Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" SETRAlMSRH crambles Series, Round 4: Dog D zeHS areS a KNOXVILLE, TN, NOV. 8 , TM's Allen Gr avitt led every inch of the way to win the Volunteer Riders' Dog Daze Har e Scrambles in Tenn es see . The Geo rg ia n must like the Tennessee terrain, as he won bot h of th e SETRA /MSR H are Scrambles ra ces that w ere held on Tenness ee soil this season. "I go t th e h ol eshot, which is uncommon for me," Gravit t sa id follo w ing h is win. "Rod Stu ckey was righ t on my tail - I'd get away, m y arms would pump up, and Rod wo uld catch me again . We did that most of th e race till he had problem s. It was a fun track. It started off dusty, but the conditio ns got better as the race w or e on. Because of the mist an d dust, thou gh , I had trouble , seeing at times." Kaw asa ki' s Rod Stuc key, spor ti ng the Motosports Kawasak i ban ner, held 00 on to finish second ov erall . 0\ 0\ " It was a good trail, a grea t layout and just a lot of fun, with the excep tion 0 \' of the strange weather," Stuckey said . What he w as referring to were the a; d ust y an d rainy conditions - an unusua l ,..0 combi na tion, to say the least. The course was very d ry and dusty for the firs t few a; u lap s; then a light, misty rain develop ed, a; maki ng visibility difficult at best. Do b y Leonard , comp e tin g in the 200cc A class on a Gas Gas, rou nded ou t the top three ove rall. ... E a 20 (Top) KTM' s Alle n Grav itt was top dog at the SETRA Dog Daze Hare Scramb les in Tennessee. (Ab ove) To mmy Veator took run ner-up honors in th e AA class. The Vol unteerRid ers h ost ed th e event, and the club laid out an excellent cou rse . It was 8 miles in length and featur ed a good mix of open fast stuff and tigh t trails. . When the green flag dropped for the AA race, Grav itt and Stuckey go t off to good star ts., but th e sa me co u ld n' t be said for Te am G reen rid e r To m m y Veator: He made it a total of 10 yards before his spark plug fouled . . "By th e tim e I chang ed my p lug, I was 12 minutes behi nd the AA class," Vea tor sai d . "It was tough tryi ng to get t h r o u g h a ll th e classe s . T hey a ll thought I was in their class and wa nted torace," Dou g Ma sen cup, o n a Fun Cycles KTM, had trouble s tarting h is b ike in gea r. . "I could n' t start it in gear; I had to fi n d ne u tra l to cra n k it," h e sa id . " I wasn't last off the line, thou gh . Wh en I finally left, Dus tin Beat y was still kicking his bike." Grav itt, mean w hile, got off to a clean sta rt, and he ate up the technica l ter rain, but Stuc key s tayed gl ued to th e KTM rider's rear fend er. The two riders came into the scori ng barrels afte r the first lap ju st eig h t seconds apart. Gravitt's lap time was 27 minu tes, 25 secon ds; Stuc key' s was 27:33. Masencup wasn ' t far behi n d , a t 27 :52 . He put o n a goo d charge a fter his not-so-great start. On the second lap, Gravitt was still in com mand, but Stuckey was sti ll rig h t ther e. When they came through the bar rel s for th e se con d time, G ra vit t wa s o nly fo u r seco nds a he ad of Stuckey, while Mas en cup was some 30 second s back in third . Beaty wa s a d istant fou rth; the n he deve loped problemstha t ended his da y. Veator was still 10 minutes off Grav itt's pace . Grav itt had a better third lap , extending his lead to 24 seconds , while Masencup dropped fu rth er back with a 46-seco nd gap b e tw een