ie Mo rr isJ r. , in hot
pursuit. In si xt h overa ll the first time
through th e pits was Dist rict 38's
Number One O pen class ride r. Tom
Moen (Honda ), with District-37's Ron
Purvi nes ( H o n d a) a n d Neva d a 's
Heav yweight ace Sco t Harden close
beh ind .
Also hi g h in th e running th e fir st
tim e int o th e p it s were Senior O pen
Expert rider Richa rd J ackson , in 10th
overall . wi th the first Vet . Mike " Sizzli n" Sixbery, run n in g l l th ,
T he seco nd loop p ro ved 10 be th e
m ost tryin g for many of the top co mpe tito rs. Just as th ey wer e gelli ng
back in to str ide af ter the ir first gas
sto p, th e flu orescent pink co ursem arking ribbon a p parently " d isa ppea red, " leaving th e five front-runners
wit h nowhere to go .
" 1got lost a couple of tim es - once
in the first loo p a nd o n ce in th e
second ," said Smith a t the fin is h. " In
th e seco n d loo p it was right a fter th e
p its . Ash craft , Swee tla nd, C ha rl ie
Morri s - we were a ll O UI th ere for
a bo ut five mi nutes ridin g arou nd in
circles look in g for ribbo n, Dan (Ash craft ) spo tted the trai l first a nd took
o ff. I took off after him a nd hit something - wh at an air shot !"
As th e leaders so rted th emselves
ou t agai n in th e tougher second loo p ,
m ith sto le th e lead ba ck from Ashcraft, an d as th e 3D-m ile loop dr ew to
a cl ose, th e lead ers started 10 space
o u t, with Smith opening u p a oneminu te lead over Ash craft, who in
turn led Sweetland by another m in ute .
As th e tir ed , dusty riders ca me into
the p it s a t th e en d o f th e seco nd loop,
the clouds ope ned a nd th e forecasted
60%chance o f rain becam e a rea lity.
T he sudde n downpo ur lasted just
lo ng eno ug h 10 smear d usty goggles
a nd cool the riders.
Charlie Morr is J r. led th e 250cc
class into th e seco nd gas stop in
fourt h overa ll, with Ron Pu rvin es in
th e O pen class an d fell ow 250cc-racer
Pa ul Kra use h ar d o n hi s heel s. Fir st
Vet th roug h th e pi ts a fte r loo p two
was Sixbery, wh o had worked up
fro m 11 th at th e first gas sto p to seven th overa ll , wi th Distr ict-38 O pen
Expe rt Steve Wa lker . in eigh th overa ll,
foll owed by Richa rd J a ckson and
Moen .
Also hi g h in th e run n ing a fter loop
two was th e first 125cc bi ke.ridden by
San Diego 's Bru ce T aylor, who turned
a 45-mi nu te la p in the seco nd loop.
j ust two m inutes off the pace set by
Smi th an d Ashcraft. T a ylor, wh o
came into th e seco nd gas sto p in 16th
o vera ll, wa s a fu ll three m inutes
a head of the 125cc class ' reign ing
king . Du ane Su m mers (Ca giva). wh o
had lost h is early lead a fte r fall in g
back with a flat.tir e.
T he third loop was a nothe r 34m iler, a nd acco rd ing 10 one o f th e
Tank Siap pers wh o la id it o ut , " We
ra n it th ro ugh every thi n g we co u ld
find out th ere - mud h ills, ligh t
wash es, ro lling stu ff - th e works!"
Smith h eld hi s lead throughout
loop three a nd sai led in 10 tak e th e
chec kered flag before dust from th e
tra ilin g rid er s even a ppeared o n th e
horizon.
" T he co u rse wa s typi cal o f wh at I
expected," Smith said. " It was rea l
fast - th a t's a ll th ey have down h ere.
I th in k th e cl u b did a ver y good job
with wh a t they had 10 work wit h ."
Being used to Distri ct-37's direction
ar rows, Sm ith said fo llowin g a co urse
m a rk ed a lmos t so lely by ribbo n wa s
hard wo rk. " I go t los t in th e first loop
becau se I was go ing flat O U I - I wen t
straight and never saw th e turn ," he
said . "Then I saw so me dust going
wa y out to th e side. and I thought,
' Wo w - that must be the co ur se!'
Sweetland got awa y from me there ."
Sweetland stor med across the finish
line just o ne m in u te behi nd Smi th ,
with a surprised Ashcraft streaki ng
in right o n his tail.
" I got passed about a mile back
right in a sa ndwash ," sai d Ash craf t.
" I' ve never heen passed just before
th e fin ish befor e. I n ever loo ked back
because I th o ught I was wa y ou t in
front o f anyone else and in th e last
va lley I wa s just dogg in g it - I
co u ldn' t ge t into it a ny more - an d
th en h e ca me pa st l I wish I'd kn own
he was th ere. Tha t'll teac h me to slo w
down!"
A tri u m pha nt Swee tla nd agreed
th a t he'd stole n seco nd overa ll with
lillie time to spa re.
" Abo u t half a m ileora m il e back I
passed h im - h e al mos t got me back,
th o u gh ," sa id Swee tla nd. " I was g lad
10 see th e fin ish l"
T he Arizon a racer, wh o sai d this
wa s a bo u t hi s fifth race in th e area ,
sa id o f the course , "It wa s fa st stu ff
mostly a nd so me o f it was wh ooped
o u t, but th ey gave us a bit o f different
stu ff 100 so it wa s interesti ng. I had a
good race - excep t for gettin g lost
wi th everyo ne else o u t on th e seco nd
loop. "
The fourth bik e across the lin e,
(Con ti n ued to page 34)
