Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

wise loop to the northwest, and Camp- bell had elbowed his way up to second. "1 got about the best start I ever got in a Hare and Hound - I was third to the bomb, and I felt pretty strong all the way around the first loop," said Campbell. "I wa rWlIling in Capt's du t the whole time." A little further back, the positions were flip-flopping so fast it was impossible to tell who had the edge in the battle for early points. "It was just really fast and the 500s kept blowing by me in the valleys," said YZ250-mounted Book. "Brian Brown and Dave Ondas and those guys just went by me in the valleys. It was kind of like, 'See ya.' My bike just wasn't fast enough. At some of these races, the 250 is good, but at Lucerne they make it to where, at some races, a 250's not so good, and this just happened to be one of them. [ kind of took my lickin's today." Ca pt had 30 seconds on the competition as he led the charge into pit row. Campbell thundered through in second and ick Pearson was another halfminute back in third overall. Zitterkopf brought his KX500 into pit row in fourth, just ahead of Ondas, who lost three places before he was ready to head out onto loop two. "I was going good but I lost the pivot bolt on my swingarm," Ondas said. "The pivot bolt just came out, so I fixed it in the pits before I took off again." Abbott, Book, Brown, CR500-mounted Todd Hoy and Abe Baumann rounded out the top 10. "!t was fun, but it was real dusty," said Baumann, who was running second Vet behind the high-flying Capt. "I almost got the holeshot - I was right up there, but I'm coming off an injury. I punctured my lung not too long ago, so I figured ['d just take it easy, and when somebody passed me, [didn't go crazy in the dust. No close calls, no get-offs or anything, just a good safe race." Krause cleared pit row in 11 th overall, just ahead of Vet Expert Dan Richardson, Yamaha-mounted Tim Staab (who was leading the Four-Stroke Experts) and KX500 racer Shane Esposito. Russ Pearson brought his KTM 250 through in 15th. "The first loop I didn't really care fof;" Pearson said. "It was just dusty, and in the valleys and stuff, I really struggled. I tried to get off the course, but it seemed like every time I got off, people would pa me. I'd hop back in and it was just so dusty. I didn't really make much time the first loop." The second loop headed out to the northeast, making a clockwise circuit that touched the boundaries of the marine base on the easterly edge of the riding area and headed back to the finish via Victor Pass. The rocky terrain was a far cry from the sand washes of loop one. "The first loop was pretty basic, bu t then the second loop went into a-littletighter trails and more ational-caliber stuff, like real rocky," said Dana Van Stee, who had a comfortable lead in the 125cc Expert division despite choosing a bad line on the bomb run. "I thought it was a pretty good course. I kind of had a burn trail and the dust blew right into my way. I had to pick people off all the way through the first loop, and even through the second loop I was just way back." Along with the tight terrain came some tight racing. "Going out on the second loop, Dan Richardson went to pass me going across the valley," said Baumann. "It (Left) Honda's Johnny Campbell storms through the dust en route to third overall. (Above) Dave Ondas was all smiles after finishing fourth overall on his Kawasaki. (Right) Jeff Capt captured the Vet Expert-class win and fifth overall. was a fast valley and I was thinking, 'Man, I'm going as fast as I want to go but I can't let him pass me: so I just kept it pinned and we traded back and forth through that valley, in fifth gear wide open, just all through the bushes. I edged him out at the end of the valley and he just stayed on my rear all the way around the second loop. We had some good racing going on." Every now and then, the racing would get just a little too tight. "I tried to get by Richardson, and he kind of swapped and hit me and I crashed:' said Lehman. Hoy had a similar problem when he tried to dodge past Baumann. "I went for a pass and he swapped right in front of Tl)e," Hoy said. "We crashed into each other and fell, but it wasn't bad, and then one of the Pearson brothers - I don't know if it was ick or Russ - we almost crashed into each other right at the end. It got a little hairy." Out in front, holding on to th~ lead was also getting a little hairy. Abbott had been making steady progress up from sixth at the pit and was soon challenging the front-rWll1ers for a shot at the number-one spot. '1t was really dusty and there wasn't much of a breeze, so it was kind of hard:' Abbott said. "I was trying to find different lines. I passed Campbell and Capt maybe halfway through the second loop and [ didn't see any dust in front of me after that. obody told me what place I was in, 0 I wasn't UTe if the first guys were way ahead of me. [ didn't know 1 had the lead." A determined ride bv Brown had him ri ing like a ro~ket from eighth at the halfway point. "1 had a two-kick tart and everybody was gone:' Brown said. "I had a bad first loop and then [ saw, 1 guess it would've been Ondas in the pits, and that pumped me. Then Book got arowld me and that kind of upset me, so I picked it up and got around them all. 1 tried to get up to Abbott, but J went down a couple of times when I caught up." The 'hard-charging KX500 racers relegated Capt to third overall, and