Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

It was a co ld day for racing, but Husqvama-mounted Da le Knapp stayed warm and finished f ifth overall to capture the 250cc class v ictory. Team Green's Paul Krause was slowed by sticking carburetor floats while leading the race. He took second in the Open class. 24 three min utes ahead of his nea rest 250cc competi tio n. Miller raced down pit ro w in fourth overall with Sorenson still glued to his rear fender. Sorenson was foll o wed in by Garth Sweetl and, Ca rlos Serrano, Dal e Knapp and an ai ling Roeseler. "The first loop was really fast and rocky and a rock went through all th e plastic a nd through the radiator," said Roeseler. " I was third (in class) coming into the pit but we had to change the radiator a nd it took arou nd 13 minutes to do that." An all-out battle in th e Over 30 ra n ks saw Scot H arden grab th e lead just before p it ro w. . " Mike Sixbery and I had a gr eat race for th e whole first loop - we rode really hard," said Harden. " Bu t com ing down to th e firs t gas, within a mile of the pit, (Sixbery) pulled off to the side. He seized his motor." Sean Steele and Campbell were o n ly th ree seconds apart as they h it pit row in the 125cc division, and Dick Burleson had a decent lead over the O ver 38 Pro field. More fast-paced terrain awaited th e racers as th ey thundered out of th e pits on Jean Dry Lake and headed into th e 33-mile second loop. Soon into the loop Roeseler picked up a flat tire. Up front the battle still raged. . Krause said, " Da n (Sm ith) , Cliff (Thomas) and I were really close all through the seco nd loop and I got th e lead coming in to gas two." Krause was just three seconds ahead of Smith as he hit the Jean Dry Lake pit for the second time, with another three seconds back to Thomas. Hunnicutt was still out in front of the 250cc field in fourth 'overa ll with Miller, Knapp; Sorenson and Sweetland racing through in quick succession. Harden had a two minute lead over Team Green 's . Kenny Parry who was handlebar-tohandlebar with Mike Powers in the Ov er 30 division, and mechanical p roblems had sidelined l25cc Pro lead er Steele, leaving Campbell in th e number one spot with a two m in u te margin over second p laced Bryan Folks. The pace slowed as the racers h it th e tighter terrain of the third loop and th e smooth sailin g' of the first 70 miles was over. Palenske dropped out o f th e running with a hole in hi s case , Serrano ran in to trouble with a loose chain gu ide, and Parry's bid for the Over 30 win went out the window when a nail flattened h is rear tire. T he race leaders had th eir share of problems too. " I got the lead right a fter th e secon d gas," sa id Smi th . " C li ff (Thomas ) was leading it and he went off a ledge, and right before that Paul Krause had pulled over. I think something was wrong with his bike. " " I was fiddl ing wi th m y carb," said Krause. " I th in k th e floats were stic ki ng." Sweetl:md's problem s were a li ttle mor e serio us. " I crashed on th e th ird loop really hard," said Sweetland. Hunnicutt crashed his wa y out of contention near th e halfway point in the 38-mile third loop. . " I crashed really hard co mi ng in a t the end of loop three," said Hunnicutt, " I hit a little rock I didn't see and did a fifth gear over-the-bars trip. I must've been doing about 70. I tore the seat off and the fend ers and bent the bike all up. I banged m y head pretty good too but I just got up and kept going." Then Smith crashed but was 'still in the lead when he raced his battered KTM into pit three, but with Thomas just 47 seconds back and only 21 miles to go, the race was far from over. Krause and Miller were neckin-neck for third, just one and a half minutes behind Smith, and Hunni- cu rt's crash had put Knapp th rough into th e 250cc Pro lead in fifth overall. Sorenson was sti ll going ' stro ng in sixth, just ahead of a visorless and rear fender-l ess Sweetl and, a nd Ash craft was hard on th e gas in eigh th. The 125cc Pro battle was