Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

mel's teammate J im my Lewis finished fifth overall and posted the 250cc class win. Veteran Honda p ilot Bru ce Ogil vie opted for th e Open class to avoi d th e dust. " I rode the O pen class because th ey sta rted closer to the fron t," Ogilvie said. "T he Vet class was way . at th e back after th e 125s, so I th ought I wouldn 't have dust for so long this way." . The starting lights turned green for the first time at 9:00 a.m. a nd Sweetland got the drop o n Hamel as th ey powered down th e open ing sectio n of two-track trail. Hamel fought Sweetland's dust for the first three m iles then dodged past to tak e the lead for the rest of the 29-mile opening section. Jimmy Lewis ' KTM 250 was in hot pursuit 30 seco nds lat er off row two and Roeseler was hard on the gas off . row six, but i t was a different story for Pa ul Ostbo. The O ver-30 ace was back in row four of the Vet class, more tha n 13 minutes beh ind the race leaders. " I didn 't think I had mu ch of a hance,' O stbo sai d. "The 125s really eld me up. They 'reso good in th e ight stuff that you can ' t ge t around them and o n the roa ds I was held to eir speed because of the dust. I was in fourth gear." Hamel conquered the fir st 29-m ile ecrion in 45 minutes a nd was a lmost minute and a half ahead of Sweetl and s he headed into p it ro w. Lewis was till in third, with half a minu te back o T ed Hunnicutt, and Roeseler raced o ugh in fifth, two minutes behind amel on adjusted tim e. Hunnicutt's bid fer Na tional honor s asted half a mile into the 32-mi le econd section. " I high-sided ' in a orner and ended up in a pile of rocks, " id Hunnicutt, " I' m ha ving a terrible ime in these races. It 's j ust not m y eries this year." Dan Richardson cras hed out of th e nning when he h it a rock j ust a few iles from his Kawa saki teamma te. " I nt the subfra me all up, ch ipped a ooth a nd I' ve got a couple of fingers t don 't work," Ri chardson sai d. The casua lties continued. Meehancal problem s sidelined Summers in ection two; Daryl Folks dr opped o u t I the running wit h transmission rou ble, and Brando n Ge rb er decided o retire before the course retired him. " I was having problem s with the uspension a nd I couldn't keep it o n wo wh eels," said Gerb er. " I didn't ant to get hurt so I gav e it a way a nd ust moseyed in ." Hamel continued to ' enjoy a dustfree lead in sectio n two a nd stre tched his margi n to nearly four minu tes over seco n d- p laced Sweetl and a s t hey starte d the 39-m ile section th ree. " It was a great course a nd it had everything in it," said Ham el. "Y ou co uld rela x down fast gr avel roads and it made you work reall y ha rd in the tight sections ." R oesel er over powered Lew is to claim third overa ll but was still almos t four minutes behind H am el o n adj us ted time. T eam Green 's Pau l Krause raced through in fifth ahea d of KTM 's G reg Searle, a nd ATK's Ron Na ylor blasted u p fro m a start on row I I to ca p ture seventh . Ogilv ie and ATK pilots Chris Crandall and Randy Mosele y rounded o u t the to p 10, a nd . j eff Capt in herited the I 25cc lead when Braasch coasted to a sto p a mile shy of th e pit. " Everyth ing was go ing perfectly a nd I had the adj us ted lead by 25 seconds, but I ra n ou t of gas because of carb problems," said Braasch. " I'm histo ry for th is ser ies. I was history fro m the first National I rode this year." O gilvie' s p romi sing start bega n going downhi ll soo n after. " I n th e third section my throttle sta rted no t sh utti ng off all the way going into the corners," O gil vie reported. " It made it twi ce as ha rd to ride so I just rod e rea lly co nservatively." Out in front, Hamel's rid e was far from co nserva tive: His KTM 540 .was on the ga s a ll the way through sectio n three and made short work of the 19mile fourth section. Hamel was nearl y five minutes u p o n th e co mpeti tio n wh en he clea red the fin al pit a nd, with j us t 37 mi les to go, his co n fidence was bu ild in g. . " I wore o ut a set of pads and had to ride most of the th ird, fourth a nd fifth sectio ns wi th out rear brakes, bu t it d idn 't really slo w me do wn that much ," said Hamel. " I had to pump the brakes three or four times to ge t them to work, but I wo u ld've lost more tim e changi ng the m in the pi ts." Ro eseler was runni ng second at pit four aft er a rear fla t kn ock ed Sweetland off the pace, and th e .rest of th e field was sta rti ng to space o ut behind th em . Lew is was 14 minutes behind the leader in fourth overall, foll o wed by Na ylor , Krause, Moseley a nd Crandall , with 250cc hopeful s Searle and Scott Morris neck-in-neck fo r ninth. Grant Pa lenske still had the physical lead in Paul Ostbo (10) came from behind and finished sixth overall, first in th e Vet class. the Vet class in 15th overall, bu t the time-adju sted lea d was clear ly in O stb o 's hands whe n th e 27th ro w sta rter Ilashed through p it four in 16th o verall. T he virgin terrain conti n ued a ll th e way to the finish and th e fin al 37 m iles cha lle nged the tiring ride rs. "There