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AltA District 37 Desert Racing Series, Round 6
LUCERNE, CA, FEB. 22
ooner or later, it was going to happen. District 37 number-one plate
holder Paul Krause was bound to
overall an event, and finally he did just
that at the 48th annual Checkers MC
Non-World Championship Hare and
Hound. To date, the series has been
dominated by Krause's Team Green
teammate Dave Ondas, who chose to sit
out round six, giving Krause a greater
opportunity to put himself back in the
driver's seat.
Famous for hosting tough and gnarly
National Hare and Hounds, the Check-.
ers MC laid out a three-loop, Nationalcaliber course that consisted of a sandy
40-mile first loop, a tight and rocky 20mile second loop, and a fast 23-mile
third loop. Even though the event has
temporarily lost its ational status, the
Checkers did a great job of using all the
elements of Lucerne Valley.
. National or not, it did not stop
National Hare· and Hound series contender Russell Pearson from entering
the event. Like Krause, KTM's Pearson
raced the Silver State Laughlin Hare
Scrambles in evada on Saturday and
then drove to Lucerne for the Checkers
race, which was also round two of the
prestigious Best of the West Series. Pearson put up a tough fight but ultimately
finished second behind Krause's KXSOO.
"1 basically just came out to practice
because there are a lot of Nationals in
Lucerne," said Pearson, a native of
Nevada. "1 wanted to see if 1 could
S
win."
Seconds before the start, not every
rider was completely ready to race.
Many competitors spent extra time in
the pits waterproofing goggles and
putting on rain gear as early morning
rains drenched those who sat on the
starting line, waiting for the 9:30 a.m.
start.
"1 heard they were going to delay the
start," said Vet classer Abe Baumann.
"So 9:30 rolls around and 1 thought,
'Maybe I'll go down to the starting line
just in case: and the bann.er went up as
soon as 1 got there. I had to take my
jacket off and open up a bag to get my
goggles out. By tha t time the rain was
coming down pretty hard."
Baumann squeezed into line and surprisingly enough did not miss a beat
when the banner dropped. Pearson got
the jump off the line, but it was Baumann who reached the end of the 4mile-long bomb run in first place.
"1 was third to the bomb," said
Krause about his start. "Abe (Baumann)
was leading and Russ (Pearson) was
second. Just after the first check, in some
rollers, we both got by Abe. 1 led for a
little ways until we dropped off into the
next valley and then Russ passed me.
We rode fender to fender for a long
time. There was lots of passing back and
forth and hooting and hollering at bne
another."
.
Not everyone was having the time of
their lives like Krause and Pearson. Top
Vet 2S0cc contender John Spaeth
crashed about 10 miles out and possibly
rebroke an already tender wrist.
Kawasaki riders Doug Chiapuzio and
Mike Banfield stopped and stayed with
Spaeth until he was able to ride back to
the pits.
When Krause and Pearson came into
the pits for the first time, they were side
by side. Baumann cruised in moments
later, holding the Open Vet lead. KTMmounted Eric Hallgath wrung out his
200M/XC through the deep sand of the
first loop to pit in fourth place, and
Team Green's Steve Hengeveld brought
his KX250 in for gas in fifth. Both Hallgath and Hengeveld were leading their
respected class by several minutes after
the first 40 miles.
"He got out of the pits first and then I
caught him as soon as we got into the
rock hills:' said Kra use abou t his race
with Pearson. "1 followed him for about
10 miles and then 1 passed him coming
back in. When 1 got by him, it was raining real hard and 1 think he was having
some goggle problems, so 1 gapped him
a little bit and he never could catch back
up."
"My roll-offs kept sticking to my
goggles and they even fogged up a little
after the first loop," Pearson confirmed.
"1 eventually took them off on the third
loop."
Team Green's Paul Krause (above left) held off KTM's Russ Pearson (above) to win the
Checkers MC Non-World Championship Hare & Hound In Lucerne Valley.
Before Hallgath could make it to the
alternate gas stop that led to the third
loop, Hengeveld passed him to take
over the fourth-place spot. Open Vetclass racer Dan Richardson cruised
through the second gas in sixth overall,
three spots behind class leader Baumann. CR2S0-mounted Jon Parks was
next .through the alternate gas in seventh, still holding the Vet 2S0cc-class
lead that he had held from the start.
The third loop was the fastest of the
three, and by the time Krause made it to
the finish he had a one-minute lead over
Pearson. Baumann, Hengeveld and
Hallgath rounded out the top five, and
eacl1 of them captured individual class
wins. Richardson and his KX500 held on
to sixth overall, followed by Parks, who
won the Vet 250cc class outright in the
seventh spot. Charley Barney topped
the Senior class in ninth.
Krause was awarded the Memorial
Chuck Stearns trophy, a highly honored.
reward that goes to the overall winner
every year at the Checkers Hare and
Hound. Don Brand Jr. received the Al
Baker MemorialTrophy, an equally
prestigious award given to the top FourStroke finisher each year. .
{~
Checkers MC Hare & Hound
Lucerne, California
Results: February 22, 1998 (Round 6)
O/A;, Paul Krause (Kaw),
OPEN BEG: 1. Shawn VanTol (Kaw); 2. David
Rohder (Hon).
OPE NOV, I. Adrian Collins (KTM); 2. F. Stroud
(Hon); 3. Brandon Day (Kaw).
OPE INT, 1. Mil