Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

e e .. O'l 00 O'l ...... ~ r- C'J ... IJ.) ..0 a ... 0.. IJ.) IJ.) ir: Fritz Kadlec. who said he rode the National mainly because it was clo se to home. gave Smith a run for his money; Kadlec finished second overall. KTM's Dan Smith scored his third Nationa l win of the year and moved int o the series points lead for the first t ime this season. National Championship Hare & Hound Series: Round 6 Smith edges Kadlec in Colorado By Anne and Toni Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren C RAIG, CO, SE PT . 10 KTM's Dan Smith crossed the finish line j ust 10 seconds ahead of local favorite Fritz Kadlec to take the win in the second-to-last rou nd of the National Championship Series near Maybell , Col orad o. After a 96-m ile ba ttle th at h saw t. e Iea d c h ange h an d s more times than anyone could 16 count, it all came do wn to the last four mi les. Smi th grabbed th e lead wi th the finish line almost in sig ht and charged hom e to take the chec kered flag just a few bi ke len g ths ahea d of the Yamah a p ilo t Kadlec, with Honda- mounted Garth Sweet1and and Kawasaki's Larry Roeseler slid ing home less th a n two minutes behind in a last-minut e tu ssle for th ird . "That was close - o ne .of th e closes t fi n ishes we've had," sai d Smi th, "and it was li ke that all th e way. We were d icing back a nd forth the whol e ti me and I th ink that mad e it th e fun nest Na tional I'v e been to." Smith' s win put the three-time Nati onal Champion o ut in front in th e series points race for the fir st time thi s year. With just one ro u n d remaining, Sm ith has a six-point lead over T eam Green 's Roeseler for th e overa ll cha mp io ns h ip, and a seven-poi nt lead over RoeseIerfor the O~n class ho~ors. . , I was hopi ng (Sm it h ) wo u ldn t finish th is race a nd the n I'd have it all sewn up;" said Roeseler, who had a comfortable lead unt il neck inj ur ies forced h im to miss rou nds four a nd five of th e series . " It 's goi ng to go right to th e end and it's goi ng to be close ." With less th an 10 po ints separating the to p three contenders for th e overa ll titl e, th ere were so me determined faces as th e rid ers lined u p at Sand Wash Basin for the sta rt of the race, which was sponsore d by th e Little Snak e Motorcycle Cl ub . BL M restr ictions con fined th e 85stro ng start to a narrow wash . T he O pen and 250cc Experts head ed th e field in three, 10-across lines th at powered off at the first drop of th e ba nner, a nd th e rest o f the field followed one wave a t a tim e a t one mi nute intervals. "T ha t first sprint down th e wash was a wesome," Sm ith told Cycle N ews. " We were dicing so close we were swa pp ing tank stic kers a nd ba nging ba rs." T eam Green's Paul Krause go t off to a fast sta rt an d was battling with Smith a nd Ka wasak i team ma te Roeseler, as they headed into the first corner, but KX250 ho peful Ted Hunn icutt was not qu ite as lucky. " I was back on th e second row a nd I was having a bit of tro u ble in th e first sand wash," sa id Hunn icu tt. " I fell a co u ple of ti mes a nd th e ot her guys got a way from me a bi t." Joh n Braasch 's Yam ah a led th e 125cc c ha rge w he n the bann er dropped for the second time, a nd Kenny Parry gave it hi s best sho t when the Vets left th e line in sta rt number three. " I got th e holesh ot but th en Kerry Fow ler o n a n open bik e got a round me o n a stra ig htaway and I went down prett y hard," sa id Parry. " I had to work my wa y up afte r th at and th a t made it to ug h." T he da sh down th e long start ing wash soon turned into a four-way batt le for th e fir st -r o w st arters . Sm ith, Roeseler (KX500), Kad lec and Nev ad a h otsh ot Da n ny H a m el (R M250) were all hard on th e gas a nd the tight sa ndy terrain kept th em tight ly bunched. " We went a t it for a lo ng time just passing back a nd forth the whole tim e," said Smith. " Everybody was leading it for a while." Kadl ec was o u t in fro nt as th e racers passed the lO-mile mar k, then Ha mel pushed th ro ugh to tak e th e poi nt posi tio n. Hea vy rain two days before the race ha d left perfect traction and almost dust-free co nd itions a ll the wa y round the first loop. The fast -paced roads gave th e "adva n tage to th e O pen class riders, but Kadl ec a nd Hamel were never far behind a nd th e long 5 1-m ile loop soo n sta rted to tak e its to ll. " I was lead ing go ing into th e a ltera te gas but I was almost o ut of gas and I wasn 't sure th at I'd mak e it," sai d Roeseler. "S mi th passed me back go ing into th e pit and th en Kadl ec and H amel got by me as I coa sted the last few yards into th e alt erna te. " With Smi th in fro nt , t he racers turn ed for the cha rge in to the pits. The KTM /H i -P o in t / Sco tt / Me tzelerl Arai /F& L /Z Racin g/ Maximal Sunline/ Rent hal -backed racer was stretc h in g ou t th e lead all the way a nd was almost a m inu te a head as he raced out of the h ill s and dashed across the valley towards pit row. But wi th a m ile still to go, Sm ith coasted to a stop. . " I ra n out of gas right there. I cou ld see the p its but I just co uldn't mak e it," sa id Smi th. " L ucki ly I was carry ing half a ga llon of gas with me." . But the stop cos t valuable seconds a nd Kadlec a nd H am el raced by before Smi th was back o n th e' bike. Kadlec was 17 seco nds a hea d of Hamel as he entered p it row, with Smith 30 seconds back in third and Roeseler hard on hi s heels in fourth. Record tim es were set in every pit a nd wh en the racers headed o ut into th e 45-mi le second loop it was Kadlec by a nose, wi th Sm ith, H am el a nd then Roeseler racin g fend er to fend er in o ne lo ng blur. Sweetla nd head ed ou t a minu te behi nd in fourth , wit h Krau se , H un nicu tt and Greg Sear le hard o n his heels. Idah o' s Curtis Dice was pushi ng hard in n in th , just ahead of J ohn Bru ba uer and Ken j i Gaut hier, and Ji mm y Lewis was a min ute up on 125cc riva l John Braasch in _ 12th overa ll. Fowler was still lead ing the Vet - class wh en he dash ed th rough th e p its in 16th o verall , with Parry abo ut a min ute behind in second, a nd Bill Maxim 's Kawasaki led the Seniors through in 22nd. The back and forth sandwash es contin ued through out loop two and dr ier cond itio ns saw the first dust of the race. Kadl ec con u n ued to run a t th e front of th e pack a nd the top four pl aces remain ed un ch an ged for most of the fast-paced course. " I ca ught H amel abo ut halfway ro und th e second loop in a reall y tigh t wash," sa id Roeseler , " bu t by th en Kad lec had a pretty good lead and I was sta rt ing to ge t tired." . Up in second, Smith refu sed to ca ll it quits. " I led all th e way ro und th e second loo p and I was quite a ways in front abo ut 10 m iles o ut, then I do n't know what happened. I turned a ro und a nd Smith wa s right th ere," said Kadl ec. ' " Someho w a lo t of time got mi sp laced. Maybe I lost the co urse a nd maybe he did. It did a lo t of weaving back and forth o ut there." Kad lec po ured o n the pace as the course turned towards th e finis h but Smith was p ulli ng ou t th e stop s too. H e powered past the Yamaha in the last was h and sprin ted the last few m iles in to the checkered flag. " I got by him abo ut fo ur mi les

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