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/126991
.... V ..0 8 V >o Z Coors Extra Gold rider Jeff Miller f inished s ixth overa ll and first in the 125cc Expert c lass t o cla im the 125cc Nationa l Championsh ip . and he was o n h is way o u t into th e 31-mi le final loop, th at ran a ro u n d the outs ide o f loop two, as seco n d pl a ced Krause ca me into view . • Sweetland pow ered through ' Iess th an 30 seco nds behind Krause a n d it wa s clea r th at th e battle for th e win was far from over. " 1 was in th e middl e of a Husk y sandwich ," Krause, sai d. " We were reall y close a ll th e way around a nd a t one point all three of us were a bo u t five feet apart. I cou ld almost reach ou t and to uch both of them. We'd ge t rea ll y jclose through th e tight stu ff but once we go t back on th e roads it was all over, It was so dust y you co u ld n' t get a cha nce to pa ss. " " T h ose roads sa ved m y butt," agreed Sm ith. " T hey'd be .right o n m y tail at th e en d of th e ught stuff an d if it wa sn 't fo r a ll the dust, I would've been in trouble as soon as th e co ur se open ed up." ~. Back in fourth , more tha n three minu tes behind th e lead trio, rode Open Expert C urtis Di ce, wh o had rocke ted up from ninth overa ll duri ng th e ru gged seco nd loop. Wehl was sti ll o ut in front o f th e 250cc field in fifth ove ra ll , but a rea r flat cost h im valu able tim e in the p its an d brou ght th e series 250cc po int leader, Scott Morri s -r-' who made up Iou r places in loop two - ever clo ser. Mill er wa s still lea d in g th e 125cc divisio n a n a mazingly hi gh sixth overa ll, with hi s near est co mpetitio n co m ing from R ick Dooms, o n a Honda , th ree a nd a half m inutes back in 10th overa ll, Dan Da wson sti ll d ominat ed th e Vet fi el d in seventh overall and further back in the Vet p ack, a desperat e battle wa s waging for th e seri es p oi nt lead between Californi a 's Wa yn e Carlton , o n an M-St ar , and Utah 's Steve Pitts, riding a Can-Am . _ Out in front of th e field. Sm ith, . Krause a n d Sweetla n d were sti ll fighting it out for th e o vera ll win as th e final loop drew to a close. T he hard-charging tri o was on th e ga s right down to th e wire and Smith too k the win by a m ere 10 seconds. " G ee those guys rode hard ," said Smith, who is sponsored by Cagi va l Alpinestar/Golden S pec tro/ Me tzler/ Arai /G old Belt/F&L/ Sc OIl/ HRP / Z Ra cingv'Ascerbi s. " T h ey were right th ere th e whole wa y a nd I th ought I was goi ng to lose it for a whi le in th e last loop. I start ed to get sick, but I kn ew I didn 't have time to stop and throw up because th ey were all o ver me, so I j us t slo wed down a bit and did it. " " 1 had a great tim e. I just wish I co u Id ' ve seen wh ere we w ere going ," said Krause, who is backed by Spectro/Sh oe ilH allman /R enth a llAscerbis/Escondido H onda/ Showa/ Smith Goggl es. " T h is is one o f th e best Nati on al co urses we ' ve had." " So me o f th ose co w trai ls were pretty interest ing," said Sweetland, who brought hi s 430XC in to claim third. " Cows don't walk very stra ig h tso th e trai ls twisted a ll over the place and I don ' t think a n y bikes had been o ver th em before eithe r. " T hey . did a good job with th e co u rse, " said th e Arizona ace, who th anked Ca giva , Spect ro , Metzl er , Dirt U n lim ited a nd Husk y Products, " a n d I'm' happy with m y finish . I missed three ra ces when I go t h u rt , but with a go od finish in th e n ext ro und I sho u ld be back in th e top 10 wh en the ser ies fini sh es." Curtis Dice brought h is CR500 in six m inutes beh ind the lead ers to clai m fourth . "It was fun - defin itel y technica l a nd it kept you o n yo ur toes th e w hole wa y," sa id Dice. " My o n ly problem wa s that [ got a bad start a nd was a