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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127137
Paul Krause held second until dropping out on the final loop. Team Husqvama's Dan Smith flew to the overall victory by more than 11 minutes at Cherry Creek. Second-overall finisher Larry Roeseler leads Garth Sweetland to the pits at the end of the first loop. AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series: Round 4 Smith soars to Cherry Creek victory By Nate Rauba ' DELTA, UT, MAY 29 "It was great, this IS the best!" . exclaimed Team Husqvarna's Dan Smith shortly after taking the overall win at the 28th Annual Cherry Creek National Hare & Hound held 22 in th e Utah desert. " It couldn't have been any more fun at all." . Smith's ride was all fun since he led from early in th e firs t loop, and while many of the other co mpetitors found the rain, . freezing temperatures and snow in the final mountain loop troubleso me ; Smith wa s out front and enj oying every minute of it. " It snowed on th e last loop and I'm so cold, but it was great," said Smith. Kawasaki's Larry Roesel er moved up through th e pack and finished the four-loop, approximately' 120-mile race a distant second, just over 11 minutes behind Smith . Corky Maughn came in two minutes behind Roeseler for third overall after being passed late in the la st loop. . The riders lined up for the start in dry , cold and windy weather, and after the drop of the banner Kawasaki/ An swer Products/Smith Goggles/Metzeler/ShoeilAcerbis/RenthaIlOMF/FNL Tsubaki-backed Paul Krause a n d Cagiva North America/Gold Belt/S cott USAf . Alpinestar/ Autolite/F8cL Racing Fuel/Spectro /Tsubak il Arai- sponsored Smith led the field around th e banner and ou t onto the first loop. Whi le Krau se and Smith got away clea n, most of the o ther riders were. lost in a huge cloud of dust . created by th e fine san d. " I had a pretty bad start in the dust, a n d then it was rea l fast an d choppy," said Roeseler. " I was abo ut fifth or sixth , and for two laps, I stayed there." Up front, it wasn' t lon g before the lead cha nged hands. . " I passed him (Kra use) a m ile or two pas t the banner and just took off from th ere," said Sm ith. " I just out- powered h im going across the valley. I don't thi nk hi s bike is ru nni ng too well th is weekend." " Da n and I were riding toge ther," Krause said. " We dropped ont o a roa d and off he went. " Wh en they comp leted th e first. loop Smith approached th e pi ts first while Krause trai led 45 seco nds behind. Ano ther m inute passed before Brandon Gerber came in at third o verall w ith Husqvarnamounted Jim Estes within sigh t of his dust cloud in fo urt h. Roe seler comp leted th e first loop in fifth with Husq vama rider Garth Sweetland righ t on his tail. Dave Wasden came in next wit h th e sound of a broken ex ha ust pi pe, with Mike Birdsley trailing in eig h th overa ll and first 125cc machine. Chris Clark and Scott Gerber ro unded ou t the top 10 overall ahead of Ron Wehr and a close race for 12th betw een Joel Rucker, Morgan Williams, Brian Folks and Kell y Sorensen. Sm ith maintai ned his lead on Krause th rough th e seco nd loop wh ile Maughn began to work up through the top 10 after star ting at th e ba ck of th e pack and ending the first loop aro und 15th. As they headed out onto loop three a light rai n began to fall, which slowly increased as th e race wore on. At the end of th e loop Sm ith had stretched his advantage to nearly two minu tes, bu t instead of Krause it was now Sweetland who was chasing the Husqvama pilot, Krause had broken down out in the sand dunes. " My bike just quit running," said Krause. " I th ink it got a little hot in the sand. " Estes made it an all-H usky top three wh en he came in about a minu te-and-a-half later. Roeseler wasn't far behind in fourth and he had a big margin on Maughn. Wehr and Clark were next in to the pits as th ey battled for sixth ahead of a charging George McQuiston. Bri~ht held eighth and Folks was the first 125 to the pits in ninth, just ahead of Greg Searle. There were many changes during the final loop, run mainly through th e mountains, including the weather. The light rain turned to a steady downpour, and as the temperature plummeted it began to snow up in the higher elevations . and eventually the frozen slush began to fall at the finish line.