Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Nearly 200 riders entered the Laughlin Hare Scrambles which was the final round of the Casey Folks Best in the Desert Series. bars a nd landed in a pi le o f roc ks abou t two m iles into the race ':' sai d Merri tt, wh o inj ured her arm in th e cras h. " T he re was no wa y .I was goi ng to give up. I had to fini sh a t least two loops because that wa y I'd win the overa ll (class cha m pio ns hi p) a t Best in th e Desert. " ~ 'T he neck-in-neck racing at th e fro nt o f th e pack co ntin ued th roughou t the second loop. Serrano a nd Krause were a t each's ot he rs throats' all th e way and Zitterkopf was pushing hard for his shot a t th e number one posi tion until he got a flat. Parry al so got his shot a t the lead in loop two when he overcame racelong ri val Mik e P owers to stea l number one in th e Over 30 division. " I fin all y got into th e lead but the n I hit a rock in a sand wash a nd cras hed and Powers passed m e again," said Parry. "I ended up passing Powers back a nd he passed me back again ." Pal enske's bid for the 250cc honors bit th e dust in the heat ed battle o f ' loop two wh en he go t a hol e in his exhaus t pipe. Krause was still o u t in front as the race rs hit pit ro w for th e seco nd time. Zitterkopf was running hard o n a rear fla t just 23 seconds behind and Sm ith was surp rised to find himself u p in third. " At th e seco nd pi t m y dad tol d me I was still in th ere," said Smith. -" My elbo w was star ti ng to h urt again as th e Tylenol wore o ff but I just kept riding th e same pace. I still didn't think I was going to win it. I was j us t co nce n tra u n g on a finish. " r Bryan Fol k's hard-ch arging 125 Cagiva raced through .in fourth and th e three-minute delay on hi s seco ndT O W sta rt had h im a n a mazing one m inu te ahead o f Krause o n adjus ted time. .Serran o was in fifth as he head ed ou t into the final loop of th e 100-mile race, with a late-in-th e-race p ush from H in es ca ta p u lt ing him th rough into six th just ahead o f Pal en ske' s ai ling KX250 a nd Sean Steele' s CR1 25. The O ver 30 co ntenders were lock ed in a too-close-to-call battle for '14th o vera ll 'a n d the Sportsm en com pe ti tors were led th ro ug h by 250 Husky pilo t Danny Anderso n, with O pen cla ss hopeful Sa m Rames just seco nds behind. The ti ght, technical terr ain sta rted to tak e its toll as th e race rs entered the ir th ird a nd fin al loo p of th e 33mile cou rse. Ou t in front o f the pack , fatigue was wo rking to Sm ith 's advantage. " I just tri ed to keep a steady pace going and a ll o f a sudden th ere was (Kraus e)," said Smith. " I passed him and took th e lead abo ut 10 to 15 miles into the last loop." " I don' t think I rode 100%all da y," sa id th e Cagiva N.A.!Goldbeltl Scotti Aut olitel Ara ilAlp i ne star I Max im a /M etz el er/Tsubak iiAcerbi s/Rentha llF&:LlZ Racing -backed racer, but his first -pl ace fin ish was still good eno ugh to earn him $330 for th e win and a nothe r $700 for the overa ll Best in the Desert O pen class Championship. " I jus t kind of go t tired ," said Krause. " Abo u t halfwa y betw een the . start o f the last loop and wh ere Dan passed me I fell over and had so me troubl e ge tt in g th e bike sta rted again. I tri ed to get into the pace again after he went by but hi s pace was just a little bit faster th an min e. " T he Kaw asaki/Metzelerl Answerl Sm ith / Tsuba ki/ Shoei/ Wh ite ·Bros.! Renthal /Spectro-backed racer 's fin ish earn ed him $162 and seco nd place in the overall Open class Championship. Disappointment was in store for top-running 250 pilot Zitterk opf. KTM 's Hines launched a last-minute rush that took him past Zitterk opf and into third overall, and th e ATK pilot 's long-running flat gave up th e . ghos t soon after. Bryan Folks kept h is charge go ing rig h t to the chec ker ed flag a nd too k the 125cc honors in fourth overall, just 45 seco nds slower tha n th e overa ll winner o n adj usted tim e. Folks was follo wed in by CR500 pilo t Steele, wi th littl e bro ther Sean Steele taki ng second in the 125cc div isio n in sixth overa ll. Steele's consistent performan ce earned him number one in the year-lo ng 125cc Cha mpionship ba tt le. Daryl Folks, wh o held a . steady Former National Enduro Champion KTM's Kevin Hines came from behind to finish third overall behind Smith and Krause. pace near th e front o f the 250cc pa ck throughout th e event, took ad vantage of race-e nd problems to stea l a last- mi n ute 250cc victory in eigh th overall. Serrano brought h is fro nt flat home in II th o vera ll to claim second in th e 250cc division and 1988 's Best in the Desert 250 cc Championsh ip. Powers a nd Parry were wh eel to wh eel as th ey en tered p it ro w a nd looked set for a p ho to finish . . " It shou ld 've been m y race but I . screwed u p a nd bail ed abo u t 300 yards befor e the fin ish ," said Parry " We were side by side wh en I wen t down a nd th at cos t me th e race." Pow ers took th e win in IOth overall bu t Parr y's race was still not ove r. T he Kawasaki pilot was still tryi ng to get hi s breath back whe n Pearso n and T ri pes ca me into sigh t a nd, in a fina l scra m ble for th e finish line , Parry managed to hold onto seco nd in class (12t h overa ll) by just half a wheel. T he Sportsman di vi si on wa s head ed up by Dann y An derson's 250cc Husky in 17th overa ll , and Ari zona's Sa m Ram es took the Open class honor s in 20th overa ll. • Results 0 / A: 1. Dan Smith (Hus); 2. Paul Krause (Kaw); 3. Kevin Hines (KTM); 4. Bryen Folks (Cag); 5. Kavin Steele (Hon); 6. Sean Steel e (Hon); 7. Garth Swe etland (Hus); 8 . Daryl Folks (Cag); 9. Paul Ostbo (Hon). 125 PRO; 1. Bryan Folks (Cag~ 2. Sean Steele (Hon); 3. John Braasch (Vam); 4 : Kevin Case (Yam); 5. Todd Campbell (KTM). . 250 PRO: 1. Daryl Folks (Cag); 2. Carlos Serrano (Vam); 3. Grant Palenske (Kaw); 4. Greg Zin erkopl (ATK); 5. Frank Sm ith IIIIHus) 500 PRO: 1. Dan Smith (Hus); 2. Paul Krause (Kaw); 3. Kevin Hin es (KTM); 4. Kevin Steele (Hon); 5. Garth Sw eetland (Hus). WMN PRO: 1. Anna Cody M err in (Kaw) . OPEN SPTMN: 1. Sam Rames (Hon); 2. Richard W ilk (Hus); 3. Mar k Ault (Vam). 250 SPTMN: 1. Dann y And erson (Hus); 2. Scon Hammond (Yam); 3. Scott Benshoof (Suz). 125 SPMN: 1. Denn is Belinq herl, Jr . (Hon); 2. Chad Tichenor (Cag); 3 . Arc" Hun tington (Han ). OVER 25 SPMN: 1. Larry Schnabel (Hon); 2. Gary Dudl ey (Hull; 3. J im Savage (Vam). OVER 30 SPMN: 1. Mark Man gold (Hon); 2. Keith Pearson (Hus); 3. M ike Ewy (Hon). 4 -STRK : 1. Bill Sweetland (Hu s); 2. M ik e Sherriffs (Han); 3 . Tom Manniool (Hus).

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