Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

an all-out tu ssle fo r th ird overall. Dan Richard son',s pri va tee r C R500 was in fifth .and Vet contender Abe Bauman n hi t the pits in six th, unaw are that th e Nationa l number o n Krau se's p late hid the fact that the go-fas t Op en Class racer had rece ntly turned 30 and had d ecid ed to mo ve up to the Vet di visi on for th e '95 series. Seventh overall and first in th e 250cc Expe rt class was in th e ha nds of Destry Abbott. Hunnicutt he ld eighth ahea d of 30+ Honda pilot Drey Dircks, who had suffered a front flat ju st five m iles off th e start and was forced to ride the rest of the 80-mile even t on it, and John Rud der' s Vet class Yamah a rounded ou t the top 10. An other class change was logged by Rex Staten , who held 11th over all at the halfway point. Staten, who dominated the 30+ class throughout the 1994 seaso n, was s p o r t ing a 40+ number in ho nor of his 40th birthday, which fell on the same day as the first rac e of the new ye ar's series. Don Griewe brought ATK's new liquid-cooled 250cc through in 12th, and Cycle World's Lewis had the 125cc lead in 13th . Loop one brought its tria ls as well as its triu m phs. For Dave Ondas, th e trial w as a broke n foo tpe g when he was running sixth ove ra ll in th e ea rly goi ng . " I wa s r ig h t b ehind (H u n nicu tt) a n d (Kr a use) abou t 10 to 15 m il es off the start wh en I hit a G-o ot a lit tle hard and shee re d m y foo tp eg rig h t off," sa id O ndas, w ho lim ped b a ck to th e p it s . "Tod ay' s course wa s awesome. I can 't believe how fun it was." For Todd H oy, the disappointment came in fou rth overall w he n he w as in sigh t of the pi ts. "The igni tion went ou t and th at w as it , " sa id th e KTM 500 racer. " It w as a good ra ce with so me good technical stu ff, but it w as over for me right there. 1 had to push the bike in . That's the w ay it goes so me times." Out in front of the pack, things were far from easy for' Hamel as the desert ace found himself in the un us ual position of having to st ay on his toes all th e way to keep Davis at bay. "Going into the second loop it was really fast o ut there so 1 knew I had a big advantage and I held it on as long as [ could, bec ause 1 knew the tight s tu ff was coming," sa id Hamel. " (Davis) caught me again in the second loop - caught up so [ could see him. He probably got to within 20 seconds of me . I'm th inking, 'Oh man, we 've go t to get ou t of the rocks and into the valleys or I' m in troub le ,' b ut once we did , 1 breathed a sigh of relief." Five m inutes behin d th e lead du o, the battl e was just as tight, as Ca p t and Kr au se s wa p pe d b a ck and forth for third in the ove ra ll sta ndi ngs. Their tu ss le contin ue d all the way to the final valley, w he n Kr au se m a d e a las t- d itch effort tha t ca tapul ted him past the FourStroke class lead er. "We had a rea lly go od rid e d icing toge ther," said C a p t . " H e passed me about two miles fro m the finis h but 1 got him back. " Fo r Bauman n, the exci temen t came 10 miles from the finis h when he finally abandoned a ba tt le to keep th e se at on his KX500. "My seat bro ke off and 1 was holding it between my legs hoping not to lose it," said Baumann, w ho had tried to fix the sea t but found th at the bra ckets had broken ."Hunn icutt passed m e and I finally let the sea t go. [ w an ted to sit d ow n and relax but every time I di d it hu rt. Then (John ) Rudder ca me up beside me and I saw the (Vet Class ) V on his number. 1 d idn't ca re about the pai n th en . I just sa id, 'You've got to go for it: and [ d id ." A few positions to the rea r of the battling Vets , quarter-liter-pilot Lewis had picked up an unusual sp arring partner in 600cc thumper-mounted Campbell. " I hooked up w ith (Ca mpbell) in th e second loop and we pa ssed a lot of peo ple but that was in th e light s tu ff. They wou ld pass me all over again in the val leys," sai d Lew is. As the tou gher, more technical of the tw o loo ps tu rn ed fo r h o m e , Hamel found th at Davis' ten acious rid e wasn't the o nly thi ng that stood between him an d the ch ec k e red flag . With se ven miles to go, th e race lead er no ticed that the fuel level in his translucent tank was perilously low. "The last loo p was 40 miles, huh?" he asked race officials at the finis h. " Co me on, it had to be a little bit lon ger than that. [ wasn't going much further, that's for su re. 1 have maybe th ree miles worth of ga s left and from Victor Pass all th e w ay in, 1 wa s quarter-throttle. 