Campbell and Ondas arrived to add insult to injury just before the checkered flag appeared. "I just kept working my way up and finally [ dove underneath Capt in a corner about two miles back:' said Campbell. When the checkers finally fell after 78 miles and just over two hours of racing, Abbott had taken the win for Kawasaki's Team Green by 2 \ minutes. "The rocky sections were awesome:' Abbott said. "The second section, coming in this last five miles, everybod y was cheering me on and I was staying motivated. It was really good. My bike is working really well, but I've got to say that the main reason I won today is that my daughter wrote me a good-luck note an 1 love you' note - and I carried it with me. It's in my fanny pack. Last week was my daughter's birthday and my son's birthday, so I'm glad to win it for them." Brown completed his dash around the course in second overall, Campbell's XR628 Honda thundered home in third, and ndas made it four Open Experts in a row when he brought his KX500 across the finish line to capture fourth overall. Capt finished hard on Ondas' heel to take fifth in the overall re ults and first in the Vet class. 'The bike worked great and everything was perfect:' Capt said. "I just slowed down at the end. 1 got a Ii ttle bit tired. Ondas and Campbell were right behind me and in the last quarter-mile I made a little bobble and they both got by me, bu t I'm happy. I won the Vet class, and that's what I came out to do." Book's YZ250 took 250cc Expert honors in sixth overall. "I feU on a road crossing once:' Book said. 'I was kind of wringing the crap ou t of the 250, just tryi1lg to keep up with the 50Cs out across the valleys, and it just got me. Sometimes it happens, but 1 till finished fine. I feel really positive about the series. Last year 1 didn't even get any points here at this race - in the first two races, I didn't collect any points and [ till got third overall, first 250. 1 won the 250 class today, so that's pretty good, and I'm pretty positive about the re t of the series." Krause, who finished seventh overaU on his new Yamaha, was al 0 positive about the series. "Just like everybody, J think I'm going to win:' Krause said. "I wouldn't be racing if I was just trying for second place. [ think if .l can get used to the bike and start getting some good starts, I have a good chance to win some races and possibly get a title. The only problem 1 Jlad was the dust. The wind didn't blow enough and it just took so long ~o get by everybody. I kept losing time on the leaders, but the bike worked great and the course was fun and pretty wellmarked. It was a good day of racing." Eighth overall went to Open Expert Hoy, who, like many of the racers, described the Desert MC course as truly National-ealiber. "The course was good - definitely National quality in the last loop:' said Hoy. "The first loop was real fast, and unfortunately my suspension's not set up quite correct, so it kind of beat me to death, but other than that I feel pretty good." Lehman survived what he has always considered to be the worst race of his year to capture second 250cc Expert and ninth overall, and Russ Pearson finished 10th aboard a KTM250. Baumann took second Vet in lIth overall and fellow Over 30 racer Dan Richardson, who recently inked a Team Green deal, finished hard on his heels in 12th. Tim Staab topped the Four-Stroke Experts in 13th overall aboard a Yamaha YZ400F. "It was super, super-dusty:' Staab said. "The first loop was junk, just rocks and whoops - it wasn't any fun. The last part was fun, though - the last 10 miles. I'd like to finish top 10 in points and win t~e Four-Stroke championship. That's my goal. I just need to get some more motor work done to this thing. It's brand-new. It's my first race and it's pretty much stock." Steve Hengeveld was tile next racer to cross the finish line, and Open Expert Shane Esposito, KTM250-mounted Brian Garrahan and Vet Expert Ed McCoy were close behind. Taber Murphy took second in the Four-Stroke division in 20th overall, and Van Stee took a wireto-wire win in the 125cc division in 23rd. eN Lucerne Valley Lucerne Valley, California Results: January 24, 1999 (Round 1 of 7) O/A: 1. Destry Abbott (l<..lW); 2. Brian Brown (Kaw); 3. lohnny Campbell (Han); 4. Dave Ondas (KolW); 5. Jeff Capt (Kaw); 6. Donnie Book (Yam); 7. Paul Krause (Yam); 8. Todd Hoy (Hon); 9. O.lkley Lehman (Kaw); 10. Russ Pearson OCTM); 11. Abe Baumann (Kaw); 12. Dan Richardson (Kaw); U. Tim Staab (Yam); 14. Steve Hengeveld (Kaw); 15. Shane Esposito (Kaw); 16. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 17. Ed Me oy (Han); 18. Matt Murphy; 19. Nick Pearson (KTM); 20. Taber Murphy (Han); 21. James Summers (Kaw); 22. Garth Sweetland; 23. Dana Van Slee (Kaw); 24. Jonah Street (Hon); 25. Paul Shaffer; 26, Erik Griffith; 27. harlie Powell; 28. Lon Grand; 29. Gary L.,ch...;te; 30. Brian Nev~tich. OPEN EX: 1. Deslry Abbott (K.,w); 2, Brian Brown (Kaw); 3. Johnny Campbell (Hon). 250 EX: 1. Donnie Book (Yam); 2. Oakley Lehman (K.nv); 3. Russ Pearson (KTM). VET EX: I. Jeff Capt (Kaw); 2. Abe Baumann (Kaw); 3. Dan Richardson (Kaw). 4-STRJ< EX: 1. Tim Staab (Yam); 2. Taber Murphy (Hon); 3. Lon Grand. 125 EX: 1. Da"na Van Stee (Kaw); 2. Kurt CaseUi '" '" '" ~ (Kaw). SR EX: 1. Charlie Barney; 2. Steve Fry. Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Lucerne Valley, Cal~omia, March 14 Round 3 - Murphy, Idaho, March 27 27

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