Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Garth Sweet land (NS) passed David Porter (N 4 X) and t ook third overall. while Porter also fell to Greg Searle and finished fifth overall . 50-mile mark and entered pit ro w, and he was almost two minutes down th e tra il before Hamel got back on th e ailing Suzuki. Porter brought his 250 KTM into th e pits in third , with Garth Sweetland (CR500) elbo wing this way through to fourth. Fifth overall was in th e hands of Ren o's Greg Searle (CR250), with Harden the Over 30 racer in sixth and Soren son not far beh ind in sevent h. Idaho's Bru ce Quale took o ver from brother Steve a nd raced out of pit row in eig h th overall, with Wyoming's Mik e Birdsley (KX250) a nd KTM 's SCOll Morri s hard o n hi s heels. Victim of a long pi t stop, Hu nn icutt finall y hi t the trail in l l th , " We went to put gas in th e bike a nd the quick fill cap broke a nd fell into th e bottom of th e ta nk, so I had to change tanks," said Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt was hard on th e gas as h e headed o u t into th e 35-mi le second sectio n with Kawasaki teammate Paul Krause (KX500) and Vet co n tende r Knat H olben (KX500) slipstrea m ing behind him. Out in front of the pa ck, th e pa ce was picking u p . "There were lo ts of roads so it was pretty fast ," said Smith, " and, bo y, did I have an exciting time in that seco nd section. I was pinned in fourth gear o n a road a nd I must've hit a rock. I came co mpletely off th e motorcycle - a ll I had still o n the bi ke was my ri ght ha nd, a n d I th ough t I'd had it, but I landed back on the tank. Man, did I go slow af ter that." The rapid ride continued up past 7700 feet at Middlestack Mountain, splashed th rough a river cro ssing a nd crossed the bord er for a short loop through Ida ho before circling bac k to the finis h at Cactus Pete's Cas ino in Jackpot. Smith kep t the pace going all th e way a nd too k th e ch eckered flag a mi nute ah ead of seco n d -p lace d Hamel with an average speed of a lmost 37 mph. " It was fu n," sa id the KTM/ H iPoi n t/M a x i ma l Me t ze l e r I S co t t USAI Arai /F&LlZ Racing/Rent ha l/ Sunline-backed racer ; " T hey had so me neat things out there - like the long grass about 13 m iles from . the finish. It was almost up to yo ur handleba rs a nd there were rocks in there the size of televisions. You had to go right where th ey marked it or you 'd be hitting rocks you co u ld n ' t see." H amel took second overall and a win in th e 250cc di vision in hi s first shot a t a National Hare & H ound co mpe ti tio n . "T his is th e first o ne I've ever ridden. I'm used to co urses lik e thi s bu t the com pe ti tio n was better th a n what I'm used to," sa id H amel. Third overa ll a nd second in th e O pen class was cla imed by Arizona's Sweetland. "T he sta rt was reall y dusty a nd I didn 't wa nt to cras h so I just hung back, but I moved up a nd ca ugh t so me peop le o nce I cou ld see a nd th ings worked out pretty well," said Sweetl an d. " I want to say tha n ks to my lillie brother Sandy for pi tting for me all by himself." Greg Searle (250cc) and Dave Porter (250cc) crossed th e fini sh li ne in qui ck su ccession , with Open Expert Kelly Sorens on hard on th eir heels in sixth despite getting lost. "Searle and I scra p ped all th e wa y in - we had a great race go ing," sa id Por ter, who had a front flat to co n tend with for th e fin al 25 mil es of th e race. " We went back and forth and .he go t just a head of me on the last tight road. It was close." Bru ce Quale brought th e first teain entry hom e in seventh o verall, wi th Scot H arden taking th e Vet class honors in eigh th . H arden's nearest Vet class rival was H olben , who finis hed seven pl aces back in 15th overa ll despite three endos. A last-m inute bu rst br ought SCOll Morris' KTM hom e in nimh overa ll, j ust ahead of Kaw asaki teammates Krause a nd Hunnicutt. " H urm icu tt pass ed me j ust af ter the p its but I passed h im back wh en he m issed a tum ," said Mo rr is. " Kra