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SETRA Championship Hare Scrambles 8eries, Round 12 By Kenneth King KNOXVILLE, T ,MAR. 29 M's Franklin Ramey III raged to a win at the final round of the ETRA Championship Hare Scrambles Series, the Dogwood Daze Hare Scrambles, but when all the scores were tallied it was KTM's Allen Gra vitt dazing the competition by earning. his 11th Hare Scrambles championship in . SETRA competition - without even riding. "1 had a good season," Gravitt said. l'The new 200 gave me a new outlook on riding this year. Me and Franklin (Ramey) had some good races and a lot of fun. Last year, 1 broke my ankle and sat out half the season. This year Franklin returned the favor and broke his ankle. "1 think 1 had the most couch time, though," he said, laughing. Gravitt and Ramey are friends as well as competitors, and they gave SETRA fans plenty of good racing this season, but Ramey is already looking toward next season. "AlIen rode good," Ramey said. "We had some fun and some good racing. I'm happy for him, but I'll take it back next year." The final round of the series was held in Knoxville at the Hickory Creek Motocross Park. The course was a little over 5 miles long, offering riders a variety of terrain that included hills, offcambers, tight woods, fast fields and a long, natural-terrain motocross track. The course was dry and temperatures crept into the 80s by midday. Gravitt sat out this ,round to save himself for the SETRA Championship Enduro Series, where he is in another close battle with Ramey. Ramey still faced some tough competition in the form of former National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham on his Gas Gas, Team Green rider Ashley Brewer and local AA rider Gerald Greene aboard a Yamaha. When the flag dropped, it was Greene absconding with the holeshot, followed by Cunningham, Brewer and Ramey. "1 was last off the line because my bike wouldn't crank right off," Ramey explained. "It took me a couple of kicks to get it going. Then 1 had to play catchup through all the dust. It took me half a lap to catch everybody. 1 saw Ashley (Brewer) crash pretty good, and then 1 got around everybody but Cunningham," "1 got a pretty good start," Brewer explained. "1 was riding behind Terry (Cwmingham) and they pulled away a little. My arms were pumping up and then my lower fork leg hit something as 1 was crossing a field in third gear and 1 went over the bars hard. 1 tweaked my front end and lost my front brake for almost a lap." When they came through the barrels n the first lap, it was Cunningham with , six-second lead over Ramey.· Greene as one second behind Ramey, and rewer was 22 seconds behind Greene. On lap two, Cunningham slowed down a bit and Ramey made the pass Kr • ttfUf (Above) Franklin Ramey III raged to the win at the final round of the SETRA Championship Hare Scrambles Series, but it was Ramey's KTM teammate Allen Gravitt who earned the series championship. (Left) Ashley Brewer overcame a high-speed crash to finish second overall. (Right) 250cc A rider Doug Masencup started a row behind the AA riders and still managed to nab fourth overall, first 250cc A. for the lead. Cunningham, it seemed, got a flat tire and called it a day. Ramey was slowly building a lead and, by the end of the third lap, he was a minute ahead of Greene and more than two minutes ahead of Brewer. '1 think it was on the second or third lap when my dad held up the pit board with 'Masencup -10' on it," Ramey said. "1 had forgot all about the 250cc A class behind us, and Doug Masencup had managed to almost catch us. 1 knew 1 was going to have to pick the pace up." Kawasaki-mounted Masencup had started one minute behind the AAs and had managed td move up on the leaders and actually lead the race for a couple of laps on adjusted time. "1 knew 1 was riding pretty good," Masencup said. "1 got the holeshot and didn't have to fight much dust. Then 1 looked out on the MX track and 1 saw Ra mey and Brewer. 1 tried to ca tch them, but they picked up the pace and, well, 1 really didn't feel like riding that fast today." Masencup still managed to finish in fourth overall and first 250cc A rider in 'a determined ride to the front. With the running order firmly established, Ramey slowly padded his lead with each passing lap. Brewer got himself back together after his crash and began his chase of Greene. On lap four, Ramey held more than a minute's lead on Greene, and he was about 40 seconds ahead of B{ewer. On lap five, Brewer caught and passed Greene and put his sights on the MSR-sponsored Ramey. "1 finally got my head together after my crash, and it took me a couple of laps but 1 managed to get around Greene," Brewer said. "1 was trying to catch Franklin (Ramey), but he pretty much had checked out by then, so 1 just tried to maintain a good, fast pace and do the best 1could." Ramey had bumped his lead to almost 2 1/2 minutes over Brewer by lap six. Brewer, in turn, had put almost a minute on Greene and was beginning to get in a groove as he got closer to Ramey with each passing lap. "1 knew 1 had a good lead, so 1 just tried to keep up a good pace," Ramey explained. "1 didn't want to get too crazy. 1 still have the enduro series to win, so 1 wasn't taking any chances." Brewer finished one minute and 40 seconds behind Ramey when the checkers waved. "1 wish 1 hadn't crashed and lost so much time early on," Brewer lamented. "1 would have liked to race with Franklin a little." "This was a fun race," Ramey said. "The terrain is pretty technical, and 1 like that. As far as the championship is concerned, 1 wish things had gone a little different, but I'll be gunning for Allen (Gravitt) next season." 1.1'1 SETRA Dogwood Daze Hare Scrambles Knoxville, Tennessee Results: March 29, 1998 (Round 12) OIA:. 1. Franklin Ramey m. AA: 1. Ashley Brewer; 2. Gerald Greene. OPEN A: 1. Cullen Underwood; 2. Stan Perkins. 250 A: 1. Doug Masencup; 2. John Warwik; 3. Brian Millard. 200 A: 1. Lee Stephens. SR k 1. Terry Hughes. S/SR A: 1. John .Kealey; 2. Robert Brendle. MSTR A: 1. Dan Freeland. OPEN B: 1. Todd Oden, 2. Timmy Edwards; 3. Jess Roberson. 250 8: 1. Heath Sayler. 2. Mike Bradshaw; 3. Jay Irvin; 4. Rodney Holden. 200 B: 1. Mark Thompson; 2. Shane Sexton; 3. Robert Sevenpiper. SR B: 1. Jimmy Pratt; 2. Larry Boggs; 3. Charlie Johnson. S/SR 8: 1. Rich Patterson; 2. Frank Nelson. MSTR B: 1. Fred Hammond; 2. Mike Garrett. 4·STRK B: 1. .Ken Meyers; 2. Scott Swallows; 3. Daniel Hard. OPEN C: 1. Chris Doran; 2. Rocky Oglr; 3. Robert Andrews. 2SO C: 1. Nathan Phillips; 2. Jeny Ramey; 3. Dennis Wright. 200 C: 1. Richie Brown; 2. David 'Keith; 3. Tony Reece; 4. Tod Holton. 4-STRK C: 1. Darren Groves; 2. Nik Johnson; 3. William Coulter; 4. Mike Brillanti. SR C: 1. Dale WiIHams; 2. Jeff Smith; 3. Terry McKee. UW: 1. Dan Giesler; 2. Sid Dyer; 3. Blaine Eischied; 4. Tony 81edsole. HIW: 1. Preston; 2. Derek Morris; 3. Mike Virginia; 4. Dwayne Haskell.