Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Former Can -Am rider Ron Naylor made his debut in Nevada as a factory ATK pilot. He finished second despite a malfunctioning front brake. Team Husqvarna's Dan Smith cla imed his fifth National hare & hound victory of 1987 at the f inal round in W innemuca Dry Lake. Nevada . AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series: Final round Smith wins Nevada H&H season finale By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren RENO , NV, NOV. 15 Dan Sm ith claimed yet another Na tion al hare & houn d victory today at Winnemucca Dry Lake, 80 miles nor th east of Reno. T he wi n, which marked Smith's fifth victory in this year' s nine-race seri es, wa s an added bonus for th e T eam Husqvarna ace who came into . ' . th e. f i na l ro u n d w ith th e Na tio na l Cham pionship wra pped , . I,~ s a !l Ice :vay"to clo se. th e year o ut, Sm it h said. The senes w~s a lot close r th a,n It was last year, so ev~n thou~~ I ~ already won It before this rac~',1t s nice to wm a no ther race before It s a!1 over. I ha,d a lot. of pro blems thl~ year. a nd I m hoplI~g my good lu ck lat e in th e seaso n will put Te o n a good track for next year. Even tho ugh th e overa ll Nat ional titl e a nd all the cla ss cha m pions hips except the Vet Division title were sewn up before the fin al race began , th e compe ti tio n a t th e Western States Racing Associat ion 's event was as fierce as ever. It was a nybody's race as th e en tra nts donned heavy jackets face masks and bandanas to ward off th e chi ll ing morning co ld. Col orad o rider jim Thompson g ra bbed th e h ol eshot wh en th e starting .Ilag dropped a t 9.30 a. rn., a nd was o u t front as th e racers plowed through th e thi ck silt of the bomb run. u~: 12 Ex -Can-Am racer Ron Na ylor, who was making hi s debut as a n ATK factory pil ot , was soo n hard o n Thompson s heels a nd th e fro nt running du o had opened up a n imp ressive o ne-mi n ute lead over th e rest of th e pac k as they flash ed past th e five-mile mark. Idah o's Curtis Dice, YZ250 pilo t Lance McPhee a nd Husq varna's Garth Sweetl and were a lso h igh in th e early ru nni ng, but Smith 's 5 10 thu mper was nowhere to be seen. " I ~ot a reall y bad sta rt," Sm it h exp lai ned , " It took me two kicks to ge t th e bike sta rte d and it seemed like I I I' e~eryone e se on t ie m e got ~ o nekick sta rt. I was left wa y back in th,~ du st a nd I was 19th past the ~omb. . As the racers head ed o ut mto .t he first .o~ three loops, th e dr y, silty conditions o~ th e starting a rea .were soo n left behind. , " It's prett y damp out th ere," sa id Dave Cairns ' of th e WSRA. "T he w.o rst o f th e du st is ri ght here by the pits. Once you ge t o u t o n the co urse the sand was hes a re prett y wet a nd there's some snow on the hi gh er parts of the course. There are some fast sections bu t we have a few tigh t sand washes and switchback road s, and a lot of cow trails through th e sage brush. " The racers sett led into stride a nd the fro nt -ru nne rs averaged close to 40 mph as th ey ba ttled for th e number o ne spo t, racing fiercel y despi te m il es o f virgi n terrain , narrow trails and th ick sage brush. Naylor was push in g hard all th e way a nd broke through to ta ke over the lead before th e half way point in the fir st loop despite developing mech anical problems ri ght off th e sta rt. "My front brak e went o ut abo u t five miles into the first loop and I ha d to ride th e rest of the race without it," Naylor said. " It mad e it reall y hard to sto p o n th e downhills and th at mad e th e race pretty tough beca use the downhills a re usu all y my stro ngest poin t. It 's pretty sca ry go ing 90 mph on th e roads wh en you ca n ' t sto p, lOO ." Back in second, Thompso n was still hard o n th e gas but th e winner of tile Arizon a round of th e series was un abl e to keep CR 500 pilo t Curtis Dice a t ba y and soon sli pped back into third. Furt her back in th e pack, Sm ith had launch ed a n a ll-ou t drive to ma ke up for hi s lackluster sta rt a nd was co ming up fast. Ri der after rider fell prey to the flyin g H usky p ilot until Smith was alongside Thompson a nd looking to take over the n um ber three spot. As th e first bike appeared a t th e end of tile first loop a nd started th e downhi ll run into the pits, Nay lor was sti ll out in fro nt. After o ne hour a nd fo ur m in u tes of push in g it to the lim it, th e ATK406 pi lot flash ed into the pits o ne min ut e in fro nt of Dice. Smith was 30 seconds back in third, runni ng 40 seconds a hea d of fourth- place Thom pson. YZ250 p ilo t Lance McPhee had the 250cc class lead in fifth overa ll, with Arizo na's Garth Sweetland, CR500 pilot Duke Dowell and YZ250 rid er Dean j oyner tu cked in behind him. " I ha d a few probl ems following the course on th e first loop ," sa id Do well. "The ribb on had been kn ock ed down in one pla ce so instead of turnin g" (and) go ing up a h ill , I kep t o n go ing stra ig ht a nti went a bo ut five m iles the wro ng way . before I tu rned arou nd. I thi nk a lo t of people go t lost the re." Th e Vet co nte n de r s were led through by so u thern California 's Dan Dawson, aboard a Kawasa ki, ! who was making hi s final bid for th e class c ha m p io ns h ip in 11th overa ll. But Dawson's arch Vet rival, Wayn e Carlton, was pushing hard to ca p tu re the ti ti e from three minutes back in 15th overall. The first l25cc com pe titor out of loop one wa s AMA/Di strict 38 hotshot Bruce T a ylor in I3til overall. CRI25 pilot Edd Price was pushing hard in 17th , a nd Coors Extra Gold's j eff Mill er, who had alread y claimed the 125cc National title before the sta rti ng fl ag h ad d ropped , wa s running 24th overa ll and trying to mak e up time after su ffering an engine seizu re in the early go ing. Naylor was still giving it all he had go ing into loop two, but as th e front-runners started to mov e up on th e fir st of the la pped rid ers, his useless front brake became more of a handicap. Back in th ird, mea nwhi le, Smith was enjoyin g a troublefree rid e. • " I was having a great ride, work ing my way up through the pack," Smi th sa id. "The bik e was running perfectly and I reall y like th is kind of co urse wh ere you don 't hav e to gos ixth gea r, wide o pe n all the way." T he "great bike, great co urse" combi natio n soo n took Sm ith past Dice a nd had him rubbing elbows wi th Nay lor. Smith the n wo n a la tebraking -befo re-the-co rner co n tes t a nd took th e nu mb er o ne spot fro m Na ylor abou t half way around th e second loop. The raci ng was close all the way to the secon d pi t. Less tha n two mi nu tes separated the top fou r riders as th ey flash ed th ro ugh home check. Smith had a 30-second lead over Naylor, with ano the r 30 seconds back to T hom pso n a nd then a minute back to Dice. Dowell a nd McPhee were fighting it ou t for fifth overall a nd Sweetlan d was still in th e hunt despite bein g forced to back off his sizzling ear ly pace whe n his swingarm p ivot bolt loosened up. Vet leader Da wson sur prised th e compe ti tio n by dropping o ut of the run ni ng abo u t halfway around the second loop , passing th e Vet lead and the class cha m p io ns h ip over to Carlton. " I passed Dan o ut o n th e second loop a nd stopped to check that he was o kay," said Carlton. " He" d hurt h is back at a local race the week

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