Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SETRAlMSR Championship E nduroSeries,Round4: B nM inLights Endufo row ounta B y K e n n et h K ing MORGANTON, C,OCT. 4, 1998 ley Racing's Jason Chancey is making his presence known in a big wa y. After a top-three finish in the first t h r ee rounds , th e Tenn essee n ative s ho w ed what he ca n do when it gets ro cky by cl aiming the o ve ra ll a t the Brown Mountain Lights Enduro in the Brow n Mountain OR V Park, w it h a sco re of 15 for his firs t overall win this season. "It was a good race," Chancey sai d . "I like this kind of ter rain, but I really felt awkward a ll d ay. I felt like I never go t in my rh ythm." In th e number-two sp ot w as lo ngtime SETRA regu lar Micha el Grizzle on hi s Husaberg 501. He wou ld drop 17 points. Gr izzle just finis hed wrapping u p the GNCC O pen A-class cha m p ionship and he is putting all his efforts into the SETRA series . "My bike worked we ll:' Gri zzle said . "I think the fou r-st roke wa s the ticket in t his typ e o f terrain . The trail s were excellent, a nd they see med to get better toward s the end of the race ." Fin is hi ng th ird overa ll for the d ay was Senior A rider Terry "Syru p Ma n" Hughes, who surprised everyone wit h his score of 19. He is always a top finish er, but this was his best finish in a while. He would also claim the overall A honors for the race. "I felt I rod e good:' Hughes said . "I had fun. I gue ss luck was just with me today." Absent from th e race roster was KTM's Allen Gravitt. He has been sta ying at home lately, helping his wife, Jill, w ho is expecting twins. The race was held jus t ou tsid e Morganton, North Carolina, and started a t the Steele Creek ca m pground . Brown Mo u ntain is th e loca tion of th e lo cal ORV park, and the Unifo ur Trail bike cl u b ha s been promoting th e en d u ro her e for 29 years. This year, th ey us ed existing trail s in the p ar k to mak e the cou rse, laying ou t a tota l of 46 actu a l trail miles - 25.5 before the gas and 20.55 af ter . The terrain was wha t yo u would expect from the North Carolina mountains : hill s a nd rocks . This ra ce is a prime example of the diversity inherent in the SETRA series: One week you are racing in th e mountains, the next you are in the Florida sand . Conditions on race day would be dusty and hot. Ov ercast skies helped keep the temperatures d own so me, but , not much. The dust wasn't too much of a problem, excep t in th e fa ster o p en trails and fire roads. The first section of the da y was a 55 -miler, wi th the chec kin at 9.6 miles . Rider s got a cha nce to warm up wi th five miles of ro ad a nd trail before the check-in. The trail was rocky and technical, giving everyone a taste of what lay ahead for the rest of the race. Chancey, Ramey, Gri zzl e and Hughes each posted a two-point loss. Team Green's Ashley Brewer and Tommy Vea tor dro pped three points each. "The first section was fairly uneventful:' Chancey said. "I d idn't have any problems . I ju st tried to go fast." Grizzle was sandwiched be tween McRee, who was in fro n t of him, and Ch a ncey, on e row behind him. Ramey was riding we ll, and he seemed to be getting used to his new Gas Gas 250. That first section was kind of sho rt:' " G r izz le sai d . "My goa l wa s to ca tch Mitch (McRee). I managed to catch him just before the check." M The second section was a bit longer close to 11 miles. The trail was a bit on the ragged side, bu t as the trails are part of the existin g ORV park, it was to be ex pected . This time, Chancey cranked it up and dropped a five, the fastest time through the section. "I got lu ck y in th e second section," C ha ncey said. "T he re was a hill with riders backed up all over it. When I got the re, I thought, 'This is it - I'm going to lose the race right her e.' But I managed to squeeze by so me gu ys and go up the hill. I saw Grizzle go up, and I followed him. It onl y cost me a few seconds." G rizz le would ha ve th e next-best time with a six-poi nt loss. At the hill, he a lm os t h ad the s a me troub le as Cha ncey. "There was a bad bottleneck on this hill: ' Gri zzle said. "I worked my way through the traffic and saw this rock fa ce. I looked b a ck a n d sa w Jason (Chancey) an d jus t nailed it." Team Green rider Brewer was next, with a score of seven, ma tched b y Ya