Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SETRA Enduro Series, Round 2: Volunteer Hare Scrambles --I ~ ._ --~--- -." . - - (left) Allen Gravitt s urvived the dusty cond itions to win the SETRA Volunteer Hare Scrambles In South Carolina. (Above) Sonny Morabito piloted his Gas Gas to a secondplace finish In the 200cc A class. By Kenneth King HEMINGWAY SC, SEPT. 27 , efend in g SETRA Hare Scrambles Cha m pion Allen Gravitt claimed his firs t ove ra ll of th e 1998-99 season at the Volu ntee r Hare Scra mbles. Gra vitt, aboa rd a KTM 200, fou ght his w ay through m iserably dusty co n ditions to claim his victory. 'This was the dustiest race I've ever bee n in," Gravitt said . 'The trails were good, bu t it wa s like sa nd was han ging in the ai r. It was tha t bad : ' Jason C ha ncey, rid i ng h is N eel ey Racing KTM, finished in the runner-up spo t, taking the checkered flag five minutes and 38 seconds behind Gravitt. " It was a tou gh race - no t the trails, bu t the d u st ," Cha ncey said. " (Bu t) I had som e probl ems with the hills today, and I think l' rn p retty good wi th hills just not tod ay: ' Dou g Masencu p , on a Fu n Cycl es KTM, fini shed third overall less than a minute beh in d Ch ancey , makin g for a KTM 1-2-3 sweep. "I d idn't hav e any tro uble all d ay," Masen cup said . "I go t arm pump early, but I bas ically tried to rid e sma rt in all the dust : ' T h e Vo lu n tee r Rid ers h o ste d the event. The lack of rain in the area crea ted ve ry dusty conditions, s ometh ing ove r w hic h th e club had little control. The track was close to six miles long and cont ained fa st trails, tig ht wood s, Il 00 0\ 0\ ..-.:1" l-< (l) .c E (l) > o z 36 uphills, o ff-ca m bers, a nd a mot ocro ss track. A lo ng w it h G ravitt , Cha nc ey a n d Masen cup, th er e w er e two rid er s who . have bee n absen t from the AA class for a w hile: Rod Stuckey , who has been on the injured list, and former SETRA Hare Scrambles Champ ion Steven Smith. When the green flag dro pped , it was Ch ancey getting the holesh ot. Halfw ay in to the firs t lap, Chancey was beginnin g to put so me time between himself and the other rid ers. Then he got to "the hill: ' It wasn 't a big hill, bu t it was rutted out and covered with loose silt and san d, and it gave him troubl e . Cha ncey's trouble her e was at! Gravitt needed to ge t ou t front. "Jaso n go t the holeshot, and it was so dusty you cou ldn' t see a thing," Gravitt said. "I thought, 'Well, this is it - it wi ll be to ugh to ca tch up w ith this much dust: Then I came to the hill and saw him stuck; I went arou nd and figured it was my turn to thr ow up so me dust: ' "I go t a good s ta rt and wa s rid ing well," Chancey sai d . "Th e club told me to wa tch out for the h ills, as they were covered in silt an d very .ru tted . When I got to the first one, it wasn' t tha t bad , bu t I just me ssed up on it. Allen got by, then Doug (Masencu p)." "Yeah , I w as fair ly close to Jason," Masencup said . "We got to the hill and he was stu ck and I go t aro und him; he go t me back later: ' Stuckey, meanwhile, go t a bad start. "I was dead last off the line, and I h ad a- h a r d time p la y in g ca tch -u p ," Stuckey said . "This wa s my first race on the KX, so I wasn' t pu sh ing that mu ch." Wh en th e riders ca me th ro u gh th e scori ng area , Gravitt had pulled a lead of a little over a minute. Masencup was next, follo wed by Cha ncey 30 seconds bac k. Stu ckey was fou rt h, followed by Smith. Both riders were with in 20 second s of Chancey. Gravitt's stra tegy was sim ple: