Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA/NETRA Hare Scrambles Series, Round 11 By Cheri Alix Photos by Mik e Bern ier BURRILLVILLE, RI, AUG. 2 Y amaha's Tom Norton ca me fro m th e back of the pack to dust th e competition and regain the points lead in w ha t has becom e an all-ou t bat tle for th e AMA/ NETRA Hare Scrambles Championship. Kenn y La w a n d th e Hoot Owl Scrambl er s co n vi nced th e owner of a 900 -a cr e ph easa n t farm in n orth ern Rhod e Island to allow N ETRA to hold a hare scra m bles o n h is proper ty . Th e owner allo wed th e club to lay out a 7mil e course on th e 100 o r so acres th at aren' t used for hunting. Th e cou rse was a combina tion of exis ting double-wid e, dusty, sa nd y cart roads with freshl y cut single-track pine groves. The s e v e n -la p Expe rt /Amat eur even t w en t off righ t on time, with 12 AA rid e r s cr a m med int o the s.ma ll starting line. The front row had roughly 15 feet before they were funneled oo ,..... 0\ 0\ 0\ .... ... rf) ' ;:l eo ;:l -< 36 down th e first cart ro ad . As th e flag dro p ped , it was Pub Racing 's Brian O'Neill taki ng t he holeshot. Righ t beh in d him was Mid town Kawasaki's Patrick Tim othy and RER's Ken Valentine. By th e ti me th e rid ers went 100 yards and h it the firs t turn , it w a s a total dust storm. As Tim othy ca me ou t of th e firs t turn, he hit th e d eep sa nd and sw a p pe d sideways. Jos h McLevy was right on his tail and slam me d into his rear wheel, cartw heeled, and to ok out three m ore rid ers with him. This turned out to be a g rea t ad va ntage for N orton, w ho was last off th e lin e. He was abl e to m ove up seve ra l pla ce s wit hin th e first qu arter-mil e o n his Valle y M ot orsports / A RTCO / Ke v in ' s Cycles Yama ha . O'Neill's hold on the lead was sho rtlived . Tim othy wa nted the lead rea lly bad, and at th e 2-m ile mark he decided to ma ke his move by ca rv ing his own line o n th e side of the trail and taking ov er the lead . Unfo rtu na te lv fo r him, durin g hi s o ff- tra il e xcursion he hi t so me th ing with his fro nt end, br aking off his brake caliper. Th is, however , di d n' t slow him down in the least. By the end of th e lap, Ti m o th y and second -placed Brian Lawson had a min u te lead over th ir d -placed Kenny Law . O' Neill was now in fourth place (Top) Tom Norton took the win at the Hoot Owl Hare Sc rambles despite having to come from the back of the pack . (Left) Patrick Timothy gets a little loose on his way to a front-brake less second-place finish. (Right) Ken Valentine was third overall in the AA class. but back ano ther 10 seco nds, and he had th e res t of th e pack hot on his tail. Th e lead changed hands once ag ain . Early into the second lap, Laws on took ad vantage of Tim othy' s missing a turn. Tim othy, howev er, returned th e favor, bl asting p ast Lawson at the fir st mudhole. By the end of the lap, Timothy had put almost 20 seco nds o n Lawso n, who wa s now being pressured by the rest of th e pack. Law, who was now runni ng third, was right on Lawson's rear fender a s ' th e y ca me th rou gh th e ba r rels . McLevy was now in fourth place - down ano ther 15 seco nds - with No rton rig ht behind in fifth. It was now time for Law to tak e ove r th e lea d . Law quickl y p assed Lawson aft er the barrels and had h is sights se t on Tim othy. " I was flying down th is ca r t road wh en' I hear this bike, pinned , co mi ng up behind m e," Tim othy sai d. " Law ca me aro u nd m e like I w a s sta nd ing still. He jus t took the lead away fro m m e and the re wa s no way I coul d catch him . He must've wa nted the win real bad ." By the end of th e thi rd lap, Law ha d put 20 seconds on second- placed Timothy. Third place was now held by Norton , but he was anothe r 30 seconds back, wi th Lawson 18 seconds behind him in fourth. McLevy ha d