Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 00 0') The first WIIve of riders heed out about a half-mile from the start. Heevy ram m8de for dust-frH racing in Hailey. Idaho. AlIA National Hare Scrambles Series: Round 7 Naylor wins Sun Valley GP again By Marty Gregory HAILEY, !D, JUNE 8 Hanging tough in sixth with a first-loop flat, then battling Fritz Kadlec in a lead-swapping climb over 7500-foot Bullion Summit in a bone-chilling Idaho rain on lap three, Ron Naylor wasn't to be denied a repeat victory at the 1986 Sun Valley Grand Prix and his second National Hare Scrambles 28 overall of the season. Naylor powered his Pro Moto-Redding KX500 Kawasaki to the win in 3:35:20, ahead of Team Husky's Kadlec and Husqvama Auto-mounted Mark Hyde. Hyde's third place finish puts him atop the Series points standings, ahead of the absent Goo£( Ballard. Stanhope, New Jersey's Fred Hoess took fourth overall and first 250 on a Husky in front of first Idahoan Curt Harpham (Husqvarna 500) and Red Neck Rooster Duke Dowell on a Suzuki RM250. With a good rain soaking down the desert foothills the night before, it looked like a perfect day for a race at 10:000'c1ock as 139riders gave thanks for (finally) a dustless SVGP. Blasting o£( in waves of 10, racers streaked the 50 yards of pavement and roared through deceptively-slippery sagebrush flats toward the ridges in the north.. Up front and flying, local hotshots foughttooth-and-nail with National starS as the lead changed over and over while the pack raced up the hills. Utah's top desert rider, Shawn Gerber (KTM), Boise's Suzukimounted Daniel Huskey, MXer Jimmy Lyngar on a Husky, Naylor, the Husky guys, and others were all in contention early on. Naylor's rear tire went flat as he crested a rocky section at the top of a ridge and, through the tight stuff (including, snowbanks!) at the top and the mud bog on the way down, Kadlec took over the race lead with Huskey and Gerber hot on his taiL A couple of miles from the pits, Kadlec flashed past the spectators ata road crossing with less than a minute on Huskey. Gerber's 500 KTM came £lying through next with the talented 20-year-old from Lehi, Utah hard on the gas. Bispectac1ed Hyde and Curt Harpham were right up there, too, as was Naylor, though his control problem were easy toseeasthe Kawasaki's rear end hopped and slid all over the traiL In the pits. aylor's "Team Death" crew borrowed a wheel and tuner William Graueau performed the swap as Kadlec, Huskey, Hyde, Gerber and company came and left. Back on the trail, Naylor set off with a vengeance as severe weather began to develop at the top of the hilL The second lap of the 32+ mile course proved disastrous to many as hypothermia-related control problems and their resultant crashes began to take a heavy toiL Gerber and Huskey were pressuring Kadlec at the first radio check but the worsening weather situation at the higher altitudes left Kadlec alone in the lead by the time he piued after loop two. Naylor had moved into second and, though thoroughly chilled, was really pumped up! Encouragement from his pit crew, a dry jacket, and gas got Naylor out of the pits a scant 45 seconds behind Kadlec for the last tourofthe, by now, toruirouscourse. Hyde was just starting to enjoy himself, it appeared. The "Eastern" rider definitely looked fresher in tbe rain than most of the desert-types and his "enduro rules" showed when he ran to get his awn jacket from the truck rather than solicit help. Hyde departed the pits about a minute behind aylor. Riders just trickled in from that second loop and many simply couldn't go out for another one. One guy who' was still grinnin' was Emmett, Idaho's Dan Lees aboard his wife's KDX200. Lees came very close to winnihg the 1984 SVGP and was involved in horrendous first-turn crash in 1985. Now, in the rain and cold of 1986, and riding a small bike instead of a 500cc motocrosser, he was right up there with prospectS of a class win and t9P10 finish. Lees blasted out onto the course for the third tour and an eventual eighth overall/first in class. Other riders, finishing their second loop as the minutes ticked by, simply shivered in the pits while crews wrapped them in blankets and tried to get them warm. For the second year in a row. Ron Naylor won the Sun Valley GP. "I've never done a more miserable 66 miles!" croaked "Fast Pete" Keller as he tried to get near-frozen fingers to work a zipper on his coat. Keller finished his second lap just behind the Ridge Runners' Chuck Wright and, as the leaders were less than five minutes from the finish, wisely decided to stay put. At the front of what was left of the pack,Naylor pulled outa minute-anda-half on Kadlec. The pair had traded the lead about three times near the midway point on the course and finally, when Kadlec got momentarily stuck in a mud bog, Naylor took command of the lead he'd hold to the finish chute. "I rode the whole