were pastures and pla ins a nd some reall y fun woods in the mountain s. It was grea t," sai d Moseley. Roeseler agreed: " The whole co urse was good. There were a lo t of two tracks, sand was hes, virgin jeep trails, lo ts of sage a nd hidden rocks. There was a good variety all th e way." The terra in. was n ' t th e o n ly cha llen ge. Hamel had to slow down for co ws a nd wild horses wandering o n the course in the last two sectio ns . Searl e suffered a la te DNF with mech anical problems and Over 40 racer T .V. H olmes had to resort to duct tape wh en he lost a n axle nut in hi s fin al sectio n. H a mel kept his £lawless ride in tact all the way to the checkered £lag. He completed the 156-mile co urse in four hours a nd 16 mi nutes a nd took hi s th ird series win with a ti me-a dj usted margin of just over fou r min ut es. " Once I got o ut of the d ust it -was grea t," the KTM/ An swer /Met ze!er/ Du ra l abe/ Scott/ Acerbis/Z Racing / Alumilite/F&L/N 'Style/ MT C-b acked racer said. " I rea lly had no probl ems the rest of the day . I thi nk this is by far the best of the Nationa ls so far of th e o nes that I've finished a ny way . I wish they'd all turn ou t lik e th is." Roeseler brought his T eam Green Kawasak i KX500 hom e in second a nd Sweetland 's KX500 crossed the line seven minutes back in third, ens uring a close battle in the two remaini ng ro u nds of co m petitio n. " I had a great rid e o nce I got o ut of the d us t. No probl ems a t all," said Roeseler. " T he pressur e's o n for the rest of th e series . An y bad ride co uld ta ke me or Ha mel ri gh t out of it. We'll be maki ng th e most of thos e last two races ." Sweetl and said hi s strategy in the fina l ro unds is rid in g conserva tively. "I ro de pretty cau tio usly tod ay. I didn 't want to do anything stu pid beca use I needed a fini sh ," Sweetl and said. " I smas hed m y pipe prett y earl y a nd I got a Ila t but I had a fairl y good rid e a nd I on ly made a few mista kes." Naylor's l l th row start p ut him fourt h overa ll in th e tim e-adj us ted fin ishing order. Lewis fin ished first 250cc in fifth overa ll. Co me-fro m-behind honors went to Ostbo, wh o turned a 13-minute startin g deficit into sixth overall a nd took the wi n in the Vet di vision. " I can' t believe I fin ished up here. I thought f didn't have a cha nce sta rti ng th at fa r back," said the Team Green rid er. Ostb o's near est Ove r-30 rival was Lee Pearson, wh o took second in clas s in 14th overall after a spectacu lar endo in the last 10 mil es relega ted Palen ske to th ird. ATK ~s j ohn Rudder hel d o nto seventh overa ll a nd second in the 250cc class despite a rea r flat late in the race, a nd Don Griewe th under ed in to collect the Four-Sto ke honor s in eig h th overa ll. Ra nd y Moseley finished n inth overall , a head of Paul Krause a nd fourstoke racer Chris Crandall , and Sco tt Morris rounded out th e to p 12. j eff Ca pt finis hed 18th overall a nd clai med the 125cc win in what he said wou ld be his last race in th is year 's seri es. " This is it for me - I' m do ne. I've got the (125cc) Nationa ls cl inched a nd I' m not going to take a ny cha nces ge tti ng hurt doi ng a ny mor e," said Ca p t, who retires with four firsts and one second. Dana Van Stee had a trouble -free ride on h is way to seco nd in the 125cc class and Ch arlie Kline clai med th ird. Bill Max im led the Over 40 racers h om e for th e fo u rt h tim e t h is ser ies. eN Resu lts 0 / A: l. Da nn y Ham el (KT M); 2:. La rry Roeseler ( Ka w) ; 3. Garth Sweetla nd (Ka w); 4. Ro n Na ylor (AT K); 5. j imm y Lewi. (KT M);6. Paul Os,OO (Kaw ); 7. j ohn Ru dder (AT K); 8. Don Griewe (AT K); 9. Ra nd y Mosc:ley (AT K); 10. 12 Pa u l Kra use (Kaw); I I. Chris Cra ndall (ATK); 12. Sco u Morris ( Ka w) : 13. Ri chard Will; 14. Lee Pearson; IS. Sca n Gli mp : 16. Mar k Morris (Ka w); 17. Bruce O gilvie (H o n); 18. j ell Gap , (Ya m); 19. Bill Ma xim (Kaw); 20. Grant Palen ske (Ya m); 2 1. Will ie Musgra ve (AT K); 22. Todd Peugh (AT K). AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHtp HARE Ie HOUND SERtES POlNT STANDINGS (Uno m cia »:- I. (T IE) Garth Sweetland / Dan ny Ha mel (90); 3. La rry Roese ler (80 ); .1. Dnn G rie we (79); 5. Paul Krau se (72); 6. (TI E) C h ris Cranda ll/ Pau l 0 "00 (65); 8. Jim m y Lew is (5 1); 9. T t. d Hu nn icu u (46); 10. Ron Naylor (45); II. Chu ck Miller (39); 12. G reg Searle (35); 13. j oh n Ru dder (31); 14. G ra nt Pal en ske (30); 15. Rand y Mose ley (28); 16. T im Co lley (27); 17. Will y Musgrave 123); 18. Abe Bau man n (2 1); 19. jell Cap t 117); 20. Cor ky Mau gh an (16); 21. Ken n y Parry ( 15); 22. (TIE) Robert Laugh lin / jim Thom pso n ( 14); 24. j o h n Si lva ( 13); 25. Dan R icha rdson ( 12); 26. (TIE) Duan e Summ ers/Dari n Cartwright ( I I); 28. f.d Sorenson ( 10); 29. (TI E) j ohn Braa sch /T' im Caubv/ Richard WlJe (7); 32. (TIE ) Ron wehr-Scou G li mp (6); 33. Ma rk Mo rr i. (5); 34. Sam Taylo r (3); 35. (T IE) Chance Ma uKhan / Bilt Ma xim (2); 37. Ma l k Lundren ( I). "Best rive o utof seven ro u nds. 17

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