Pu t as much distance as poss ible between himself and the othe r AAs . He was managing to do that wi th each lap. "I was just try in g to rid e good and safe," Gra vitt explained . "It go t toug h as I started to lap rid ers . You couldn't see." When they we n t thro ug h the barrels on the se cond la p, Gravitt was a littl e over tw o minutes ahea d of Masencup. Ch an cey was 13 seco nds behi nd Masencu p, with Stuc key 40 seconds behind hi m. Smith w ou ld fig ht th ro u gh the du st to come in o ne m in u te b e h in d Stuckey. . By lap three, Grav itt had pulled close to thr ee min ut es ahead of Chancey, wh o managed to ge t arou nd Masencup. "Doug go t s tuc k on the sa me hill I d i d, " C h a n ce y sa id . "W e kin d of swa pped p laces a couple of times." Stu ckey was o ne minut e behind Masencup whe n they were scored after the third lap. By the fourth lap , Gravitt wa s 3 1/2 minutes a head of Chancey . Both Masencup and Chan cey wer e having a good race; only a minute separated th e two. Stuckey wa s three minutes from the two . Lap four was pretty mu ch a repeat of lap three. On la p five , Gr avitt ma in tained his lead of 3 1/ 2 minutes, w hile Masencup a nd Ch ancey were hold ing their own. Stuc key was fou r mi nu tes d own fro m Masencup, and , for some unknown reaso n, Smith pulled o ff on la p fou r and d id not finis h the fifth lap. O n th e last lap, Gravitt had some problems . "I got stu ck on the same hill as Jason di d on lap one," G ravitt said . "A guy go t stuck in fro nt of me, and I had to stop or hit him . I knew I had a d ecent lea d on Jason, bu t th ere Wer e se ve ra l bi kes o n th e h ill . I s p u n around and w ent back dow n, th en made a no ther run and we n t arou nd t1le stuck b ikes. Luckily, I d idn 't lose as much time as I could ha ve." Masencup made a stro ng push on the final lap and almo st caught Chancey. n Volunteer Hare Scrambles Hemingway, South Carolina Results: September 27,1998 (Round 2) OIA: Alle n Gra vitt (KTM). AA: 1. jason Chancey : 2. Dou g Mascncup. 250 A: 1. Ga ry He ndricks; 2. Fra nk Kocniger: 3. Russell Epley . 200 A: 1. Brent Mt."l't't'T; 2. Sonny Morabito; 3. Robert Se ven piper. . OPE N A: 1. Jeff veal ey : 2. John Keale y: 3. Stan Perkins. 4. Odcn, SR k 1. Terry Hughes; 2. J.T. Co nly. S/S R A: 1. Robert Nee ley: 2. Joe Royal ; 3. Frank Nelson. MSTR A: 1. Ron Ha ler 2. Ct.'O TgC' Yo u nt; 3. Jim Ford; 'I'. 4. U ovd Wid cTU.. ~STR K B: 1. Do ug Chestnut: 2. Chris Kile; 3. Ow en Too Hight ower . • 250 B: 1. M.ul McKenzie; 2. Rebert Blalock . 3. Ma rk Kelly. 200 B: 1. David Keith : 2. Iay Lag roo n: 3. Brya n Browning . O P EN B: 1. C h ris Dura n; 2 . Robert A ndrews; 3. Sha nno n Moore. MSTR B: 1. Rich Patterso n: 2. Pred Hammon d ; 3. Wa yn e Meredith. SR B: 1. Tim Akins ; 2. Stev e Moore; 3. Jt"ffSm ith . S /SR 8: 1. Ted Pres son ; 2. Larry Bollinger : 3. Bob Ingle. 250 C: 1. Mike Lin koys; 2. Wt. Stin Lee: 3. Bradley " Hicks. 200 C: 1. Bobby Jo h nso n; 2. Cha rlie Hat ler: 3. Sam Nelso n. OPEN C: 1. Er ic Ren tsc hler : 2. Roc ky O gle; 3 , Brian Stri ngfield : 4 , H ugh Moo re. 4-STRK C: 1. Jason Mill ...-r: 2. Aa ron Dean; 3. Ke ith Da vis; 4. Bob Thurman. SR C: t. Dan ny Burkh .lUe r; 2. Juh n Moore; 3. En ' Gregory. MSTR C: 1. Wam.-n Ga d d is; 2. Ch arles Armour; 3. Ed Knigh ts; 4. Rona ld Blais. WMN: 1. Hea th er Williams; 2. Karen Ne lson. UW T RL: 1. Na than Tho mas; 2.Jo h n Gillia m; 3. Micha el Goudeloc k. HIW T Rl.: 1. Duayne Ha ske ll; 2. Joseph Ralston ; 3. Ch ris McDowell; 4. Justin Price. I

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