Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Roger H ur d , John Braas ch and Jeff Capt were only seco nds apart as th ey headed in for the pit and the race got even tighter as th ey started th e 45-mile second loo p. " We were within 30 seconds of each ot her all day ," said H urd. "We were fall in g over a nd passing each other, then fa lling aga in , a ll wi t hin a hundr ed yards of each o the r. It was great ." . Bill Ma xim, who made a clean sweep o f last year 's Senior class and was two for two in th is year 's series, was ba ck in seco nd p lace be hind KT M pil ot Tom Hol mes when he hit pit ro w for th e first time. " T h a t first loop nearly killed me," said Ma xim. "There was too m uch fast stuff a nd not enoug h technical stuff , a nd mil es a nd m iles of stu tter bu m ps. It beat me u p. I co u ldn ' t get a second wind or a ny thi ng. I was go ing to stop and wat ch th e rest o f th e race." . L oo p tw o h eaded west towards Camp Rock Ro ad a nd th en circled north to th e furth est po int near Copper Strand Mine, a nd th e terrain go t more dem and in g as th e .45-mi le loo p wore o n. - " Each loop go t to ug her. T he more tir ed you got, th e tougher th e co urse go t," sai d Ha mel. T he KT M ace co nt in ued to run two m in utes ahead of th e co m pe titio n in th e ea r ly stages o f loop two , but Roeseler sta rted to tri m h is lead as th ey headed towards th e seco nd pi t. "Loop two was pr ett y demanding a nd I had a few problems," sa id Ha m el. " I fell over o nce a nd Roeseler picked up a bit of tim e o n m e becau se of th at ." Ro ese le r swep t p a st H unni cutt midway th ro ugh th e seco nd loop a nd continued to close-u p behind Ha mel. " I was p la yin g ca tch- u p all th e way," said Roeseler, " I would ge t close to h im in the tight stuff, th en we'd go across th e fast va lleys a nd he'd dust me out really bad ." Back in th ird, H unnicu tt was ca ug h t up in a di fferent sort o f ba ttle . " I' ve been fighting a bad co ld a nd my nose got reall y stuffed u p towa rd s the end of th e seco nd loo p, I cou ldn ' t brea the a t a ll a nd I los t a ll m y energy," Hunnicutt sai d, Ostb o was su ffering too . " I ha ven ' t ridden since the las t Na tio na l beca use of a kn ee injury a nd I j ust d id n ' t have it tod a y," Ostb o sai d. "The gu ys were too fast for me a nd I wasn 't stro ng enough to ca tch th em ." The neck -'n '-n eck ba ttl e be twee n Krause, Swee tla nd a nd G riewe raged throu ghou t the second lo op, a nd Hurd, Braasch a nd Capt were o n ly in ch es apa rt in the I25cc d ivision . The pace pic ked u p even more wh en Hamel cleared pit two a nd headed o ut for th e fin al 47 m iles of the race. Roeseler had sliced th e lead to just 34 seconds a nd it was a n ybody's race as the KTM and the Ka wasak i streaked o ut in two lon g trails of dust across the first vall ey, " I kn ew he was righ t behi nd me a nd I co uld see hi m in th e mo untains ," sai d Hamel. " I kn ew it wo u ld be to ugh to beat hi m in the th ird loop, beca use I thought it was go ing to ge t tighter, a nd he's so good in th e tig h t terra in," Hunni cu tt wa s th r ee minutes behind Roeseler in thi rd as he head ed into hi s fin al ' loo p , and Sweetla nd , Krau se a n d Gri ew e wer e just 20 seconds apart, ' Ostb o sti ll led th e Vets in sevent h o vera ll ana T ea m G reen's Da n Rich ardson gra bbed the 250cc lead in 11th overa ll when Summers crashed jus t before the seco nd pit. " Abe Ba um ann and I ca me together and crashed right before the second che ck a nd that kind of twea ked my Despite dislocating his shoulder in the race, Don Griewe landed seventh overall. back, th en I got a flat rear tire," sai d Summers. " I had to ride most of the loo p o n tha t a nd we lost even mo re time changing the whee l wh en I got to th e p it. " The 125cc class lead was still up for gra bs wh en Capt led Braasch and Hurd through th e pi ts in 14th overa ll. H u rd did not co mp lete th e final loo p but th e Yam aha/Kawasaki duel went a ll th e wa y to th e checkered flag. T he battle for overa ll honors didn 't let up fo r a moment, ei the r. Ha mel was looking back over his shoulder a ll th e way and Roeseler kept hoping th e ' terrain would get even more technical th a n it a lread y was. "The tigh ter it got, th e tougher he was go ing to be. I kne w th at and I go t lucky with th e las t loop," said Ha mel. " It was a tough loo p bu t it tu rned o u t to be a bi t faster th a n I'd expected a n d t h at made all the d ifference." H a mel was sti ll in fro nt whe n he skirt ed Mea ns Dry Lake and started th e . fina l spri nt across th e valley to th e finish lin e. A crowd had ga thered to wat ch th e tired racers tackl e th e fin al roc ky do wnhill to th e chec kered flag, a nd