Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AltA SETRAlMSR Enduro Series, Round 3 By Kenneth King WEDGEFIELD, SC, SEPT. 13. TM' S Allen Gr a vitt was seeking revenge a fter losing last yea r's Lon g Can e End u ro to AA rid er Jason Cha ncey. After posting a score of 10 this yea r, reven ge was his. "I rea lly wan te d to w in thi s ra ce," Gra vitt sai d . "I d on't kn ow how man y races I will be able to rid e this year with the twins coming. (Allen and his wife Jill are expecting twin gi rls .) Wh o knows? This may be my last wi n in a while." Neeley Racing's Cha ncey wo uld drop 11 point s, one shy of Gravitt's score. " It was a really good , fun end u ro," K 00 0\ 0\ ..... '<::1' ,......" l-< , Cha ncey said . "I messed up in the first section, and tha t pr etty m uch cost me the race. I had fun, though ." Roun d in g a u t the top t h r ee w as Tea m Gree n rider Tommy Veator, who also tallied an 11. "It was a good race," Veator said , "a little d u s ty, but I rod e good a nd ha d fun." This was t he 30th running of the Long Ca ne End uro . Th e cou rse w a s qu ite a bit sho rter this year due to lan d use problems - problems they are ho ping to reso lve befo re next year's event. The co u rse wo u ld featu re 46 ac tua l trail mil es, divid ed in to four sec tio ns : two before the gas sto p and two after. The first check was at 4.4 miles and it led in to a 6.4-mile sectio n, Dust was bad in areas, especially on the red -clay jeep roa ds . Gra vitt and Veator had the fast time, however, d ropp in g two poi n ts. Chancey, meanwhile, d ropped th ree. " I was ju s t off the p ace," Cha ncey said. "I got some arm pump, but I was just not pus hing hard eno ug h. I sho uld have dropped a two." Gravitt's ru n was vi rtually troublefree. "The first section wa s fun; I was jus t tr yin g to ge t wa rmed up," he said . " I didn 't have any problems, but it wa s du stier than I expec ted." Former Kawasa ki rider Doug Masencu p was tr yin g ou t his ne w ride, a KTM 250 EXC. He ended up burning the first check by a minute. " I love the KTM," Masencup said . "1 was trying to ge t u sed to th e bi ke a ll day. In the first sectio n, I missed a reset. I just 'wasn' t pa yin g at tention . I' ve go t $400 worth of tim ekeeping equipme nt on my bike and I burned a check." After the reset, it wa s off to the secon d section of the morning, with racers puttin g in s om e mil es on p avement before reachin g section two . The go ingin chec k w as at 27.2 miles and fea tu red 10 mil es o f go o d, fa s t tr a il. Grav i tt. cra nked things u p a notch on his 200, posting low score wit h a one. "I felt good, " he said . "I tried to stay focuse d and ride smooth." Cha ncey en ded up dropping two in the section. "I felt better in the second sec tio n," sa id Chance y. "I go t w armed up, but I had a few p robl em s get ti ng a ro u n d slower riders." Mo os e- spon s ored Ve at or a ls o dropped two points in the secti on . "I hit a tree hard in the sectio n before the gas," Veator said . "I was tapped out in th ird . I t hin k it knocke d me ou t. I rem ember hitting the tree and I rem em ber ge tting up off the gro und . I was on the gro und for a least a minute. I snuck , into the check w ith a two." MSR-b a ck ed Masenc u p en ded u p dropping three po ints in this section . " I had some p r ob lem s with th e dust," he said. "This was the first time I raced my bike, so I w as trying to ge t used to it and go as fast as I could at the ' same tim e." After section two , it wa s on to the gas s top a nd a short break. The stop was back at the starting area, with the th ird sec tion being mad e up of a red o of section one - at least 6.5 miles of it. The club added another fou r miles of new terra in. The go ing -in che ck was at 62.8 miles, with the follow ing tra il clocked at 13.2 mile s. This time it was Cha ncey who picked up the pace a nd po st ed the low score wi th a three-point loss. "I knew Allen (Gravit t) had me by a poin t