ma h a -mo u n t ed Hug hes . Kawasaki' s Vea to r dropped nine. Ramey sa w his cha nces at the overall fad e w hen he experienced brake trouble in the section, causing him . to drop 11 poin ts. It was on to the gas stop and the start of the second half. The first timed section wa s six miles long. Once a gai n, i t w a s Chancey, Hughes, Ramey and Griz zle posting matching scores, all dropping three points. Veator and Brewer . dropped four . "I barel y (Above) Jason Chancey put together som e great runs In the later sections of the SETRAlB rown Mountain Lights End uro and cam e away with the overall victory. (Left ) After already hav ing clinched a GNCC class championship for 1998, Mike Grizzle thu mped his Husaberg to second overall and fi rst in t he AA class at Brown Mounta in. missed having a two in the third section:' Chancey said. "I saw them flip the cards. I didn't know who had what. I knew Franklin was d own on points because of brake problems. I d idn 't know what Michael had - I just knew we tied in the section." Gri zzle had a problem or two in the section. "I crashed hard in the section after the gas," Grizzle said. "I went into a corner too hard and went over the bars. I got u p and hit panic mode - I just rode wide open. It was my worst crash of the day. The trail was the best of the day. It was a fresh fire break, not ma ny rocks ." "I gr ew up riding thi s kind of stuff, so I suppose I'm kind of used to it : ' Hughes sa id . Th e fi nal se ct io n of t he d a y wa s seven mil es of tighter, mo re technical terrain . Ch ancey was the only rid er to drop a five there. Hu ghes dropped six, as did all the other AAs . . "Jas on was rid ing good in tha t la st sec tio n," Grizzle said . "H e caught me jus t before the check." "I haven't been riding much lat ely, a nd thi s ra ce w as short eno ug h tha t I didn't get tired:' Hughes said . . Brewer, alwa ys a top conten der, was no t ha ving one of his better d ays. "1 co u ld n' t get it tog ether a ll da y," Brewer said. "1 was just off. 1 should have rode a lot bet ter. Things just didn't go well for me today." "You kn ow , for some reason 1 never felt like 1 was going good all da y," winner Chancey said . "1 tend to do better in this type of stuff than 1 d o in the Florida sand . I just had a good ride . I rea ll y want to thank Neeley Racing and Moos e for their support." This makes only the thi rd overall win .of Ch an cey's career, and he seems to be ge tting faster with each race. l~ Brown Mou ntain ORV Park Morgant on, North Caro lina Results: October 4, 1998 0 1 1. JAson Chancey. A: O/A k 1. Terry Hu ghes . O /A B, 1. Mike Dougl as . OIA C: 1. Scott M ount. AA: 1. Michael Grizzle; 2. As hley Brew er .• 200 A: 1. Martin Prurlt; 2. Mark Thom pson; 3. Jaso n Moody. 250 A: 1. Stev en Smith; 2. Don Baxley; 3. Travis Hayes. O PEN A: 1. Stev e Hardeman , 2. Da rryl Mood y; 3. Do ug Ritch ie. 20 0 B: 1. An dy De a n ;' 2. Wi lso n Cag le ; 3 . Jay Lagroon. 250 B: 1. Kim Wa tson ; 2. Wt>S Vinya rd ; 3. Sco tt Byrd . O PEN B: 1. Chris Doran ; 2. Eddi e Rc yab..; 3. Broce Yarbroug h. 200 C: 1. Tommy Byrd ; 2. Sa m Nelson; 3. Dusty Tindall. . 250 C: 1. Ja son Bro ck ; 2. Jeff Mar zolf; 3. Ke vin Green. . OPEN C: 1. Do ug Co lter; 2. John Fisher; 3. Pa u l C ira rd . 4-STR K A: 1. Jeff Harris; 2. Jim Sparrow; 3. Frank Ane llo. ~STRK B: 1. Pa ul McCo ll; 2. Rick Spivey; 3. Joh nny Thomas. 4-STRK C: 1. Dw ight Sutphin; 2. Aaron Major; 3. Allen Youn g Jr. . G LDN MST R: 1. James Bransford ; 2. Joe Haley; 3. Richa rd Sm ith . MSTR. A: 1. Ron Hale; 2. Bruce Triplet t; 3. Joe Van Seeters. MSTR B: 1. Stev e Hu ggins ; 2. Michael Thom pso n; 3. Bill Watkin s: ~ MSTR C: 1. Ben C hea twood ; 2. Tommy Nea l: 3. Frank Amos. SR A: 1. Mitch McRee; 2. Phil Ellis. SR B: 1. Clint Johnson; 2. Michacl Sdra valli; 3. Frank Shoe nbeck. SR C: 1. John ly tic; 2. Mi tch And rews: 3. Steven lewis. SISR A: 1. Robert Nee ly; 2. Joe Roya l. S/S R B: 1. Barry lee; 2. Richard Ship ner ; 3. Doran Carroll. S/SR C: 1. Ricky Peterson ; 2. David Heath : 3. So nny Roberts. VET A: 1. John ny McCoy; 2. Robert Pearson; 2. Jeff Burchfie l. VET B: 1. William Pros ser ; 2. G reg Gibson; 3. Roy Wood . VET C: 1. Greg Tindall ; 2. !\.1e l Sm ith : 3. Marvin McCarwn. WM N: 1. Sue Hea th. ...... ...... l-< ill ,.Q E ill > o z 35

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