th ey cheered Hamel all the wa y home to h is seco nd overa ll win o f th e serres. "T h is co urse was th e ultimat e," said Ham el, who beat Roeseler o ut o f th e number o ne spo t by just 48 seco nds. ','It's th e best Nati on al so fa r this year a nd prob ably one o f the best Na tion al s we've ever had. " " 'They (the clu b) let good rid ers excel, " the KTM/ Answer/ Metzeler / Du ralube/ Sco tt / Ace r bis/ Z R acing/ Alu mi lite/ F8cUN' Style/ MT C-backed racer ex pla ined . " It wasn 't just a turnoff -yo ur -bra in race. Yo u had to use you r head th e whole way." Roeseler sai d, " I had a n o kay-kindof-a-da y. T hi ngs wer e going well a t th e start, b ut I go t lost abou t five mil es fro m the end of the first loo p. I lost some tim e to Danny th ere and I ended up playin g ca tch -up th e rest o f th e way . The co u rse was pretty good - especia lly th e second loop. That had a lot o f variety." Hunnicu tt conti n ued to str uggle with hi s co ld th rou gh ou t the fin al loop. Sweetla nd swep t by to cla im th ird as loo p three drew to a close and th en Kra use swept by a t th e last mi nute to relegat e the ea rly race leader to fifth overa ll a t the fin ish. "Y ou kn ow you've raced a ra ce when you get through with o ne of th ese," said Sweet la nd . " Trn reall y bea t bu t it was worth it. T he cltib did a gr ea t job layi ng o ut th e co u rse." Krause was the first o f many rid ers wh o ca me to grief o n the fina l rock y After "DNFing" the first two ro u nds of th e ser ies, Ro eseler has to finish the rem ain in g five races in order to have a real isti c shot at the overall series ti tle. Last rou nd winner Ted Hunnicutt was an early leader before dropping back to fifth. down hil l. " I d idn' t crash a t all during th e race and th en I ha ve to loo p it right after th e flag - in fro nt o f everybody, " said th e T eam Green racer. Ostb o took hi s seco nd Vet Open win of th e series in sixth overall a nd had hi gh praise for the Checkers M.e. "This is th e best marked , m ost div erse, mo st challe ng ing race I ca n rem ember," sai d Ostbo. " If I race o ne race a year for fun th is will be it. I'll race the Chec k Chase until I di e." ATK's Gri ewe ov er came a las tminute inj ury to claim seventh overal l. " I hit a g u lly a bo u t 10 m iles into the las t loo p and disloca ted m y sho u lder ," said G riewe. "I had to p u t it back in before I co u ld keep goi ng. I was right beh ind Sweetla nd wh en it happen ed." Cra nda ll followed h is ATK team ma te hom e in eig h th ove ra ll, a nd Rich a rdson edged Su m mers out o f ni nt h overa ll a nd th e 250cc wi n, Parr y aced th e Vet 250cc class in 12th o vera ll a nd Capt ca me o u t on top in th e 125cc d ivisio n by less than a m inute o ver Braasch. " It was close th e wh ol e way through ," sai d Ca p t. Max im co nt in ued h is clean sweep of the Sen ior divisio n in 27th overa ll , disappo i nti ng Ov er 40 rival T.V. Hol mes for, what he sa id was , " abo u t the millionth time." " I' ve been tryin g to beat tha t guy for two yea rs," said H olmes. " I had him by two rniutes in th e first pit but I got lost going ou t o n the seco nd loo p. I was riding around o u t th ere for a bo u t 10 min utes and I th in k tha t's wh ere he go t me. " t'N Results (U nofficial) 0 1A: I. Da n n y H a me l ( K T~ I ) : 2. Larry Roese ler (Kaw j: 3. G arth Sweetla nd ( Ka w ): 4. Paul Kra use (Kaw ):5 . T ed H unnicuu tKaw kfi. Pa ul Ostbo t k aw): 7. Don Gnewe (AT K); 8. C h ris Cra nda ll (AT K); 9. Dan Ri ch a rd so n (Ka w ): 10. Duan e S u m me rs (Yam); I I. Wi ll y Musgra ve (AT K); 1 ~. Kenn y Parry ( Ka w ): 13. J eff Ca p t (Yam ); 14. Jo h o Braasch (Kaw ): 15. Abe Bau man n ( Ka w ): 16. Dav id O ndas (Ka w) : 17. G ra nt Pal enske (Ya m ); 18. Jim Cla rk ( KT ~ ) ; 19. Kur t H intz (Hen) : 20. Dave:Arm strong (Kaw]. AMA NATIONAL C HA MP IO NSH t P HARE &: HOUND SERIES POINT ST AN DI NGS (U NO FFICIAL). : I. Da nn y H a mel (60); 2. Do n G riewe (57); 3. Ch ris Cra nd a ll (55); 4. Pa u l Ostbo (50); 5. (T I E) Pa ul Krau se/Ted H u n n icu tt (46); 7. Ga r th Sweetland (44); '8. C h uck Mill er (27); 9. La rry Roeseler (25 ); 10. Du ane Summers (24 ); II. Abe Ba um a nn (21); 12. (T I E) Ken ny Par ry/ G rant Pal enske/Creg Sear le/ john Ru dder (17); 16. Ro n Nay lo r (15); 17. . (T I E) jeff Ca pt/ Robert La ug h lin / J immy Lew is (1-\); 20. j o hn Si lva ( 13); 2 1. Dan Rich ard son (12); 22. J ohn Braasc h (II ); 23. (T IE) Ra n d)' Mosele)'1 lI' ill y Musgra ve ( 10); 25, Jeff !(awell (9); 26. J im Cla rk (8); 27. S COll Steam, (7); 28. David Ondas (5); 29. Scott Morris (3): 30. (T I E) Bill Ma xim/ Ku rt H in u (2); 32. Dave Armstrong ( I ). " Best six out o f eight rounds. II

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