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/126981
Mike Keen piloted his big -bore Husqvarna to a come-from-behind overall vi ct ory at the Black Coa l National Hare Sc rambles. ' In his f irst year of co m pet ing in the N ation al hare scram bles circui t , Yamaha rid er Tim Sheperd t o ok third in Indiana. Can -Am 's Tony Hendon enjoyed a two minute lead, but Keen snuck up and passed Hendon late in the race . Hendon fin ished second . AMA National 'Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 11 Keen burns 'em at Black Coal By Merle Acord LYNNVILLE, IN, AUG. 23 Mike Keen, with a come-from-beh ind fin ish, charged a Gladwin Cycle Center-sponsored H usqvarna 430CR through nine eight-mile laps in three hours, five minutes and 10 seco nd s, and arrived at the final , check 22 seconds ahead of Tea m Can-Am rider ' Tony H endo n at the Ill inois/ In di- - . ana/Ken tucky Enduro RI~er~ Assl?ciation-promoted event, wm~mg his first ever National Championship Hare Scrambles, . Of the big four series point leaders Kevin Brown, Lojak, Tony Hendon ~md Mark Hyde, only Hendon fillIshed the race. " T hey told me on the line, just about30s~condsbefot~the .start, tha t ~y rear lire was Ila t, said Bro wn. T here wasn't anything I could do then but ride the first la p a nd hope that Dad (p it crew) had everything read y to change it when I came aro und. Anyway, I lost so much time that I dropped out. I needed a win today to cinch it (the champions hip), a l l th or 12th p lace finish wou ldn 't have done me a ny good." " I had a bad start," sa id Loja k, "and a t th e start of the seco nd la p , I nai led a jump in the motocross section a nd I th ought I felt so methin g go (rear shock) and th en when I hit th e sma ll jump in front of th e pits it let go all the way a nd I wa s done for the da y." " It was just too du sty." said T eam Husqvarna 's H yde. " I co uld n 't see and I d idn 't want to ride th at fast under those cond itio ns, so I dropped o u t,.. Fonner ISDE team member Greg Surdy ke, was first to light th e fire in hi s Ya maha YZ250, from th e dead engine sta rt (the first of eig h t waves) a nd led th e Open and 250cc As into the first wood section. At the end of the first eigh t mil e lap, Surdyke roa red through th e pit area five seco nds ahea d of H endon. Brown , fi ghting a rea r fl at that would event ually cause him to drop o u t by th e thirdlap, pulled into th e p its in third place, took a quick cha rge of air a nd reentered th e race, losing only a cou p le of positions. Scott Plessin ger, Tim Shephard, Fred Hoess and Kelly Cetz were the next four riders. Keen was back in the pack. The demanding course began to take its toll. Su rdyke faltered in the next la p losing several pos itions and was never ab le to pull back in th e lead. Pl essinger lost a hose clamp and the radiator coolant and seized his Ka wasaki. Plessinger replaced the clamp and the coolant, and was ab le to continue but was a lap down and was never a serious threat. ."Today, I just want to keep Brow n or Lojak from wrapping it up" said P lessinger prior 10 the race. "If I can win today arid win again in North Carolina - well, you never know. " H endo n . by the fo urt h la p , had p u lled a IWOm in ute lead over second p lace rider T im Shep ha rd. H endon's pit crew were never awa re of Mike Keen closing the ga p from a midpack start . Shephard, top Ameri can in th e 250cc clas s in th e ISDE last year, said, " T h is is my firs t year riding hare scrambles and it 's an ed ucational process. I rode motocross before and I hav e to learn abo u t pitting, gassing and so me of the other tricks. I have a lot of trouble wit h pa cing in th e woods. If I follow so meone that 's o kay, but o the rwise, I go too fast. I sho uld be higher in th e sta nd ings but I've had some unbeli evabl y bad luck. Sm all stuff, I lost an axl e nut, a mast er link, had a co up le of flat tir es a nd ran out of gas. Small stuff but it kept me out of th e winner's circle. Next year!" " T hey (p its) said I passed him (H endon) at gas ," said Keen. " I didn 't see him all da y until the last lap when he caught up with me. I thought I had pass ed him because Mark (H yde) gave me the five second sign on the pit board. The bike worked really great. Last year I had a bad time wi th the rocks. So I set it up a little stiff this year. That plus Mark getting me pumped up. H e kep t giving me the p it board telling me how close I was and tha t I wasn' t tired (when I was) . . " I thought I had two minutes," said H endon. " I don't know where he (Keen) came from. Every body was wa tching Shephard, even my pit cre w. I know I got anothe r second p lace but th at isn't what I wanted. A second is not first. I'm not su re how we stand in points after today but it's got to be close." Team H u sq varn a 's Hoess was dead last off the finish line but still