Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127179
Team Green's Larry Roeseler captured t he overal rvictory at the Moose Run Natio nal Hare & Hound in Red Mountain, Cal ifomia. AMA National Championship Hare & Hound .Series: Round 2 . Moose Run ational victory to Roeseler By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren RED MOUNTAIN, CA, FEB. 12 After 80-plus miles of fender-to-fender racing, Team Kawasaki's Larry Roeseler sprinted in to take the checkered flag just 26 seconds ahead of Honda-mounted Chuck Miller, who was the overall winner at the series opener two weeks ago. The two riders are now tied for first place in the series. "Chuck was right there all the way," Roeseler told Cycle News. "Every now and then I'd look over my shoulder to see how close he was and I just tried to stay a little bit ahead. There's no sense going crazy when you've got the lead because you could crash or something. All I wanted to do was bring it in first. I' m really happy with the win." The weather was anything but southern Californian as the 420 rider field lined up for the start of the 39th Annual Moose Ru n , which was organized by AMA/ District 37's Four Aces M.C.. Patches of snow lay in the starting area and deep dri fts made co nditio ns difficult in th e h igh er elevations. Skies were cloudy when the banner dropped for the first time at 9:30 a.m. and a light dusting of snow fell on the first wave of riders as they powered past th e bomb and out into the 41-mi le first loop. Team Green 's Pa ul Krause was out in front as the Expert class racers headed out into the course, with Derrick Paiement and RM250 ' pilot Kenji Gauthier close behind. Miller shot past the bomb in eighth overall and Roeseler was making up time back in 15th. "I wasn 't too worried about the start," said the Kawasaki/Malcolm Smith/ScottiDunlop/Bel-Ray /ProCircuit/Trickl Arai/CTiiAcerbisl Tsubaki-backed KX500 pilot. " With all the snow I knew it wasn't going to be dusty and I knew th e course was going to be rough , so I just took my time. " Back in starting wave number three, almost five minues behind the Open Experts, Team Green 's Over30 rider Kenny Parry was not nearly as relaxed. "It's really lousy having to start behind 19,000 other people," said Par ry. "It ma kes ii so hard to move up. I don't like the way they do that to the Vets. I guess they must think we're slow or something. " Out in front of the field, Krause continued to lead the way as the course turned into the first of the . tight, twisty terrain. Honda-mounted Chuck Miller finished second overall and is now tied w ith Roeseler for the overall championship series points lead . Miller was charging hard in the early stages and had elbowed his way up to second overall by the time the front-runners flew by the five mile marker and, further back in the pack, Team Green's 250cc hopeful Ted Hunnicutt was making his move . " I was probably 10th or something at the bomb," said Hunnicutt. "The roosts were really bad with the wet dirt, so I just held back and waited for people to make a mistake so I could pass , or I waited for the really tight stuff. I worked up pretty fast that way." YZ250 pilot Kurt Pfeiffer was also moving up fast. " I got a bad start and I was back behind everybody," said Pfeiffer. "I was back there for about IO miles, but then I started picking my way through." Out in front or-the pack, Mil ler was picking on Krause. " I got into . second behind Pau l probably five mi les into the race and then I caught up with him and we went back and forth for the lead three or four times, " said the American Honda/Scottl Honda I i ne ll R C T 1 M iche I i n l Alpinestar-backed Miller. "He even passed me in one of the checks when the guy marking my card was a bit slow. We were really close for a while but finally I got by him." As Miller shook free of the tenacious Krause and started to open up his leading margin, Hunnicutt launched an all-out attack that swept him past his Kawasaki teammate to take over second overall. And just wh en Krause had settled into third, Roeseler charged by to relegate him to fourth about halfway around the 41-mile loop. " Miller and I freight-trained for a long time and then we blew a corner," said Krause. " H e found the course before I did and took off and tha t's when (Hunnic utt) caught me. We stayed together for a while but th ey went a little faster than me when we got into the open, fast stuff." Miller was still out in front as the racers came out of the first loop and headed into pit row. Hunnicutt's KX250 was just 35 seconds beh ind in second overall and the Team Green pits heated up when Roeseler slid in just 13 seconds later, with Krause less than a minute back in fourth. Gauthier's R M250 raced down pit row in fifth, with Roger Hurd (KX500), Kurt Pfeiffer (YZ250) and Garth Sweetland (Hus) hard on his heels. Back in 24th overall, YZI25 pilot Jimmie Lewis had a comfortable lead in the 125cc class, with h is nearest competitor Kawasaki's Bob Rieger in 27th overall. Miller was p ushing hard to open up his leading margin as the racers headed ou t into the tight, technical terrai n of the 39-mi le second loop. Roeseler poured on th e pressure in the early stages of the second loop and was within striking distance of Hunnicu tt in a matter of m inutes . "In the second loop it was time to really charge hard," said Roeseler. " I passed (Hunnicutt) five miles o ut and I caught (Miller) about IO miles out. I slowed down a bit after that. I just tried to be smooth and get away a little bit so (Miller) couldn't follow. " Despite being relegated to second, Miller refused to give up. "I just wanted to try to keep a good pace on the second loop. I knew it was going to be rocky and I didn't want to get a flat ," said Miller. "After . Larry caught me, I tried to keep my cool and stay with him. I was hoping something would go wrong with him - that he would get a flat or something - but he never did." Back in third, Hunnicutt's race was a little more relaxed. "Once (Roeseler) Passed me, I was riding by myself the whole second loo p ," said Hunnicutt. " I just had a really good fun ride. It was really nice riding - perfect conditions, and the on ly problem I had was tha t my chin got a bi t numb up on Government Peak." Early race leader Krause was still . hard on the gas in fourth as the . front-runners powered past the halfway point in the second loop, bu t his luck ran o ut just a few miles further on.