1 kn ew [ w as running ou t." But despite th e last-minute pani c that cut h is s peed drastically o n th e final stretch, Hamel w as still o ut in fro n t of th e pack when th e checkered flag fell after almost two hours of racing, and his bid fo r Nationa l tit le number five was underway. "It was a good technical race . We've ha d tighter on~s but, for out here, it was good . Th e club really used some im agi n ation. The re we re n't very m an y .w hoops and it wa s a lo t of fu n," sa id Hame l. " It was a d ifferent race for me, th at's for su re," Hamel continued. "Th is race tod ay was the first time that I've passed (D avis ) a nd he h as a ctu ally m ad e an a ttem pt to pa ss me ba ck . Normally he ge ts behind me and stays there becau se it's so much easier to follow than it is to lead ." Davi s, who finis hed seco nd by just ove r a minute, said he had slowed to a sa fe speed for th e run d o wn th e fin al vall ey. "The last part was scary ro u gh com ing in - it was all cross g ra in. Going really fast, you can 't see anything:' said Dav is. "The race w as a lot of fun . We w e nt ba ck and forth ' a n d I a l m os t passed h im back on this o ne ridge . [ cou ld catch him in the tight stuff but he pulled on me in th e really fas t cho p py stu ff. He just rod e the cou rse better th an me ." Capt finished hi s tw o loops of th e course six minu tes behind the lead ers to take the Four-Stroke Expert honors with blood all over the tank of his Honda and Krause cemented to his rear fender. " I ha d a really good ride. 1just trie d to stay smooth and not mak e any mist akes and 1 had a good d ay," sa id Capt, who had spen t almost 80 mil es tr ying to ig no re his badly cu t face, which would requi re a stitch or two as soon as the re was time. Krau se was low-key abou t taking the Vet class win in his first 30+ sho t at the Na tio na l seri es: " I had an okay day, no problems. 1 just didn't go fast eno ugh at the end: ' he said. Dan Richardso n'wrapped up his rid e in fifth overall, despite taking it eas y for much of the journey. "I've only been on a bike about two times s ince the last Na tio nal," said Rich ard so n. " I haven' t do ne an ything for a while." Des try Abbo tt top pe d the 250cc field in six th, ahead of Te d Hu nnicutt, and 30+ racers Abe Baumann and John Rud de r. "I was middle-pack on the bomb so 1 just tri ed to kee p passing people. I was just pi nned the whole way and 1 went down prett y good tw ice in the second loo p:' said Abbott. "This is the best I've ever d one at Lucerne so I'm h appy . 1 hate this place and [ always d o really badly her e." Lew is had his wo rk cu t ou t holdin g Campbell 's thum pe r at arm ' s len g th throughout th e second loop bu t when th e du st cleared, he h ad grabbed the 125cc win and 10th in the ove rall standings, o ne s p o t ahead of hi s loop-two shado w. " I reached my goal. [ jus t wa nted to make it into the top 10 overall, and 1 did it," said Lewis, much to the su rpri se of KXI25 racer Quint Betts, who is use d to a clearer sho t at the 125cc ho nors. " I d idn 't k now th at wa s J im my 'Le w is," sai d Bet ts , sha king h is head w he n he fo u nd he had ta ken third in class beh ind Lewis and Kris Keefe r. l1\ Winter Classic Hare & Hound Lucern e, California Results: J anuary 22, 1995 O/A : 1. Danny Hamel (Kaw): 2. Ty Davi s (Kaw ); 3. Jt-ff Cap t (Hon); 4. Paul K ra use ( Kaw); 5 . Dan Rich a rd so n (Hon); 6. De st ry A bbo tt (Kaw); 7. Ted Hunn icutt (Kaw); 8. Abe Bau ma nn (Kaw); 9. Jo hn Rudd er (Ya m) ; 10. Jimmy Le w is (Ya m ); 11. Jo hnny (TOp) Jeff Capt (1) s hrugged off a rockinduced cut on his face to finish third on a Honda four-stroke. Paul Krause (12) gives chase. (Above) A grou p of racers dice on the bomb run. The Winter Clas sic featured a fas t, aD-mile course. Ca mpbell (Hon); 12. Drey Dircks (Hon); 13. Jim C ray (KTM); 14. Jim Loh (Kaw ); 15. Rex State n (Kaw); 16. Ron Bragd on (Ho n); 17. Ron Peters (H on ); 18. Craig Adams (Kaw); 19. Do n Cncwe (ATK); 20. Joh n Kawe ll (Kaw ): 21. Kris Keefer (Yam ); 22. Da n Parrot (Kaw); 23. To m Hendricks (Ya m); 24. Lon Brand (1-lo n); 25. Bill Maxim (Kaw ). OPEN EX: 1. Danny H am el (Kaw ); 2. Ty Da vis (Kaw ); 3. Dan Rich ardson (H en ). 250 EX: 1. Dcstry Abbott (Kaw). 2. Jim Gra y (KTM); 3. John Kawell (Kaw ). • 125 EX: 1. Jim my Le wis (Ya m) ; 2. K rt s Ke ef er (Yam); 3. Q uin t Betts (Kaw). 30+ EX: 1. Pa u l Kr au se [Ka w] : 2. Ab e Baumann [Kaw]; 3. John Rudder (Yam ). 40+ EX; 1. Rex Staten (Ka w) ; 2. Bill Maxim (Kaw ); 3. David La Prai k {Kaw ]. SO+ EX: 1. Albert Hull (Yam ). 4-STRK "'" 1. Jeff Capt (Hon~ 2. Johnny CampbeU (Hon) ; 3. Ron Peters (Hon). 11

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