Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Don Griewe finished second in Laughlin aboard a KX600 Kawesaki. The I'8ce was round three in Casey Folks' "Best in the Desart" Series. Dan Ashcl'8ft piloted his CR600 Honda to first place in the U.S. Hare . Scra",b1es Championship, held near Laughlin, Nevada. u.s. Hare Scrambles Championship Ashcraft blazes to Laughlin win By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LAUGHLIN, NV. SEPT. 27 Team Honda's Dan Ashcraft battled top desert racers from all over the western United States and one of the toughest offroad courses in memory to take the $600 winner's purse at the Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship at the Colorado River gambling resort of 30 Laughlin. The tenacious CR500 pilot braved blistering desert temperatures and 105 miles of the tightest and toughest terrain ever tackled by motorcycle racers to take the win, in a race so grueling that Ie s than half of the world class starring line-up made it to the finish. "I've ridden all the Whiskey Pete's races, Barstow to Vegas, SCORE and everything else, and this was definitely the toughest course I've ever een," a tired Ashcraft said after taking the checkered flag. "The terrE!.in was tough and there was never anywhere to re t. There was one little sandwash that was about an eighth of a mile long and that was the only resting spot the whole way. The rest was continually up and down, canyons, rocks - really gnarly, tricky stuff. I'm j\lst glad it's over. I'm totally beat and I couldn't have gone any further." The World. Championship Hare Scrambles, which was sponsored by the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino, Duralube and EP Performs, was the final event in the three-race Best in the Desert Series organized by Las Vegas promoter Casey Folks and saw the overall series win, with its $1000 first place check go to Las Vegas hotshot Kevin' Steele. Steele, who captured the prestigious "Best in the Desert" title on an ATK 560, bagged the series' honors' with an II tb overall in Sunday's Hare Scram~ bles, coupled with a third overall in the Whiskey Pete's Championship Hare and Hound and a third overall in round two's team race which he rode with younger brother ean. "ThIS series is the biggest thing I've ever won and it really feels great," ATKISportsman Cycle/Bud Yates Construction-sponsored Steele. said. "I expected to do fairly well going into today's race, but it was so tough I started to wonder whether I'd finish high enough to pull off the overall win. It was the roughes.t coune I've ever ridden and definitely the toughest race out of the three in .the series. I fell 0[£ really hard a couple of times and I got tired, and an Open class bike was a bit of a handful in some of the tight stuff, but I had a great race and the ATK. ran good. I'm just sb happy to win the series, I qn't believe it." With two of the series events already behind them, the La'ughlin racers knew they were facing a tough course when they lined up for the start, but it was not until the banner dropped at 8 a.m. that they found out Just how tough a Casey Folks course can be. The grueling trail was laid out in the shape of a figureeight, with a 14-mile first loop and a 21-mile second loop, and would be completed three times. The first lap took the leaders almost one and a half hours, giving them an average speed of less than 25 miles per hour. "It was rough the whole way and so tight and technical that you needed a 125," said KX500 pilot Don Griewe. '''There were tight rocks, waterfalls, uphills and downhills, tight sandwashes and big cactus bushes everywhere, and it was like that the whole way. I don't think we got into sixth gear once. You were working hard from start to finish and you never got a break, but it was a great course. It just really wore you out." Even with a 125cc bike, the course was no picnic, according to YZ125 pilot Kevin Case. As Case put it, "I liked the first loop a lot better than the second one - (because) it was shorterI" The bomb run was littered with large "jumping" cactus bushes and made for some exciting racing right off the start. Team Husky's Dan Smith grabbed the holeshot in the Open Pro starring wave, but had Ashcraft and Honda privateer Paul Krau e hard on his tail as he picked up the pink-ribboned trail. Tom Kell y and Scott Stearns won the 250cc Pro drag race, and Case got the drop on the 125cc Pro field. As tbe riders started to sort themelve out after the blinding dust of the start, it was mith, Krause and Ashcraft in an all-out war for the du t-free run at the head of the pack. The end of the first 14 miles saw Krause out in front of Smith by 14 seconds while Ashcraft was 20 seconds back. Ted Hunnicutt, a slow starting Griewe, Can-Am factory rider Ron Naylor and Husky's Garth Sweetland rounded ou t the top seven. Las Vegas Suzuki hotshot Barry Frehner had grabbed the 250cc Pro lead from Tom Kelly, and Eric Hallgath had powered his YZI25 out to a 30-second lead over Bryan Folks· in the Small-Bore class. The second half of loop one proved disastrous for many of the top contenders. Smith slipped past Krause for the lead but was forced to drop out of the running soon after with a broken radiator and pipe, Naylor bit the dust with a broken front axle and Krause ran out of gas at the 3I-mile mark. With Ashcraft now out in front the racers swept through the pits and headed into their second loop of the course. Ashcraft had a one and a half minute lead over the hard-charging Griewe, with Sweetland four minutes back in third. Hunnicutt, . Washington State's Paul Ostbo and Sean Steele were next through, with Frehner still out in front of the 250cc Pros in seventh overall. Hallgath still had the 125 lead (12th overall), and Vet Pro Scot Harden was pouring on the pressure and had worked his way through to 18th overall despite a fourth row"StarL Loop Two saw Ashcraft stretch his leading margin out to a full three minutes over Griewe. Sweetland was still holding onto third and Hunnicutt had dropped back with shock problems, letting Steele charge through to take over fourth. The lead in the 250cc dass still belonged to Frehner (fifth overall) at the end of loop two, with his nearest competition coming from Scott Morris in ninth overall. In the battle for the 125cc honors Hallgath's promising early run was cut short by mechanical problems, and number one spot 'Went to 20-year-old Bryan Folks, who rocketed his brand new 1988 Husky up to eighth overall as lap two drew to a close. By the end of the second lap the heat was starring to take its toll on the riders. Water was being handed out at each check on the course and despite the big prize money at stake, many of the racers opted for some lime out before heading into their final loop. "It was hot enough just riding, but once you got into the rocky· canyons it was so hot you could hardly breathe," .Griewe said. "We were all getting a bit dizzy at times out there and I had to stop twice iil the last loop and pour water all over me. I knew Dan (Ashcraft) was only just ahead ?f me but the heat got to be

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