Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- ..... .... 0. ~ Dan Smith continues to dominate southern California de sert raci ng. His lat est 0-37 w in was the closest to date - j u st 15 seconds o ver D ale Knapp. Rovers M.C. 12th Annual Besf-in-the-Wesf Hare and Hound It's Smith againl, By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photo By Tom Van Beveren RED MO UNTAIN. CA, APR, 13 =ream H u sky's Dan Sm i th held off a strong challen ge by 250cc Expert Da le Knapp to keep his winnin g streak alive at the 12th Ann ual Best-i n- the-West H are and Hound, hosted by th e AMA 0-37 Rovers M.e. In one of the closest finishes in District 37 competition this 16 year, Sm ith took th e chec kered fla g a m ere 15 seco n ds a hea d o f th e ren a. cio us Kna p p a fter a lmos t 80 m iles o f desert d ueli ng. , ' _ " Theea~ ly leadert~ th e ,3 /-mlle ftr~t lo?p, which s t~rted Just o ff Stephen s Min e Road, wa s 2::>Oc~ Expert Paul Krause. wh o shot o u t m fro nt o n the uphill gr ad e o f th e cho ppy, cross. grai ned bomb run . .rt As the Am!!teur/E~pert Sla passed th e bo m b, 1l wa s Krause m from , ~ith S~ith hard o n hi ~ h eels, but Kr~u se s lead was .short -In·ed. As the ~rall head ed up a u.ght. san dy ~ nyon m th e Sp,!-~ gler H Ill s are!! on u s wa y to Ch arlie s Place. Sml~h ~ha rged past to a ssume co m m and m h is usual style. ' " . About four miles past th e bomb, i n rock y terrain , Smith had started 10 pull a ~a y , WIth a 30-seco n<;! lead over Su zuki-mounted Krause In second over!!II, and a.noth~r 15 seconds ~a ck 10 high-running first Am at eur rider Dan Daw~on o~ an Open class Honda thumper in third overa ll. Knapp, on his 250cc Husky, raced through in fourth , with T ed HunniCUll 'S Open-class Yam aha a nd th e 250s of Kenji Gauthier a nd Eri c Hallga th close behind. Ron Shuler' s YZ490 was in eigh th ove ra ll , with 250cc Husk y co m peti tor Charlie Morri s Jr. in nimh. But th e battle for th e lead wa s still no~ over.i j ust wh en it, sta rte d 10 look as If the race was scu ling do wn , Derrick Paiement came from nowh ere to cha rge through th e from -runners a nd out in from of S m ith , , Paiement h~ld th e lead as th e nd,e~s en tered th e f,Irst c~eck, at Cha rlie s Pl ace, o n ly Iive !I1lles m to th e ~ace, a nd was sti ll o ut in fro m as the nder s h ead ed ou t th rough the m oon roc ks a nd dropped into a section o f tight, narrow ca nyo ns with deep sand, bikeswa llowing whoops and nowhere to paps,. ' , s a leme n t' s u pse t i d d ld not la st ea ' lon g, though . According to Dan Smi th, th e tou gh terra in took its toll a nd Pa iem ent seized hi s bi ke in a tight sandwas h. A spokes ma n for th e Rovers M.C. lat er sai d th at Paiem ent got the ea rly lead by CUlli ng the bom b, b u t retired from th e race after h is number was ta ken by a Rover 's cl ub member who wa s waiting 10 ca tch riders taking th e ' short-cu t. Paiement's fast start also d isqualified him. Noti ceably a bsen t among the fromrunners were Team H usky's Dan Ashcra ft, who was taking a weekend off a fter his fath er , Bob Ash craft , was hospitalized with injuries rece ived in th e Plaster Citv round of th e National Hare and Hound Seri es, and Ashcraft's fell ow Husky pilot Chris Cra nda ll , wh o is taking five wee ks o ff in th e hospital with a broken leg after th e SCORE Great Moja ve 250. , As th e co urse open ed u p aga m a t th e 10-miIe mark in a stra ig h t sho t ac ro ss T eagl e Wash an d ove r th e train tra cks, Smith was o nce again in from. The riders h eaded out across the valley and into the Lava Hills.' Smit h he ld the lead