Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HA'RE SCRAMBLE Round 5: Dam Good HS METRA Hate Scramble series (Left) Josh McLevy takes the checkered flag with room to spare for the overall win at the NETRA Dam Good Hare Scrambles in Connecticut!. (Below) Ken Valentine rode a strong race and was rewarded with the High Point A honora. (Below left) Kevin Knott _ . the top 8-<:la. . rider. ond-place Drew Carpenter. Not 10 seeonds behind were Eric Rogeau and Jessie Berthiaume taking third and fourth place. The four riders are making for a highly contested Junior class Championship. In the Mini class, Mike Peristere took the win, once again, but not without a lot of pressure by Nathan Kanney, who finished second, down only seven seconds. A few former Women's class champions returned for the event, putting in their usual top performances. Last year's champion Sherry Landry took the class win with an impressive lead of six minutes over second-place SaUey Ha·ger. Former champion Diane Camalli took third. 0 Dam Good Hare Scrambles Thomaston, Connecticut Results: June 16, 1996 (Round 5 of 18) GRD CHMP: Josh Mclevy (Hon). OIA A: Ken Valentine (KTM). OIA B: Kevin Knott (Suz). O/A G Jason Stella (Yam). AA: 1. Todd Levesque (Yam); 2. Randy McCann (Kaw); 3. Wes Clarke (Hon); 4. Chris Chrispin (SU%); S. P.J. PecuJis (Yam). 250 A: 1. Arthur Menzel (Kaw)i 2. Harry Grant By Cheri Allx Photos by Jay Chittenden THOMASTON, cr, JUNE 16 fter almost a month off, the NEIRA Hare Scrambles Series resumed with its traditional Father's Day race at the Thomaston Dam. The event is held on the flood side of the dam, so weather conditions have a large impact on whether or not the event actually happens at all. This year the conditions posed no problem. The river was flowing but it was barely deep enough to drown a duck, so there was no threat of closing the dam. The Pathfinders M.e. used most of the usual trails with a few miles of new trail out in the back making for a 10mile track. They also added back the rock section for the Expert event. The AA row was smaller than usual with only 10 riders, but the competition was still quite competitive, except for the front-runner Manchester Honda I AXOI Link/Pirelli's Josh Mclevy. Mclevy got the holeshot and was able to put 20 seconds on the pack 'within the first two miles. Wes Clarke came out of the hole in second foUowed by Pub Racing's Todd Levesque, Dave Gunn, Randy McCann and Steve Formanek. Once the pack made the first road crossing, Clarke pulled over allowing Levesque to take over second. It wasn't 10 feet when Levesque hit a rock. Clarke slammed into his rear wheel and both riders went down. Gunn was able to avoid the collision, but McCann slid into Levesque's bike as he was trying to pick it up. The front-line pileup gave Mclevy the break he needed to really pull away. By the end of the first lap, he had increased his lead to almost one minute over second-place Manchester Honda's Dave Gunn. Gunn had another 30 seconds over third-place Levesque, followed by Blake, Peculis and McCann. Moving up into the top 10 positions were Arthur Menzel and Harry Grant from the 250cc class along with Expert Open rider Ken Valentine, on his KTM. With the 1D-mile laps taking just over 30 minutes, many riders .had to stop at the end of the second lap for gas. Mclevy, who now had a lead of over a minute and 30 seconds, continued through, pushing for an extra lap before stopping. Gunn, who, was still in second place with 20 seconds over A Levesque also continued for a third lap. Levesque, however, stopped to pit, getting 'out just seconds before Clarke came around. Clarke also stopped but was passed by Peculis. Peculis lost his hold on fourth place just 200 yards from the pits on the next lap when he ran out of gas. He managed to push his bike to the pits and only lost five positions before getting back out. The third lap seemed to be the turning point for many riders. Midtown Kawasaki's McCann was the first to make an emergency pit. His earlier crash broke his clutch cable and his pit crew had to Mickey Mouse it back on with safety wire. Gunn, who was having one of his best rides, seized his motor