use got me in th e supe r tall grass nea r the end. I kept hitting stuff so I waved him by a nd let him brea k the trail, then I got him ba ck when it was over." "My only pro blem was th at it was reall y d usty," said Krause . " I had a bad start a nd th at was it. I didn't have a ny problem s and I rode 85 mi les without fallin g over, so I'm pretty happy." . Mike Birds ley was the nex t race r to cro ss the fin ish lin e, a nd a backand-forth ba ttle for the 125cc honors ended wh en John Braasch slid hom e Scot Harden brought his KTM to the fin ish li ne in eig ht h overall and easily topped the Ve t Expert class. John Braasch won t he 12Scc Expert class an d w as 1 3 t h overall . in 13th overall, just ahea d of fellow . YZI25 pilot J immy Lewi s. " I had a flat rear tire all th e way from the start to th e first ga s a nd I lost more time cha ngin g it in the pits, a nd it was a bit fast for a 125, bu t I had fun ," said Lewis. H usk y p ilot Ga rr ell Swee tla nd overa lled the Am at eur Divisio n in 18th overall, a nd L. Du ronso took the Seni or class win in 21st overa ll, wi th Utah 's P reston Gerber (KTM) edging Case y Folks (KT M) out of second in the Senior di visio n by less tha n six inches af ter a nec k-a nd-neck das h to the fini sh line. • Re su lt s a /A: 1. Dan Smit h (KTM ); 2. Dann y Hamel (Suz); 3 . Gart h Sw eetl and (Han); 4 . Greg Searl e (Han); 5 . Dave Port er (KTM) ; 6. Kelly Sore nso n (Kaw); 7 . Br uc e Quale/ Steve Qual e (Yam); 8 . Scot Hard en (KTM ); 9. Scott Morris (KTM); 10. Pa ul Krause (Kaw); 11. Ted Hun n icun (Kaw); 12 . Mike Birdsley (Kaw); 13 . John Braa sch (Yam); 14 . Ji m my lewis (Yam); 15 . Knat Holben IKawl; 16 . Kenn y Parry (Kaw); 17 . Jon A lmberg (Suz); 18 . Garre n Swe et land (Hus); 19 . Roger Hu rd (Kaw); 20. Edd Price (Kaw) . . OPEN A : 1. Dan Sm ith (KTM ); 2. Gart h Sweetl and (Ha n); 3 . Kelly Soren son (Kaw); 4 . Scott M orri s (KTM); 5 . Paul Krause (Kaw) . 250 A : 1. Danny Hamel (S';z ); 2. Greg Sear le (Han); 3 . David Porter (KTM ); 4. Ted Hunnicut (Kaw); 5 . M ike Birdsely (Kaw) . 125 A : 1. John Braasch (Yam); 2. Jimmy Lew is (Yam ); 3. Jon Almberg (Suz); 4. Edd Price (Kaw); 5. M ike Hodge s (Ha n). VET A : 1. Scot Harden (KTM ); 2. Knat Holbe n (Kaw); 3 . Kenny Parry (Kaw); 4. Jo el Ellis (Han); 5 . St eve Pin s (ATK). SR A : 1. Lyle Ouronso (Yam ); 2. Preston Gerber Bruce and Steve Quale eas ily . topped the Tea m division. (KTM); 3 . Casey Folks (KTM); 4 . Terry Bland (Yam ); 5 . Je sse Goldberg (Kaw). OPEN B: 1. Garren Sweet lan d (Hus); 2. Bo Bland (KTM ); 3 . Ralph Collins (Han ); 4. H. Dean Pers ing er (Kaw); 5. Butch Bol en (Han ). 250 B: 1. Dean Killmer (KTM); 2. J im Ridenou r (Kaw); 3 . M ike Mog ense n (Han); 4 . Pau l Pin s ICA); 5 . Larry Ol iver (Suz). 125 B: 1. Ang el Figueroa (Yam); 2. Mike Kirby (KTM ); 3. Stev e Row ely (Yam ). veT B: Craig Givant (Hon ); 2. Randy Armstrong (Hon); 3 . Kerr y Cha rt ier (Yam) ; 4 . Ch arl ie Spellman (Kaw) ; 5 . Robert White (Kaw). SR B: 1. Eddie W alk er (Yam); 2. J ohn Cody tHus) ; 3 . W ade Tuma (KTM); 4 . How ard Larson (M -S); 5 . Tom Ste phens (KTM ). OPEN C; 1. St eve Caspar (Han ); 2. Vau ghn Key (Cag); 3 . M yron O' Lexey (Kaw) . 25 0 C; 1. Thom as Bit ner (Han); 2. Ph il Larson (Han ); 3 . Al an Riddle (Yam ); 4 . Bobby Sebero (Yam ); 5. William Endy IKaw). 12 5 C: 1. Josh Hol liman (Kaw). VET C: 1. Robert Bit ner (Ho n); 2. Robin Right mi re (Ho n); 3 . J ohn Von Der Leit h (Yam~; 4 . J oe Pran (Han); 5. Doug Harrison IHu s). SR C: 1. Gary Thomp son (Han); 2. Robert Wh it e (Kaw); 3. Jim Hopkin s (Han); 4 . Andy Ozols (KTM); 5 . Fred M at h is (Han) . 4 / STRK C: 1. Craig Hart sell (ATK); 2. J oey Anderson (Hon); 3 . Tim Mo urtisen (Han). WMN : 1. A n na Cody M errin (Kaw). TEAM : 1. Quale/ Quale (Yam ); 2 . McCuiston / Vogeler (Yam ); 3 . Peterson /Beukelman (Kaw). ANTQ A: 1. Dou g Behrens (Hus). DINa A : 1. Duane Qua le (Suz). ANTQ B: 1. John Polh lm an (Yam). DINa B: 1. J oh n Cum mi ngs IHusl; 2. Pet er Kahn (Pen). 15

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