first lap on a flat. Then for the second lap, someone loaned me a wheel I'd really like to thank 'em for that but it wasn't a new tire and, after 1 passed Kadlec an the first big uphill on the third lap, I lost momentum at the top and he passed me back. I passed him another time but then went down in the snow and he passed me. I passed him up again when he got stuck in the mud and that was the last I saw of him. I think the mud crossings were the hardest. " Kadlec and Hyde didn't mind the mud so much. Hyde moved up considerably on the third loop, tltough hecouldn'tcateh his Husky teammate. Both men had words of praise for Naylor's ability in the faster sections. "He opens 'er up," said Kadlec. "Yeah, that's where he'd really get me," said Hyde. "He'd just have it nailed across the fast stu£(." "He's a good mountain rider, though," added Fritz. Hyde liked the course this year, The rains of the night before and those which fell steadily once the race was into the second lap produced a lot of slick sections where the 430 Auto shined, though Hyde could have possibly used more top end on the flats. "It was r~a1ly a good course," said Hyde. "The rain made it great. The speed, though, scares me a liule bit. It (the Automatic) is not designed for high speeds and that hun me. I might have done a liule beuer here today on a 400." The Columbus, Ohio rider will take over the AMA Hare Scrambles points with his SVGP finish, and Kadlec's HS standings w,ill also leap. Conspicuous in their absence, CanAm's Geoff Ballard and John Martin were reportedly resting up for Trask while last year's ,second place SVGP finisher, Honda development rider Drew Smith, had suffered a broken leg at tbe recent Michigan Two-Day. Third place man from SVGP 1985, Utah's tough Brad Strong, was home ill and didn't make the trek to Idaho following a good showing at Cherry Creek. As third-lap finishers straggled in behind Naylor, Kadlec, Hyde and first 25Occ. Fred Hoess, the lP"irn toll of attrition became more and more apparent. One man who didn't look tired was Idaho enduro star Reed Bright, who clocked in only a minute behind Duke Dowell for a third in class 250cc finish and seventh overall. Reed, a Husqvama support rider out of L8cM Cycles in Caldwell, was laughing about being beaten by Dowell, whose Red Neck Rooster club members were all busily congratulating their top finisher. Dowell had lost his RNR comb but still managed a semi-lusty "cock-a-dood1e-doo" for ever-present and ever-talking announcer Bob "Motormouth" Cavakis. "There's some de-e-e-p mudholes out there," said Dowell. "And with the tree roots in them ... I had to carry my bike out a couple of times." Dowell had passed leading 250cc rider ,Huskey on the third loop as did . Hoess. Huskey reinjureda previouslybroken hand and this, combined With the effects of the chilly soaking all riders received slowed the 17-year-old flash down to an II th overailifounh 250cc finish. Hoess. on the other hand, see;med to thrive on the rain and just steadily moved up during the last two laps as conditions became more "eastern." Dan Huskey's brother, Joel, rode another RM250 from fluskey Auto Electric/Suzuki to a '. fine l7lh overall finish one hour behind Naylor's winning time. Some of the toughest guys on the course were those who completed all three laps after starting off for the final tour just before Naylor came in. Boise's Steve Acarregui was the first Intermediate to finish in 5:12:15 and Hailey's own Whiz McNeal went the distance to best M-Star rider John Takacs of the Los Gatos M.C. in the Senior Expert division. Tom Moody of Carson City. Nevada won the 250cc Intermediate class and was the last man to go three complete laps after being on the track for over six hours. A total of 68 finisher pins were dispensed when all was said and dane. Moving the race date up better than two weeks for 1986 seemed to eliminate the dust problem, though no one was expecting the chill downpour that ensued. Race promoter Ron Dillon of the Dirt M,C., along with financial and contingency support from Coors, HRP, Smith, Scott, Lubradyne, KTM, Rocky, Malcolm Smith, Dillon Cycle Sales, Sun Valley Corporation, and the towns of Hailey. Bellevue and Ketchum, put . on a professional event which featured the most challenging SVGP course to date. Computer-tabulated results were available within a couple of hours thanks to Hewlett-Packard engineer/Open Expert Joe Wood. Results OVERALL: ,. Ron Naylor (K8w); 2. Fritz Kodlec (Hus): 3. Mark Hyde (Husl; 4. Fred Hoe.. (Hus); 5. Curl H8flIhsm (Hus); 8. Duke Dowell (SuI): 7. Reed Bright (Husl; 8. Dan lees (KIwI; 9. 8r.... Richard· son (Yam); 10. Jeff Dawson (HUll); 11. Dan Huskey (Suzl; 12. Todd Henneman (HUll); 13. William Per· kins (Hus); 14. Jimmy Lyngar (HUll); 15. Nid< Taileria (Yaml: 18. _ Dew (Yam); 17. Joel Huskey (SuI); 18. David R _ (Hua); 18. Jeff MiII.(Kaw~ 20. Staphen - - I - I .

• Cover