Winner Darren Cartwright leads second place finisher Paul Krause shortly before taking the checkered flag in the 170-mile desert race.
.
Krause was leading most of the race despite nursing an injured ankle.
The course was was extremely fast and dusty.
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~
AMA/District 37 Barstow-to-Vegas
Hare & Hound
Cartwright" claims
close .to-V,·b'aflle
By Anne 8t Tom Van Beveren
Photos by Anne Van Beveren 8t John Thomas
145 VEGAS, NV, NOV 28
Yam"aha YZ250 pilot Darren Cartwright
stormed through to steal the win a mere
quarter of a mile from the finish line in
one of the closest fought Barstow-to-Vegas
desert races in memory. Cartwright edged Team. Kawasaki's Paul Krause by just two
.
bIke lengths a~ the checkered
10
flag di"0I?Ped, whIle Grant Palenske
too~ third less than 30 seconds
behmd Krause.
The event was marred by an
apparent sabotage attempt which
could have resulted in injury or death
had it not been discovered by officials
and removed before the start of the
race. A doubl~-row ?f raiLt:oad ties,
reportedly spiked Wl~ nails, completely blocked a dramage. cuh:ert
under Interstate 15 about SIX miles
southeast of Baker - the course was
designed to take competitors right
through the dark, narrow tunnel.
Nails also littered the course near the
culvert.
The race also was marred by the
death of John Robert Underhill, 46,
of Sherman Oaks, California, who
suffered multiple, internal injuries
in a solo accidem near Baker about
9:25 a.m. Underhill was airlifted by
helicopter to Barstow Community
Hospital, where he was pro~0':fficed
. dea~ at 10:25 a.m. The mCldent,
whUi:h was not connected to the
sabotagt< attempt, marked the first
Barstow-to-Vegas fatality since 1972.
After 170 miles of hard~n-the"~s
racin~, Cartwright crossed the finl,Sb
line 10 three hours 28 minutes to
take his firs I ever ~vera11 will in a
desert race. His victory made it two
wins in a row for 250cc bikes in what
has always been considered a race
tailor-made for open class machines.
"I finally won one overall. I've
never done that before," Cartwright
said. "And what a race to win! It feels
great. I only just did it though. Paul
Krause gave me a goolrace the whole
way. I thou~ht I was just going to
get second nght up to the end, but
all of a sudden I got the break I was
lookirIg for and got Past. I think I'm
pretty lucky to be up here."
A full contingent of 1200 racers
were up before dawn, bravillg 3()0
temperatures and ice on the bike seats
as they assembled in the starting area