through the rest of the first loop, a nd as th e riders ca me into th e pits a t th e end of th e loop, h e had pulled a head of th e co m pe tition by a full minute. The one -mi n u te margin did not daunt Knapp, how ever. The So , Cal. M.C . ace was pumped up a n d ready to go as he slid through th e p its in seco nd overall a nd pow ered o u t into th e seco nd loop, in a bid to topple Distri ct 37's reign ing kin g . As th e rid ers crossed the h ighwa y on th eir wa y into loop two a n d th e Summit Hills ar ea , Hunn icutt's Open class Yamaha wa s in th ird overall, with th e 250s o f Krause a nd Morris, close behind. Ron Sch u ler, Kent Oviatt a n d th e first C-c1ass bike o f Bret t H owell were a lso at th e from of th e pack, with th e first Vet Experts - Jim Robinson in th e Open class a n d Tom Holmes in th e 250ccclass - knocking handlebars hard on th eir h eels. T he fir st Amateur rider through th e pits wa s Kirk Heintz in 18th overa ll, with fellow Amateur Sh aun Devlin pushing hard behind him. As Knapp 's bid for the lead brought him closer an d cl oser to Sm ith in th e rolli ng terrain of th e seco n d loop, so me of th e ot he r major co n tenders ra n into trouble a nd were forced to reti re fro m th e ra ce. Morri s, who is sha pi ng u p as the o ne 10 bea t in th e 250cc di vision of the AMA Cha m pions h ip Har e and H ound Series, was forced 10 drop o u t aft er a ha rd get-o ff kn ock ed th e wind out of h im abou t halfway th rough loop IWO. " T he seco nd loo p wa s twisty, tight, rolling stu ff," said a batter ed Morris a fte r th e race. " It was marked fairl y well, but if you overs hot a turn yo u co u ldn' t see anything or do a ny th ing - it was too da ngerous . I overs ho t a tu rn a nd went down, a nd th at was it. " Another early retiree wa s O pen Expert Schuler , wh o dropped o u t -mile marker o n loop soo n a fter th e IO two. " I go t a from flat, I go t lo st. I overs hot the co rne rs - every th ing, " said Sch u ler. " T he from flat was wh at did it , th ough. Every time I tried to make a co rner I missed. It was a grea t co u rse, but I think for racing it was too dangerous. Too tight, too man y rocks, th e corners were too sharp and th ere wa s nowhere .to run o u t if yo u missed th em"': a nd it wa s super dusty so yo u co u ld n' t see a nyth in g ei ther. " As th e lead ers ca me into view a t th e end o f th e seco nd loop, th e race 10 th e fin ish line was·still on . Sm ith, wh o was o u t in fro m by a sli m margin, a ban doned hi s usua l p racti ce of coas ting into home and cr uis ing across th e finish line, staying hard o n th e gas arou n d th e fin al co rner a nd not hitti ng th e br ak es until he 'd tak en th e checkered flag. And th e reason Ior th e cha nge in Sm ith's fini shing style become obvio us as Knapp's 250cc thundered in across th e lin e o n ly 15 seconds beh ind th e T eam Husky su pe rs tar. " I kept looking back a nd looking ba ck , a nd every ti m e I'd see Dal e (Kna p p)," said Sm ith on th e fini sh line. " He was right th ere the whole time." Smith said he had to ride hard right from th e start. " I got a good sta rt and was second at the smoke bomb behind Krause, and I passed him about four miles out, but then Derrick Paiemen t went by," Smith sa id . "He seized in a sa n d wa sh , but aft er that every time I looked back I'd see Dale . " I was riding lik e an o ld grandma toda y," sa id Smith. " I just co u ldn' t rid e. It was just one of those days whe n I cou ldn 't get m y head in gear, but it was a good co urse a nd it was we ll-marked . The second loop was great - they h ad a lo t of