h im . a n d Stuck ey. Leonard moved int o fourth. Gra vitt had to play it safe as the race wo re on . • "So me of th e s traights w er e pretty fas t," he sa id. "A nd by th e th ird an d four th laps, the clay had go tten pretty slick. Mor e than a few tim es, I go t my back end sideways at speed ." Lap four was pretty mu ch a repeat of lap th ree, with G ravit t inc reasing the gap to 36 seconds ove r Stu ckey. Masencu p was now a minute off Stu ck ey ' s pace, and Leon ard wa s several minutes behind Mas en cup. Veator was n' t making up mu ch time , bu t he was match ing . Grav itt's lap time. "I was having fu n ," Veator sai d . "I knew I cou ld n't catch the leaders, bu t I kep t rid ing. Having fun is w hat it's all abo u t." The fifth lap produced some excitement. Stuc key d eveloped a flat and was try ing to mai ntain his p ac e a nd keep Masencup from pas sing . Gravitt, meanw hile, used this new d evelopment to his advantage and put a full min ut e on the' struggling Stuc key . "When I felt -the fla t, I knew I was in trouble," Stuckey said. "I just wa nted to hang in th ere and keep Doug (Mas encup) off." Masen cup kicked it up a notch and closed the gap to within sight of Stuckey . Th en th ings went so ur for Masencup. "I w as go ing good, tr ying to ca tch Rod (Stuckey), w hen I h it some thi ng w it h my righ t si de cover," Masencup sa id. "It (the sid e cover) just flew into pieces, end ing m y d ay . I felt p re tty good that Allen only go t me by a minute or so ' a t tha t point , especially with m y bad start." Wi th Masencup o ut , it wa s n ow d own to a race be tw ee n G ravitt an d Stuckey, but with Stuckey's flat, it really wasn' t much of a race. Gravitt basically cru ised to victory from tha t point on. ; Stuckey hung on for seco nd, finishing a minute and a half behind Gravitt. Leonard came in third, while Open jB ride r Blair Jackson claimed four th overa ll, as w ell as th e top B honors. Matt Bea ty cla im ed fifth ov erall a n d firs t (~ pla ce in the 250cc A class . SETRA Dog Daze HS Kno xvill e, Tennessee Results: November 1, 1998 QIA:. A llen Gravitt. AA: 1. Rod Stu ckey ; 2. To m my Vea tor. O PE N A: t. Mitch McRee ; 2. John Kealey . e, 250 A: 1. Matt Beaty: 2. Rus sell Ep ley; 3. Mark Le 200 A: 1. Do b v Leo na rd ; 2. Robert Ledfor d . 3. Robert Sevenpiper • O rEN H: 1. Bla ir jackson : 2. Eric Rentsc hler : 3. Lon Buss man . 250 8 : 1. Mike Douglas; 2. Bmd Ham rick; 3. Robert Bla lock. .. 200 D: 1, Tim King; 2. Dav id Keith; 3. Mitchel Pless. 4-STRK B: 1. Pa ul McColl ; 2. Iarnic Ia rnc . s O PEN C: 1. Joh n Scott; 2. Johnny Coggins; 3. Heath Henderso n: 250 C: 1. jona than Ph illips ; 2 Brijln jacks: 3. Tob y Boyd ; 4. Jo h n Da vid wix . 200 C: 1. Richa rd Mii l t.'y ~ 2. Shawn Dailey; 3. Ch ris Wah le. 4~ STRK C: 1. Dwight Su tp hin ; 2. Todd Ea ton ; 3. Robert Miel ke . SR A: 1. Bu ren Hamrick: 2. Te rry Meale r; 3. Ron Jo nes . . , SR B: 1. Jimm y Pra tt ; 2. Steve Moo n' ; 3. Robby Travis. SR C: 1. Da vid Holb rook ; 2. Steve Alley: 3. Dan ny Bur kha lte r. S/SR B: 1. Pa tr ick G o ld e n; 2. Rocky Pet e rso n; 3, Phillip Denny, MSTR A: 1. Jim Ford; 2. Ron Ha le; 3. Ted Presson. M STR 8 : 1. Steve Hu gg ins. M STR C: 1. T~ Shortrid ge; 2. Floyd Guamett; 3. Cha rles Armour. HIW TRL: 1. Micha el Pott s; 2. Clyde Williamson; 3. Robert Wh itm ire, UW TRL: 1. Pa ul A lley ; 2. Jo sh ua King ; 3. Kevin Hi te.

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