Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Hunnicutt was leading before smashing his exhaust pipe. Anthony Pasqualotto piloted his big-bore ATK thumper to a th ird overa ll showing. edging early leader Kawasakimoun ted Ted Hunnicutt. Thirteenth overall finisher Daryl Folks and his Cagiva roosted to the 125cc Expert class win over Jeff Korhonen and John Braasch. a nd a second-p lace fini sh in rou nd two, pu ts the YZ490 pilot wa y o u t ahea d in the battl e for cham p io nship po ints. , "T ha t was a n excellen t co urse, ' exac tly the way a Nati onal sho uld be," said Ash cra ft. "It was tight, technical. virgin terr ain th e who le way. It was rea lly tough, and I wish they were all like thi s. It feels really good wh en yo u wi n o n a co urse li ke that." The l Ot-rni le course laid out by th e Groundshak ers M.C . had th e racers on their toes ri gh t from th e start. The short sta rt ing line a nd a lack of established trail s through th e bomb run brush had th e racers close ly bunch ed as they wai ted fo r the banner to drop. Ted Hunnicutt a nd Pau l Krause got th e drop o n th e rest of th e field as th e fir st wave left th e line, bu t th ere was no roo m for side-by-side racing o n th e tig ht trail the Kawasaki teammates shared, a nd Kra use was fo rced to tuck in beh ind Hunnicutt as th ey cleared the smo ke bomb and pi cked up the start of the 34-m ile first loop. YZI25 pilot Kevin Case got the start of hi s li fe a nd Scot Harden and Smith were also among the frontrunners 'as the racing got underway. " My start was terrib le , " said Ashcraft. "T here were on ly two good trail s on the bomb run and I go t beaten to the trail I was heading for. I was back in about 20th a t the bomb a nd it was so dusty that you couldn' t see anything. When we got pa st the bomb everyo ne was playing follow the leader, just staying in line. But I got out on th e side and got by everyo ne in a wash. I made up a lot of time righ t there. " Hunni cutt and his Team Green KX500 were continuing to lead the way as the racers settled into stride. " I led it until close to halfway around th e first loop, but th en I hit a rock ," said Hunnicutt. " I started to slide out a nd hit a Yucca tree and it smashed m y pipe. The bike had no power at all a fte r that and it was rea lly bogging down through the tight stuff." . Krause soon ca ug h t th e ailing H un nicu tt andpowered past to take over the number one spot, but the new leader did not hold his po sition for long. " He (Kra use) hit a rock and crashed and I got by him again," said Hunnicutt, "and after that I led all th e wa y into the first gas ." Hunnicutt had a two minute lead as he headed into the pits for the first tim e with ' Krause in second and Ashcraft pitting another 15 seconds back in third. But th e lead turned over in th e few seconds it took to pour gas in to Ashcraft 's YZ490. " I had to cha nge th e pipe and that reall y held me up," sa id Hunni cutt. " We had a new p ipe all read y to go bu t th e o ld one was so hot and bent up that it took ag es to get it off the bi ke." Krause, who lost his front brake shortly after the start of the race, was a lso tied up in th e pits for longer than usual, and Team Gree n's problem s gave Ashcraft a 26 second advantage befor e Krau se set off into loop two in hot pusuit of the new race leader. Smith and KTM500 pi lot Harden were racing neck-'n'-neck for third as they went o u t ' into th e 36-m ile se co n d loop. Kawa saki 's Grant Pal enske led th e 250cc class in fifth overa ll. and ATK-m ounted Anthonv Pa squalouo a nd H onda rid er Kevin Steele also head ed into their seco nd loop before Hunnicutt wa s finall y back on hi s bike. After battling the rugged terrain of th e second loop for a full hour, Ashcraft was still o ut in front as he headed into th e pits o n his way to th e fin a l 34-mile loop, but back in second, Smith was starting to make his mov e. " I got a halfway decent start but then I rode like a squid in the firs t , loop , and I didn 't start getting it together until loop two, " said Smith. " I cras hed twice, too, once in the first loop and once in the second, but it was just fall d o wn an d pick it straight bac k up again stuff." Sm ith's loop two charge had him u p in second, just one minu te beh ind Ashcraft as the final loop began , with H arden another minute and a half back in third , and Pasqualo tto, Hunnicutt and Krause in hot pursuit. Pal enske still held the 250cc lead by a narrow margin over Cagiva pilot Scott Morris, while Bryan Fo lks dominated the I25cc division in 13th overall , and Kenny Parry's YZ250 was holding the rest of the Over 30 competition at bay in 26th overall. Loop three's terrain was even tighter than loop two's, and so was the racing. " Tha t third loop was so tough, and just after the start, I ate it really bad, " said Ashcraft. "I didn't get hurt but I bent the bars up and it was hard to turn in th e sand after that, and then I crashed again about halfway aro u nd; I just could n't get it together. Lstalled it once more after that a nd after I started it I looked back and Dan was right th ere. We were only six or seven mi les out from the finish and I kn ew we were getting close, so I said 'gosh, I'v e got to win this thing,' and really got on it." With Smith right on his tai l, Ashcraft la unched a desperate das h for the finish line and managed to hang on by th e skin of his teeth, taking the win by just 15 seconds a fter three hours of hard-fought racing. "Gee th at was clo se," said Ash craft, wh o th anked Yam aha, Bam a t Pro-Circuit, Spectro , JT, Renthal , Dunlop, F&L and T ro y Lee. " I' m

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