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Nasty Wench World Championship Hare Scrambles (Above) KTM 's Lance Smail was untouchable at the Nasty Wench Wor ld Champ ionship Hare Scramble s in Was hington. (Below) Smail pocketed $1520 and this number-one plate for winning. By Tory Briggs KENT, WA, NOV.15 om Sou thern Ca liforn ia, w her e he d emolish ed the competit ion at th e Lak e Elsi no re Grand Prix, KTM ' s Lance Smail returned to Wash ing ton for the Na sty Wen ch World Cha mpions hip Hare Scrambles, held at Seattle International Speedway . Just as he had d one at Els inore, Smail cleaned up in Sea ttle, winning the pr emi er AA class with relative ease. Team Cru tch's Jeff Odom and Brian Bennett , Everett Honda and Seattle Cycle Center combined efforts to offer a handsome Pro purse for the race, no t to mention a custom number-on e-plate tro phy for the overa ll winner. Th e run of goo d w ea ther tha t this event has enjoyed in the pas t came to an end this yea r wi th gu sty winds and random showers that badgered the 370 ra cers as they roosted around an otherwise near -perfect 8-mile circu it, The race trad ition ally combines paved sec tions of the facility's drag strip and road course, with a wide variety of trail mi xed in . There was also a' large grass tra ck, whic h also wound through a sta tely sta nd of giant firs, and an intense motocross section . . The ama teur classes ran in the morn ing in a two-hou r race. Aurora Suzuki 's Da mon Bee, o ne o f th e fas tes t Se nior Expe rts arou nd: pulled the holeshot on his RM250 and contro lled the first half of _th e race . Lynn w ood Yam a ha /KTM's YZ25D-moun ted Tom Jesmer lat er reeled in Be e, fi na ll y m aki n g th e pass a nd pu lling away for the overall victory. R 00 0\ 0\ r-< ~. aJ ..Q E Q) u Q) c 18 As the Pros and Experts lined up fore the afternoon race, the crowd swelled to .several thou san d. David Lykk e nailed the start by sever- I a l bi k e len gths , with Gary Fu rrenes , mo tocrosser Brian Zlock, and Sean Wilson on his tail, but shortly thereafter it was still Lykke and the n Kevin Baile yand Smail ripping into th e g ras s track/ w hile head ing the pack. Bailey was haul-, ing and Smail was trying to get aro und him. ~ "I finally had to bump hi m a bit tO j! pass before the grass track ended," Srnailz sa id . "But then he wa s quicker throu gh 'I the observation chec k, an d I was stuc k, n~ behi nd both of them in the wo od s." Du ring a b ri ef open sectio n before anoth er len gthy sec tion of sing le track, Sma il mad e his move ag ain. Sma il flew his KTM by bo th riders. Lykke, however» go t bu mped in th e p roces s a n d was knocked off the trail and back to third. Before the lap end ed , Lykke dropped J his YZ, cracking the clutch lever and losing 10 seconds to the lea d d uo. Bailey , as tou nded everyone, including Sma il, by ) hangin g on to the two- time Four-Stroke I MX Cha m pio n's fender for mo re than a lap a n d a h alf. As the ra ce w ore on .a Lykke fell again, finishing off the lever. III A t this point, Sma il held a comfo rtable two-minute ad vantage over Bailey, I who in turn had 30 seconds on Lykke. At, the two-hour mark, Lykke completed a I three-la p sneak a ttack to catch Bailey: only to wa tch Bailey wick it up another J notch and pull away. During the final hal f-hour of raci ng,' Smai l star ted perf orming long w heelies for the cro wd w hil e Lykke worked on > Bailey. Thin king there would be two lap se! to go, Lykke pr essured his fellow Yamaha pilot for the entire lap, but to no ava il. Lykke w as pl a nning an all -o r-n othing charge on the last go-a roun d, but the race 1 was su dde nly about to end. The two real-" ized this w ith o nly abo u t 600 yards of wet pa vement left in the race. Bailey pre- j vailed by ha lf a bike len gth over Lykke. J Rob Flagler ove rcame a mediocre start to climb to fou rth ove ra ll and first 125,' followed by Steve Haugland , also on -.. YZ125 . Despite a n ea rly fla t tir e, Rob ' I Lewis finished a rem arkable fifth. Gary Furrenes lost his mo tor during the race, w hile Wilson lost his rear -brake lever. "This wa s the fines t race Team Cru tch,j has put o n ye t," wi nn er Smail said . "I a lso r ea ll y ap p recia te the Pro purse ($1520 to first) . I d rove all night getting back up here from the Elsino re GP, and, then I felt sick, bu t I am real glad I decided to go for it. I'll be back to defen d my 4:\ championship." Nasty Wench Hare Scrambles Kent, Washington Results: November 15, 1998 O IA A A: 1. Lan ce Smail ( KTM); 2 . Kevin Bail ey .. (Yam ); 3. David Lykke (Yam) , A OP EN: 1. Brian Wrigh t (Yam) ; 2. Go rdy Qui ntel (K aw ): 3. Van McKili (Hon). A UN DE R: 1. Ben Hale (Yam ); 2. Chris Steve nso n (Hem); 3. Scott Sherbert (l-ion) . B OPEN: 1. J Wade (Han); 2. LA.... Mutoli (Han); 3. oe Ke lly Hill (Yam). B UN DE R: 1. Brian Brian (Kaw j: 2. Mark Patterso n (H en ): 3. Steve Parker (H on ). 4 ~S TRJ( EX: 1. Den ni s Sweden ( He n ): 2. Rick Han sen (Yam); 3. Tate Matherly (Yam). VET EX: 1. D.wid Rhod es (Yam ); 2. Ken O.1kland (Kaw): Chad Torbergson (Han ). • S R EX: l . Tom Jesmer (Yam); 2. Damon Bee (SU7.); 3: Scott O'Bri en (Ka w ). ( 4·STRK AM: 1. Brian Dillon (He n): 2. Robert Klemp (H o n) , 3. Dwane Cault (Yam). VET AM: 1. Jon Ma rshall (Ho n}. 2. Chris MorH7(Hon): 3. Richard Banku ti (SU7.). C OPEN: 1. Douglas Hillius (Hon): 2. [erra d F l nary a (K aw): 3. Jimmy L Pla nte (ATK). a C U N DE R: 1. Jordan Donathan (Yam ); 2 . Jason Johnson (Yam); 3. Pat McFarland (KTM). S PTS M N: 1. Eric Dis ch (Yam) ; 2. Derek Smail ' (KTM); 3. M oe H od son (KTM). WM N : 1 . Ro ch e ll e j a co bs (K aw ); 2 . DeeAnn Svedarsky {Hon);·3. Maria Forsberg (Kaw).