not halfway into the third lap. Gunn had changed his jetting earlier in the day, but it was too lean and his motor seized solid. Flat tires were also becoming a thing of the day. Steve Formanek and Brian Tucker were both running in the top 10 when they got flat rears. With all the mechanical problems, positions were changing quickly. The track was also getting beat in and the conditions were starting to playa factor. The once ridable trail was now becoming completely whooped-out and dusty. Some sections were blinding. The pace of the leader was starting to slow. Mclevy's pit crew knew that the heat and dust were going to take their toU on their rider. With a two-minute lead over second-place Levesque, they had enough time to hold Mclevy in the pits for 30 seconds to give him a break. Levesque, however, wasn't slowing up and was slowly eating into Mclevy's lead. Within two miles, Levesque had taken 15 seconds off the lead. He slowly worked away at Mclevy's cushion, but there just wasn't enough race left. After two and a half hours of racing, Mclevy was able to hold on, taking his first ETRA win with over a minute and a half lead. Levesque took second place, giving him a solid lead in the ETRA point standings. McCann, Clarke, Kenny Valentine and Chrispin hung it out together for the last lap. Less than five seconds separated the four riders as they jumped the final road crossing. McCann physically crossed the finish line in third overall, bu t with adjusted time, it was Expert Open-cJass rider Valentine taking third place overaU. Arthur Menzel and Harry Grant, both in the Expert 250cc class, stayed in the top 10 all day taking seventh and eighth, respectively, only seconds apart. In the Novice event, it was Jason Stella on his Yamaha 250'running away with the Novice-class overall. Stella finished the 30-mile event with over three minutes on second-place Daniel Nelson. Brian Lawson won the Junior class, but it wasn't without a lot of competition. This was probably one of the closest races yet with the top four riders coming in within 50 seconds. Lawson crossed the line 30 seconds ahead of sec- (Yam); 3. Shawn Mason (Hon); 4. Ro'ry Eastman (Hon). 200 A: 1. Paul Blanquart (Yam); 2. Ken Law (Yam); 3. Justin Spinney (Yam); 4. Brian Barnes (Kaw); 5. Brett Costello (Yam). VET A: 1. Lee Pelletier (Suz); 2. Peter Antinarelli (Hon~ . OPEN A; 1. Mark Burdick (KTM); 2. Dave Simoock (Hon); 3. Douglas Mckinnon; 4. Roger Billh= (KTM~ SR A; 1. Jerry RanndalJ (CRE~ 41STRK A; 1. John Dunn (Hus). SlSJI, 1. Jim Simone (Hon~ 2. BTU'" Wilcox (Suz). 250 B: 1. Brian O"NeiJ (Kaw~ 3. James Cooney (Suz); 4. BN'" Yuill (Yam); S. Chris Tooker (Yam~ 200 B: 1. eiJ Dennett (Yam~ 2. Mall Jalbert (Yam); 3. Lionel Asselin (Hon); 4. Josh Hackett (Hon); 5. Bob Santheson (Hon). • VET B: 1. Harold Bowen (Kaw~ OPEN B: 1. Steve Shepard (KTM); 2. Dan Salone (KTM). 41STRK: 1. Christopher Cromer (Hon); 2. Robert White (Kaw); 3. Gus Bender (Hem). SR B: 1. Larry Piers (Suz). 250 C: 1. Daniel Nelson (Hon); 2. Greg Wabuda (Yam~ 3. Glen Larocque (Su:t~ 4. Ronald Burr (Yam); 5. Steven Keeskes (Kaw). 200 C: 1. Mike Poisson (Kaw); 2. Jason Barrett (Kaw); 3. James Maguire (Kaw~ 4. Bud JoaclUn (Kaw~ S. Richard Merrill (Kaw~ 125 C: 1. Ronald Daniels (Hon); 2. William Gray (Kaw~ 3. Joe Sullivan (Hon);" Todd Santheson (Su:t~ VET G 1. CraIg Prall (Suz~ 2. Michael Knight (Hon~ 3. Patrick Armstrong (CRE~ 4. Dana Demetrius (Yam~ 4ISTRK C: 1. Mike Korlnskei (Aus); 2. John Merola (KTM); 3. Tom McCurdy (Yam). OPEN C: 1. Sean O'Donovan (Hon); 2. James Cordeiro (Hon). SR C: 1. Sean O'Donovan (Hon); 2. James Cordeiro (Hon). SR G 1. Chris Fahan (Hon); 2. Douglas Stroh Sr. (Yam); 3. Gary Cheney (Yam). JR: 1. Brian Lawson (Yam); 2. Drew Carpenter (Yam); 3. Eric Rougeau (Yam); 4. Jessie Berthiaumme (Kaw); 5. Jonathan Choquette (Hon). MINI: 1. Mike Peristere (Yam); 2. Nathan Kanney (Yam); 3. Brian Wozniak (Yam); 4. Robert Rome (Kaw~ WMN: 1. Sherry Landry (Kaw); 2. Salley Hager (Kaw~ 3. Diane CamalH (Kaw). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Chelsea, Vermont, June 30 Round 7 - Union, Connecticul, July 7

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