and tha t I had to speed things up," he sa id. "I tried to concen tra te and go as fast as I could . This was prett y mu ch the same trail as the first sect ion of the da y. This one was abo ut three or four miles OJ ,.n o ..... u o 62 (Top) Allen Grav itt came out on top at the SETRA l ong Cane Endu ro in South Carolina. (l eft) Jason Chancey took runner-up honors. lon ger. I d ropped the sa me amo un t of point s as I did the first time' throu gh. It goes to show how bad I rod e it the first time thro ug h." G ravit t, meanwhile, dro pped four. Ditto for Veator . "This se ction just kic ked m y butt," Gravitt said, "plain and simp le. I think I overexe rted m yself in the morn in g and used u p too much energy . The first six miles of trail we had a lread y rode, it was kind of beat u p. The last four or five miles wa s reel go od stuff." i "It got real dusty in the last two sections," Veator said . "They were the on es I had the most tro uble passing ride rs in. I They were tighter." The final sec tio n of th e da y was a t 91.6 miles and it was a bit over 10 miles long. Chancey, Veator and Gravitt each ' dropped three point s in the section. Gra vitt came in to the final check wi th a 3:05. I "I cou ld have do ne a lot bette r in the las t section," he said . " It was fast and I chec ked my compu ter too much - it cos t me . I also had problems passi ng. There were ju s t a few guys th a t w ould not move. I d on't expect rid ers to jum p off the trail - just move over when they can. But it irrita tes me w hen you come up behind them and you see that throttle arm d rop . They wa nt to race yo u." "I had a good race," Cha ncey said . "I was off th e pa ce ea rlie r in th e ra ce; I wo u ld have liked to ha ve won, but any time I can ge t close to Allen' s score, I'm happy. Allen is just good - he's the stand ard." . Th e w ay thin gs are sh ap ing up so far this season, it looks as thou gh it' s going to be a Gra vitt/ Ch anc ey bat tle. 1': \ long Cane Enduro Wedgefield, South Carolina Results: September 13, 1998 (Round 3) O IA: Alle n Gr av itt AA : 1. Jaso n Cha ncey; 2. To m my Vea to r. O PEN A: 1. L. Griffin; 2. Steve Hard eman: 3. TOllY Park er . 250 A: 1. Ste p he n Edmond son ; 2. Russe ll Ep ley; 3. Stev en Smi th. 200 A: 1. So nny Mo ra b ito ; 2. M. Thompson ; 3. Martin Pru ett . O PEN 8: 1. Doug Sa nders; 2, Edd ie Royal s; 3. Ch ris Do ran ; 4. Bruce Yarborough. 250 B: 1. Kim Watson; 2. Trey Welborn; 3. Stewa rd ' Baylo r; 4. Mike Dou glas. ... 200 B: 1. Jay Lag roo n: 2. Steven Lew is; 3. George Mille r; 4. Robert Clark. O PE N C: I. Gene Zobel; 2. H ea th Hen d er son ; 3. j am e Embro; 4. Jess Conway. s 1 250 C: 1. Bri an Wrig ht; 2. Johnny Woods; 3. T im Myers ; 4. D. Rhua loing . 200 C: 1. Scott Mo un t; 2. Richi e Brow n; 3. T im Greer: 4. R. Simmo ns. 4·STRK A: 1. Jeff Ha rris; 2. Mike Martin; 3. Andy Bark ley . 4·STRK B: I. Steve Proka pe k: 2. Brad Armou r; 3 . Pau l McColl. 4·STRK C: 1. Allen Young [r.: 2. AMo n Ma jor; 3. Jami e Ja mes. VET A: 1. Johnny M\..< :oy; 2. Mar k Allman ; 3. Dan Jackson. VET B: 1. William Prosser; 2. Stephe n Edwards; 3. J.T. Gor dy; 4. Pat Tucke r. V ET C: 1. Me l Smith ; 2. Scott Matty; 3. Er-ic Gregory: 4. G. Tolso n: . • SR A: 1. Terry Hughes ; 2. Mitch McRee; 3. Robb ie Neeley. SR 8: 1. Tim Atkins; 2. Fran k Shoe nbec k; 3. Jo hn Harris ; 4. George Noxo n. . SR C: 1. S. Le wi s; 2. Rick Holsonback; 3. Patrick Linville; 4 . Johnny Futo . S /SR A: 1. Joe Royal; 2. John Kirby; 3. Mike Sha nk; 4. Pat Golden. S/SR 8 : 1. Richa rd Shi pne r; 2. Kirt Lynch; 3. Lewis Smith. S /S R C: 1. Benny Ha mby; 2. Dav id Hea th; 3. Sonny Roberts; 4. Bob Ingles . MSTR A: 1. Ron Ha le; 2. Lloyd Wid en er; 3. John Park er . MSTR 8: 1. Ron Miller ; 2. Johnny Thoma s; 3. Steve Huggins. MSTR C: 1. Ray Cotto n; 2. Ke n Laver ; 3. Ed Wiest. G LDN MSTR : 1. Jo e Hal e y; 2. Jim Armitage; 3. Pau l Richardson . WMN : 1. Sue Heath ; 2. Karen Nel son.

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