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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126988
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Ted Hunnicutt. who will team w ith Don Griewe in the upcoming Baja
1000. f inished second on what many called a tough course.
Don Griewe won the 35th Annual Check Chase in Fremont Valley.
Ca lifornia; over 300 riders lined up for the start of the race .
AMAjDistrict 37, 35th Annual Check Chase
Griewe powers to
Check Chase victory
By A nne and Tom Van Beveren
Photos by Tom Van Beveren .
FREMONT VAL LEY, CA, OCT. I I
Kawasaki pilot Don Griewe battled the best
riders on one of th e toughest Di strict 37
courses of the year to take the win at the
35th An n u al Check Chase, organized by the
Chec kers M.e.
In a grueling race over 100
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miles ~f tight, tech nical ter rain
tha~ sidelined many . of th e
24
race s top co mpe titors. Gnewe hel.d
off a stro ng challenge from hi s
teammat e-t? -be at th e upcoming .
SCORE Baj a 1000, Ted Hunnicutt,
to take th e overa ll honors and the
event's mon strous trophy. . .
" T ed (Hunnicu tt) was behind me
all th e way ro und the last loop,"
Gr iewe said after tak in !? the checkered flag. " I fell down In th e rocks
o nce a nd he almos t go t by me. I had
to push hard to stay a hea d. It was
a great race, tho ugh."
T he lar ge field of 300 riders kn ew
th ey were in for a tough time wh en
th ey lined u p for the start of th e
Ch eckers' race, which was sponso red
b y Origi n al New Yo rk Seltzer ,
Suzuki Art , McStaT and Torco O il.
"T he Ch eckers always put on a
tou gh race but th is on e was worse
th an usual ," said Open Expen Dave
Ch ase. " You had to work all th e tim e
and yo u had to know how to ride
. a motorcycle or yo u weren't going
to make it. I don't know how th e
Novi ces ar e going to make it up and
down some of those hills."
Kenny Parry, riding in th e 250cc
Expert division , agreed.
"It was definitel y challe nging," he
said. " I' ve never been stuck on a hill
in a di strict race before and I got
stuck on two today. That third loop
was probabl y the toughest loop I'v e
ever been on in a race."
Team Husky's Dan Sm ith got th e
holeshot wh en the banner dropped
for th e Le Mans-style start ju st after
9:00 a. m. a~d . made sh.ort. work of
th e four-mile lon g, virgin-terr ain
bomb run. Smith made th e most of
hi s dust-free number on e spot and ,
was o u t in front by almost a minute
a t th e seve n -m i le m a rk , but
" Dyna m ic Dan 's" winnin g run did
not last long. A brok en mounting
bracket dropped th e exha ust off the
side o f his bi g Husq varn a a nd
sidel ined the race leader in a canyo n
j ust a few miles into the 35-m ile first
loop.
With Smi th out of action, th e
nu mb er o ne spot went to hard cha rg ing 250cc pilot Darren Cartwright, on a Yamaha. Cartwright was
foll owed o ut by H onda ho tsh ot Paul
Krause and Su zuki- mounted Cha rlie
Morris, J r., as the course headed up
a tig ht canyo n to the base of Govern mem Peak and then turn ed toward
Randsburg.
Loop o ne was des ign ed w ith
beginners and ATVs in m in d and the
open terra in resulted in some ra pi d
riding at the front of th e pack. The '
fast pa ce was right up Krau se's all ey
anti th e Honda privat eer swe p t
through to take over the lead and
averaged close to 60 mph for th e first
of th e race's three loops.
" My first pit was a real mess,"
Kraus e said. "I cam e in and no one
was th ere! I had to ge t my own If