been running with Norton and Lawson, bu t McLevy ended up retiring on th e third lap after slamming into a stump in a mudhole and braking off his chainguide. This moved Valentine up to fifth. Law, meanwhile, held o n to the lead for the entire fifth lap but Norton wa s just as determ ined to take the wi n, and by the end of the lap Norton had managed to pass Timo thy and close to wi thin 25 seco nds of Law. "Tim o th y got b y m e just as I was lea v in g th e p it," No rto n sai d . " I got ri gh t o n him w it hi n a ha lf m il e a nd stayed there until th e firs t pine grove, wh en he mis sed a turn and I go t by. I knew Law w as out in front, and I just hit the turbo and went after him." Norton caug ht sig ht of Law jus t over a mile from th e end of the lap . "I ca ught him (Law) right af ter the mudhole and got rig ht on him ," Norton sai d . " He swap pe d on a log and I just squeezed by . I d idn't hear him again. I la te r found ou t he ran o ut of gas a n eighth of a mile later." Luckil y, Law ran dry on a downhill leading to th e barrels, and he coas ted in and was able to get gassed-up without losin g too much time. Unfortunately for him, though, he had al ready lost th e lead, and w hile he wa s coasting Timoth y also sneaked by, taki ng over seco nd place. Law w'!.s now third , with Lawson still fou rth. By th e end of the six th lap, , o rto n had secu red his lead, putting another 10 seconds on second-place Timothy . lawson and Law ba ttled it out for m ost of the fifth lap until Lawson hit a roc k on a fas t cart road , caus ing his bik e to swap . . "I wa s jus t s tarting to pass Lawson when he hit the rock," Law said . "His bike swapped right into m e, knocking me right off the tra ck. I hit my head and had an instant headache. Lawson stopped and made 's u re I got up, but I just couldn't rid e after that: ' Lawson was on his way to his best finish of the year when, on the final lap, a lapper crashed into him . Lawson got pinned un der his fallen bike and was unable to get ba ck up bef o re he was over ta ke n by Valentine, Law and.McNeil. After running at the top all day, Lawso n had to settle for sixth place, wi th Valentine tak ing third, followed by Law and McNeil. Norton wen t on to take the win with m ore th an tw o m inut e s on seco n d placed Tim othy. "Th e track was fast and fun ," Norton sai d of his rid e. "It got reall y chewed up at the end, with a lot of braking bumps o n th e ca rt roads. I just held th e bik e pinned a gea r lower than you'd normally use, and it worked awesome ." Taking th e Expert -class High Poin t a nd fini s h in g s e v e n t h overa ll was Expert 250cc rider Den nis Decker. In the Ju nio r class, it was Na tha n Kanney once again do mi na ti ng the field with a two-minute lead over second-placed Ryan Dellaghelfa. William Row e an d Scot t DeCosta put o n a goo d show in the Mini class, with bot h riders staying within seconds of each o ther for the entire th ree-l ap event. DeCosta hel d the lea d for the first two laps onl y to lose it on the final lap. He still fin1:\ ish ed second. Hoot Owl Hare Scrambles Burrlllville, Rhode Island Resu lts: August 2, 1998 (Round 2) GRAND CHA MP: Tom No rto n (Yam) . O/A A: Denn is Decker (KTM) . DIA 8 : Keith Ca lla ha n (H on). O/A C: Warren Plante (Yam) . AA : 1. Tom Norton (Ya m) ; 2. Pa trick Timoth y (K aw) : 3. Ken Vale n tine (KTM); 4. Ken Law (Ya m); 5. Luke McNeil (Yam) . 250 A: 1. Denni s Decker (KTM); 2. D.J. Lis (Hue): 3. Justin Prov en cal (Ka w): 4. Matt Jalbe rt (KTM); 5. Je ff Sta ples (Yam ). 200 A: 1. jesse Be r th iau m e (Ya m) ; 2. Steve For man e k (Han ); 3 . Na tha n Ka nney (Suz) : 4. J im Edmonds (,,1M); 5. Dre w Ca rpenter (Su z). OPEN A : 1. Jo hn Brown (KTM); 2. Dan Sa lomone (KTM); 3. Peter Byrne (Yam) . VET A: 1. Ma rc Whi te (Suz); 2. Craig Pratt

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