as close as ever as Campbell a nd Bryan Folks hi t th e pits just eigh t seconds apart. " I kept riding harder a nd harder but I co uldn 't get close enough to pass Campbell ," said Folks. " When we got to the flat lands in the last few miles I figured it was over but then he did a big crash. " " Fro m what I can gather I hit a rock going down a sand wash, " said Campbell. "The rear wh eel hit it and it sent me for a rocket ride straigh t ahead. I got back on th e bike and still finished second, but I was really dingy. I was never so happy to see a finish line in my life." Smith was happy to see a finish too. Thomas and Krause were all over the KTM rider's tail in th e final 21 miles of the race and the trio was less than 10 seconds apart as the checkered flag came into sigh t. " T ha t was pretty close," sa id Smith after crossing the fin ish line less than fiv e seconds ahead of Kra use. " We were really close the whole way and th is isn 't much to wi n by after three a nd a half hours o u t there." " I' m jus t happy th at everyth ing was okay after I crashed," said the KTM America/Hi-Point/Scott/Metzeler / Arai/ Autolite/ Acerbis/F&UZ Racing/MaximalTsubaki/Sunline/ Exceed Sports Nutrition-backed rac er. "T he bike was a bit bent and I banged my head hard. It took half th e last loop before I could see stra igh t again, bu t I had a great race and I'm rea lly happy with the bike and with the win." " I just ran ou t of race course," said second-placed Kra u se. " I caught back up to Cliff (Thomas), but I just ran out of race course before I could catch up to Dan." . Thomas looked set to collect an easy third overall but he almost knocked himself out of the running with less than 50 yards to go. He misjudged a dip on th e final sprint in to th e finish and went over the handlebars in a spectac ular cartwheel. Thomas recovered to finish with his third place still intact, but reportedly su ffered a concussion in the fall. A consistent ride by Miller brought him home in fourth overall. Fifth overall and first in the 250cc Pro division was claimed by Knapp with Sorenson taking sixth overall. Texan Todd Harris was hard on his heels to claim second in the 250cc division. . Third in the 250cc Pro division went to Ashcraft who finished lith overall, just in front of fellow YZ250 pilot Carlos Serrano. Harden topped the Over 30 Pros class in lOth overall. Team Green's Parry finally settled his race-long battle with Powers to claim second in the Over 30 P ro class (13th overall ), but Powers was still hard on his heels in 14th. Bryan Folks took the 125cc Pro honors in 15th overall, with racelong rival Campbell limping into the finish II places later to claim second. Las Vegas ' Richard Wilk headed up the Sportsman division finishers on an Open class KTM with David Kerr and Glenn Taylor close behind, and local hotshot Terry Stuthman came ou t on top of the 250cc Sportsmen. _ Results 0 / A: 1. Dan Smith IKTMt 2. Paul Krause (Ka w); 3. Cliff Thomas (Yamt 4 . Chuck Miller IHont 5. Dale Knapp (Hust 6. Kelly Sorenson (Hont 7. Todd Harris (Hon) ; 8. Pau l Ostba (Hus); 9 . Gart h Sweetland (Hus); 10 . Scot Herden (KTMt 11. Dan As hcraft (Yam); 12. Carlos Sarra no (Yamt 13. Kenny Po".., (Kaw); 14. Mike Powers (KTMt 15 . Brya n Folks(KTMt 16. M ike Tr ipes (!Caw); 17. Dary l Folks (Cagt 18. Dan Richardson (Hon); 19. Keith Cayton (Kaw); 20 . Todd Jo hnson (KTM). OPEN PRO: 1. Dan Smit h (KTM); 2. Paul Krau se (Kaw) ; 3. Cliff Thomas (Yam). 250 PRO: .1. o ala Knapp (Hust 2. Todd Harris (Hon); 3. Dan As hcraft (Yam). . 125 PRO: 1. Bryan FolkslCag); 2. Todd Campbell (KTMI; 3. John Braasch (Yam). OVER 30 PRO: 1. Scot Harde n (KTMt 2. Kenn y Parry (Kaw) ; 3. Mike Powers (KTM). OVER 38 PRO: 1. Dick Burleson (KTM); 2. Richard McUne (Caat 3. Bill Harr is (Hon). . 0 / A: SP'fSMN : 1. Rich ard Wilk (KTM); 2. 0 _ Karr (Yamt 3. Glenn Taylor (Hus); 4 . Craig Sadlak (Hon t 5. Todd Colley (Yam); 6. Te".., Stuthman (Yamt 7. Terry Sl uthman (Yamt 8. Mark Ault(Yamt 9. Scan Hammond (Yamt 10. Paul Skeery (!Caw) .

• Cover