Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Randy Hawkins led for the bette r part of the five-lap Aonia Pass Hare Scrambles to take the win. (Below) Franklin Ramey III finished se cond, 30 se conds beh ind Hawkins. By Kenneth King WASHINGTON, GA, OCT. 18 nee again , Randy Hawkins pilo ted his Yam ah a 400 in to the wi nner' s ci rcle a t a SETRA event. T his ti me h e fo u nd s uccess at th e SETRA/ MSR Ao nia Pass Hare Scrambles . The Team Ya ma ha rid e r led three lap s of the five-lap race, finis hing 30 seco n ds ahead of runn er-u p Fra nklin Ramey III. "It was a fun race, the course was good, and the other SETRA riders rod e well," Hawki ns said . "It was a little d us ty, bu t fun." SET RA Enduro champ Fra n klin Ramey 1II had a good ride on his Gas Gas , bu t he wasn't ab le to make the pass on Hawkins. He would settle for runner-u p honors. "I got a third- or fourth-place start, behind Rod (Stuckey) and Tommy (Veator) ," Ramey said. "I just tried to ge t aro und them as best as I could in all the dust. Randy caught me on the third lap, and I just hu ng behind hi m . Finishi ng seco nd behind someone as fast as Randy -I can' t be too disa ppointed in that." Team Green rider To mmy Veator is havin g one of his best seasons ever thu s far, with a third -overall finish. "I had a good race," Vea tor said . "It wa s dusty, but a w hole lot of fun . I really liked th e MX track; it was a good course." Roun d in g o u t t h e top fi v e were KT M 's Ja s o n C ha n cey a n d Team Gree n's Ashley Brewer. Cha ncey is not normally kno wn as a ' ha re scra m bles rid er , but he has been riding this season to help with his performance in the en duro series . The race was held at the Aonia Pass motocross facility in Washingto~, Georgia; jus t a few miles from Augus ta. The MX track was incorporated into the 10mile hare scra mbles loo p. It was on the tig ht side, with stre tche s of pasture to give passing room. Th e AA class was com p rised of 10 riders ; it was the largest con tingent of AA rid ers this season. When the gree n flag d ropped , it was Kawasak i-mounted Rod Stu ckey ge tting the holeshot, followed by Vea tor, KTM's Doug Masencup and Ramey. It was very d usty on the MX track, and the firs t few r id ers ju m ped ahea d of t he o thers . Stuckey sailed over the large double jumps and pu lled a lead of a few bike lengths as th e pack h ead ed in to t he woods. Veator held on to second place. Masencup.and Ramey were in hot purs u it , n ot too fa r b ehind . N eith er Hawkin s nor Brew er had th e best of starts , an d as a result they both had to batt le the dust. "I didn't ge t the greatest start, and I th ou ght th ere was no need to try a nd jump in all th e d u st ," Hawkins sai d . "The track is 10 miles long, so I knew I would have plenty of time to catch up." Brew er mad e it off the MX track, but a s th e course led the riders into th e woods, he crashed. "There was a di tch tha t I was going to jump, and when I jump ed , my fork leg clipped some thing and I busted it bad," Ashl ey said . " I went over the bars, and it pushed my Bark Buster up. I got behind and had a lot of catching up to do." When th e pack ca me th ro u g h th e scoring barrels for the first time, Stuckey was leading the way, com pleting the lap in 27 minutes and 33 seconds. N ext came Ramey, three seco nds behind. Hawkins came arou nd in third, about 20 second back. The remaining running order was as follows : Veator, Chancey , H usa berg's Michael Grizzle, forme r SETRA Hare Scrambles champ Steven Smith, Masencu p and Brewer . On lap two , Ramey mad e it around bot h Stuckey and Veator and started to crank it up. "I knew I had a pretty good lead and that it was going to be tou gh for the m to catch up to me because of th e d ust," Ramey said. "Wild m a n Ramey ca ugh t m e a nd passed me in no thing bu t dust ," Veator said . "You co u ld n ' t see anything. H e had mor e nerve than me tod ay." Wh en th e rid er s ca me throu gh th e scoring barrels for th e se cond tim e, it wa s Ram ey first, stopping the clocks at 52:25. H e