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/127256
ยท ~. HARE &HOUND .AMA National Championship Hare &Hound Series: "Round3 ~ ~ Dan Rich a rdson he ad s for home en route to a second place finish in th e 250cc cla ss at the Check Chase Na tional H&H. T eam Green 's Larry Roeseler took over th e series points lead with the overall victory on a 250cc Kawasaki. Roeseler tops Smith at Check Chase National By Donnetta Murray Photos by Bob Murray 18 LUCERNE VALLEY, CA. MAR. 25 h e 37th An n ua l C hec k C hase Na tio na l Championshi p H ar e & H o und a t Lucerne Valley saw th e th ird differe nt overall wi nner of th e T th ree-race-old cha m pio nship series, as Kawasaki T eam G reen 's Larry Roese ie r cleaned th e tria ls- like rocky downhill finis h to claim first overall. Foll owin g the race, R oesel er wa s p resented the Ch uc k Stearn s Mem orial Perpetual T rophy by Stearns' mother and brot her , Barbar a a nd Sco tt Stea rns. " It was probab ly th e best hare a nd hound I've ever raced," sai d Roeseler, who also snagged ownership of th e overall lead in the series point sta nd ings. " I' ve raced o u t here a ll my life, bu t I went do wn canyons today I never saw before. " Defendi ng cham p Dan Smith was the first rider to funnel onto th e ma rked trai l, following a smooth a nd fast bomb . ru n o f arou nd five m iles. A full-th rottl e sta ndoff was won by Kawasa ki's Ted Hunnicutt, as he dove into th e sandwash in front of AT K's Chris Cran dall, followed by Roeseler a nd Dan Ri ch ardson, o n a H onda CR250. Roeseler followed Hunnicutt 's line an d had soo n slip ped into third pl ace. Seven miles past chec k o ne, Hunnicutt was riding in Sm it h's du st a nd sta rted to reel h im in . Hunnicutt sai d he felt co m forta ble going past Sm ith, but th en h it somethi ng, landed o n h is head a n d beca me d izzy. Kn ow in g he co uld n ' t be co mpeti ti ve in th e race , he bowed ou t for the day. With Hunnicutt o u t of th e way, Roeseler dogged Sm ith th ough th e rem a inder of the fir st loop. T he pair was less tha n fo u r seco nds a pa rt as they for ged ou t onto the seco nd loop o f th e race. KTM 's Danny H am el n ew . into th e pi ts next, worrying abo ut what he th ough t was a brok en sile nce r. Once the silencer was replaced , he took o ff on th e cou rse, o nly to retu rn in a co u p le of minutes a nd th en rep ea ted tha t performance o ne more time. His crew event ua lly found a broken power valve, following a n hour o f trouble shootin g in th e p its. ': Foll owing th e two leaders onto th e second loop were Crandall, Richardson, Dan Ashcraft , Don Griewe a nd first Vet , Kawasaki 's Paul Ostbo. In 13th place was H onda's Chuck Miller. First 125cc through the pits belonged to Yam aha 's J ohn Braasch in 17th overall. Knowin g it was go ing to be a hard race, Ro esel er co nt in ued to pu sh KTM's Sm ith th rough th e ro ugh and technical seco nd loop. H itting neutra l go i ng into a d it ch , Sm i th th rew himself partway over th e bar s and tweak ed a p revio usly injured wri st. Then Smi th go t off on a n o ff-cam ber roc ky hill as Roeseler slipped by to cla im th e lead . A brok en revs bra ke did no t keep Crandall fro m pursu ing Sm ith for seco nd pl ace. Ri chardson a nd O stb o had a race go ing for third o vera ll, while Mill er co ntin ued to pi ck o ff ri ders. Roeseler zoomed in for a fast p it a nd was o ut on hi s fin al sectio n o f th e cou rse. " You never kn ow wh at to expec t in a hare a nd hound , becau se you never get to pr acti ce the co u rse an d know ' the terra in ," sai d Roeseler. "Y ou try to be real aggressi ve, bu t carefu l." Smith was o n ly a m inute behind , bu t req uired a lon ger pit to reta pe his wrist a nd swa llow a co u ple of aspirins. Trying to ma ke time on Sm ith was Cra nda ll. Rich ardson a nd O stb o were next th rough th e gas row, follow ed by Mill er and Garth Sweetla nd. Co m ing in eig h th was Braasch , wh o had raced with KTM's Jimmy Lew is on th e seco nd loop. Lewi s had passed Braasch 10 m iles o u t a nd Braasch stayed with Lewi s up in to the rocks. Five m iles' later , Lewis' mo tor went a nd Braasch took th e advantage. Not realizing Lewi s was o u t o f th e race, Braasch co ntin ued to push himself o u t o nto th e third loop, pegging it across th e vall ey. KTM's Greg Sea rle was hangin g o n to hi s ninth p lace posi tion , despite twis ti ng hi s back when he was t-bo ned rig h t after th e start. H e sai d he didn 't kn ow how far he co uld go or if he co u ld fin ish , but he was trying to keep a