bo u t 15th a t th e bomb. The du st wa s pre tt y tou gh to g e t through." An a ll-o u t battle fo r fifth raged throughou t th e fin al loop between Vet leader Da wson and 125cc lead er . Miller. . " I was tr ying to catch h im since half. way ro u nd loop tw o ," Daw so n sa id after .slid ing across th e fini sh line just a few feet ahead o f Mill er. " T he yo unger guys ca n fly through thi s stuff but wh en you 're a Vet and yo u ge t in th e dust yo u hav e to turn it o ff. [ chased him forever and fin all y got him when he overs hot a tu rn ." Carlton too k adva ntage of arch ri va l Pitts' ea rly flat to stea l seco nd in th e O pen Vet class in 14th ove ra ll , with Pitts taking third O pen Vet in 17th o vera ll a nd Boise's Joe Woods taking th e Vet 250cc w in just one p lace behind Carlton. . Mill er 's sixth overa ll gav e him an easy win in th e 125cc aivision an d sewed up th e 125cc Championship for th e Coors Ex tra G old/Duralube/ Scott-sponsored rid er. " I got lost o nce in th e seco nd loop, but a part from that I didn 't ha ve a n y prob lems at a ll ," Mi ller said. " T h e co u rse was neat con side rin g wha t Honda rider Paul Krause took second overall. He finished a mere 1 0 seconds behind leader Smith in one of the closest finishes of the series. Husqvarna -mounted Scott Morris collected e ighth overa ll. second in the 250cc Expert class. to c linch the 250cc National t itle . th ey'v e got to work w ith up here a nd this is h ome turf for me, which m ad e it even m ore fu n." Second in the 125cc class went to lo cal H on da p il o t Do o m s, w ho finished 10th o vera ll despite goi ng down in a multi -rid er ta ngle o n th e sta rt ing lin e. Th e first 250 to cross th e fini sh line ' wa s Nampa , Id ah o's Wehr, who brought h is brand n ew CR250 h o me . in se venth o vera ll a n d narrowl y edged o u t series 250cc p oints leader Sco tt Morris. " I go t two flat s - one a bo u t 10 m iles o u t o n loop tw o a nd th e othe r o ne abou t half way ro u n d th e thi rd loop," sai d Wehr. ." Bu t ap art from tha t I had a good race." La s Vegas Husk y pi lot Mo rri s 'fin ish ed just seco nds behind Wehr to tak e seco nd 250 an d sew up th e . o vera ll se r ies win in th e 25 0c c di vision. " I got a two- kick sta n a n d was back in 20th at th e bomb, so I spent the whole race trying to work m y way up again, " Mo rri s sa id. " I' m h appy w it h m y fin ish a nd I'm reall y happy ab out win n ing th e Nat iona l series. Th a t s u re fee ls goo d . " Mo rri s thanked EP Performs, Sportsman Cycl e , Cagiva , Du ra l ub e a nd G randsport . T h e th ird 2[,0 to cross the fin ish line was a Husky pi lo ted by Reed Bri ght , wh ile th e first Super Senior to ta ke the chec kers was ' Preston Gerb er , wh o carne in 2 1st overa ll o n .- a Kawasaki KX250. • Results 0 / A: 1. Dan Sm it h (Hus): 2. Pau l Krause (Han); 3. Ganh Sweetland (Hus); 4 . Curtis Dic e (Han); 5. Dan Dawson (Kaw); 6. Jeff M ill er (Han); 7. Ron W ehr (Han ); 8. Scon Morr is (Hus); 9 . Shawn Gerber (Cag); 10 . Richard Dooms (Han); 11. Reed Brig ht (Hus); 12. David Rhod es (Hus); 13 . A la n Peterson (KTM ); 14 . W ayne Car lton (M ·S); 15. Joe W oods (Yam ); 16. K. Bu ndy (KTM ); 17. Steve Pins (C·A) OPEN EX: 1. Dan Sm ith (Hus); 2. Pau l Kra use (Han); 3. Gart h Sw eet land (Hus). 250 EX: 1. Ron W ehr (Han); 2. Scan Morris (Hus); 3. Reed Br ight (Hus). 125 EX: 1. J eff Miller (Han); 2. Richard Dooms (Han). VET OPEN EX: 1. Dan Daw son (Kaw); 2. Wayne Carl ton IM · S); 3. Steve Pin s (C·A ). VET 250 EX: 1. J oe Wood s (Yam). S/SR : 1. Pr eston Gerber (Kaw); 2. Randy Lindsey. 125 NOV: 1. J im Dranow (Han). 250 NOV: 1. Scott Nicol iu (Kaw) . OPEN NOV ; t , Chuck Maddox (Han). 250 AM : 1. Ken Kirkwood (KTM). OPEN AM : 1. Rick Vogler (Han ). ANTIQUE : 1. J. Ling ar. WMN : 1. M elba Lees. 7