w a s followed b y Ha w kins, wit h a 52:33. " It was du sty , so I didn 't tak e chances," Ha wkins said. "I jus t tried to wo rk my way toward s the fro nt." Vea to r was close be h ind in th ird , comi ng in a t 53:08; then came Stuckey with a 53:22. On th e thi rd lap, H awkins go t by Ram ey for the lead , but Ramey stayed on Hawkins' rea r fender. "W h en Randy pa ssed me , he was go in g a g ood p a ce , so I ju st s ta yed b eh ind him," Ram ey said. " I haven't been feelin g w ell , and I was going as fas t as I wanted to go ." Veator was still hanging in ther e in third after ha ving go tten around Stuck ey earli er in the lap. Chanc ey, h owever, ca me up and p assed Stu ckey, a nd when they ca me through the scoring barrels for the third tim e, it was Hawkins leading the wa y with a total tim e of 1:17:38. Rame y was n ext with a 1:17:39; Vea to r was th ird with a 1:18:13; a nd Ch ancey was fourth with a 1:18:29. Stuckey was still ho lding on with a 1:18:58. By la p four, th e running order ha d been esta blished. Hawkins was pu tting some time between hi mself and Ramey as the race wo re on . Veator was 48 sec-. ond s behind Ram ey, and Chancey was less tha n a minute beh ind Veator , Brewer was still in the back but was making good time. By now, lapped rid ers we re figuring in to the equa tion, especially with th e dust they we re creating. " I p retty much rod e the first half of the race by m yself," Brewer sai d. "O n the fou rth lap, I ca ugh t Stuckey and Masencu p, then Steven Smith, and final ly Michael Gri zzle . I knew 1 was close to the fro n t, but we onl y had one la p to go." On the fifth an d final la p, Haw kins maintained his blis tering pace. He came in to th e barrels for the last time with 2:07:45. Ram ey finis hed relatively close behind Hawkins with a 2:08:35. Veator wasn't too far back, either, finish ing out with a time of 2:09:09. Chancey ha d a good run wi th his fourth-place finis h. It wasn' t as hi gh as he wa n te d, b u t not bad for so meone who d oesn't normally race hare scra mb les. Brewer was the rider w ho mad e the most time, coming from a d ead -last sta rt to with in a co u p le of minu te s of Hawkins by race's end . As it stands now, Ha wk ins leads the series with tw o wi ns ou t of three races. "I'm ho pin g to race as many SETRA races as my schedu le allows," Hawkins sai d . "I lov e racing these eve nts." l~ SETRA Aonla Pass HS Washington, Georgia Results : October 18, 1998 O /A: Randy Hawkin s. AA : 1. Fra n klin Ram ey III; 2. To m my Vea to r; 3. Ja so n Chancey. OPEN A: 1. Jeff Vegley; 2. Mitch McRI.. e; 3. Steve " Hardema n. 250 A: t . Lee Ste p heos. 2 Mark Lees 3. Jeff Co llins. 200 A: 1. Mark Thom pson, 2. Chris McDon ald ; 3. Rob Sevenpi per , SR k 1. Terry Hu ghes ; 2. Arty Spe ncer; 3. Richard H icks. SlS R A: 1. Robert Neeley; 2. Steve Johnson; 3. Frank Nelson. M STR A: 1. J1m Ford; 2. Jo h nny Abl e; 3. Lloy d Widen er . OP EN B: 1. Eric Rentscheten 2. Sha nno n Moore; 3. Lon Buysman. 2SO B: 1. Rod Gua met!; 2. Robert Blalock; 3. Trey Yonce. 200 B: 1. Tim King; 2. Jay Legroom 3. Wilson Ca gle . 4-STR K B: 1, Don Dutson; 2. }O(" Brad shaw ; 3. Mike Brillianti . SR B: 1. Steve Moore; 2. Robert Pea rson ; 3. Kenneth King. S/S R B: 1. Patrick Go lde n; 2. Bob Ing le; 3. Phill ip Den ny . MSTR B: 1. Steve Hu ggin s; 2. Rand y Tomlinso n; 3. Wayn e Meredith. O PEN C: 1. Heath Hend erso n; 2. Todd Gilles pie; 3. GMy Grey . 250 C: 1. Tim Mye rs; 2. jona than Phillips ;.3. Jason Hut ch ings. 200 C: 1. Sa m Ne lson; ~ . Sha wn Dai le y; 3. Wil l McConnell. 4-STRK C: 1. James Embro; 2. Timothy Monsnm; 3. David Ha llma rk . SR C: 1. Mt'I Sm ith . S/S R C: 1. Glynn Martin. . M STR C: 1. Frank Amos: 2. L. K. Will iam s; 3. Cha rles Arm our. HffRL: 1. Tom m y Butler; 2. Herb Cole ma n: 3. Mike Boukn igh t; 4. Steve Stansel Jr. UT RL: 1. Chuc kDenard : 2, Rob Fiore; 3, Joseph H ernand ez. 4, Rod ney Cru mp , WMN: 1. Karen Nelson. 00 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 ..... ... OJ .D 8 OJ > o z 31

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