good tigh t stuff. I just wish I'd been feeling reg u lar - it would 've been Iun! " Second-pl aced Knapp , in his usual show of good sportsmanship, leapt off his bike 10 co ngra tu la te Smith on the win. " It was fun ," said Knapp, wh o looked fresh eno ugh to ride the course again. " I just co u ldn' t cat ch him. I wanted to get in behind him j ust 10 pl ay with him , but I just . co u ldn' t ca tch up." Knapp, who thanked Van Nu ys Husky , Pro Circuit Husky and Mit ch Payton for help, said he loved th e co u rse. " I got a good sta rt right behind Sm ith a n d set out 10 get him , but he 's just too fast for m e," he said. " I could see him for miles and miles, but he 's on th at Open cla ss bike and I just co ul dn' t ca tch him. But it was a gr eat race." Third across th e finish line, taking seco nd in th e Open class , was Griewe, riding a Kaw asaki 500 test bike from Cycl e World magazine. " It's the first time I've ra ced in the desert in abou t nine years ,- I used to ra ce motoc r o s s .': said Griewe . " I liked th e ra ce. It h ad a lot of ro ugh st uff but th ey h ad smooth stuff in between to get yo u rested up . I had a gr eat time." G riewe was followed in by Krause, taking fourth ov erall and second in th e 250cc class. " I wa s leading at th e bomb but a fter half a mile out there Smith got by me and so did Dal e (Kn ap p), a nd th en Griewe got by me on the seco nd lap," said Krause. Krau se, wh o is still recovering from broken ribs and a so re tail bone aft er cras h in g in th e Championship Hare and Hound race a t Searchlight, Nevada, described his recent riding style as " rea lly timid. " ' 'I' m still riding tim id after gelling hurt," Kra use said. " Finally, on the seco nd loop wh en Charlie (Morris ) got up with me I sta rte d pushing. I didn't need h im to get by me like he did last week. In the last part of th e seco nd loop I starte d feeling comfortable riding through th e rocks again. It takes a wh ileto ge t back into it aft er \ yo u get hurt." Fifth overall, and third in the Open cl a ss , wa s Hurmicutts Yamaha, sporting a set of Honda forks. " T he forks made things a bit rough for me , said Hunnicutt, who wanted to than k Granada Yamaha, Duralube, AXO , and SCOll USA. " I T -boned so meo ne practicing m y sta rt and ruin ed my forks, so I had to come ba ck and find so me more - th ese Honda ones were all I co u ld ge l. Every time I wen t into a corner th e thing would stick and I'd fall over -what a race!" Hunnicutt was foll owed in by Mik e . " it was bitchin' " McDon ald (Kawasaki), taking fifth in the Open class, a nd Gauthi er (Yamaha), who took third in th e 250cc class. " I thought it . wa s reall y nice excep t that I had a shock tha t was throwing me all over th e whole race," sa id Gauthier. " I had 10 go real slow. It threw me o ff just a fter the bomb, and I cra shed in th e rocks over and over because of it. " Next to take th e ch eckered flag was O viatt (P ro Cycl e/Z Raci ng/D uralube) in th e Open class . " I was out by myself a lillie bit too much ," Oviatt sai d. " But it wa s. a fun co ur se and apart from not seeing anyone else, I didn't hav e any problems." The first I25cc home, a Ka wasa ki, was piloted by the holder of District 37's Number One C-c1ass p la te, Breu Howel l. With no competition from th e recent superstar of the C-c1ass, Duane Summers, (wh o was in Okl ahoma competing in a n ISDE q ualifier ), th e ra ce was an easy victory for Howell, who led th e class from start to finish. " I wouldn't have cared if Duane was here, " said Howell (Kawasaki) at

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