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Best in the Desert Silver State Series Rourrd 1: Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship I each done three times for a total of 150 miles. Ironman entrants, how~v· er, would "only' have to do 100 miles. Promoter Casey Folks seemingly utilized every little gully and ridge, creating a serpentine course that often came within feet of other sections. A problem cropped up within a couple miles of the 7:30 a.m. start, with nearly 50 racers of the 139 teams missing a turn and inadvertently cutting part of the course before officials could steer the rest of the pack in the right direction. When it was determined who had deviated, they were assessed the 10-minute penalty. Thus, Caselli and Pearson found themselves unexpectedly in front early, with Vet Pros Luca Trussardi and Gordon Ward second overall on their TM 250. Davis/Pearson made 'up ground and passed Trussardi/ Ward by the midway point to secure second (physically, at least). Abbott/Brown motored around in fourth, while the Clint Braun/Nick Pearson team held fifth on its YZ125 at least until it seized a little later. That allowed the Shane Esposito/ Andy Grider team to take its place in the top five on the Price Racing KX250. The Caselli/David Pearson team was first to the finish, but knew that it'd be tough to overcome the 10minute penalty. Davis rode (Above) Ty Davis (shown) and Russell Pearson teamed up on a VZ250 for a change, and It Pnlved to be the ideal weapon for taking the overall victory at Laughlin. (Right) Brian Bnlwn (shown) and Destry Abbott gradually made their way up thnlugh the pack and almost stole the win In the last comer. Abbott couldn't make his pass stick, though, so they setUed for second. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA LAOGHUN, NV, FEB. 10 y Davis and Russell Pearson started the 2001 Best in the Desert Silver State Series just as they'd ended 2000: winners. This time, they took their Montclair Yamaha/Race Tech/ IMS/Moose YZ250 (two-stroke) to the overall win of the Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship, just edging out rivals Destry Abbott and Brian Brown in a last-turn dash to the finish. That late battle resulted in Abbott going down, but he picked himself up off the desert floor and rode the Team Green KX250 in for second overall, second Open Pro, in 4:48:27, compared to the 4:47:50 for Davis. Teenagers Kurt Caselli and David Pearson finished first physically, but they - and a large clump of others - were docked 10 minutes for cutting the course. Their adjusted time of 4:57:53 earned them T 42 FEBRUARY 28.2001 • cue top honors in 250cc Pro, plus third overall on their YZ250. Unlike most Best in the Desert events, Laughlin is always tight and technical - so much so that not even quads are allowed, to say nothing of the trucks and buggies that loom so large (physically and figuratively) in the rest of the series. Also, Laughlin reverted to mass class starts instead of one or two riders every 30 seconds, as is the norm. The course, about 20 miles west of town, consisted of two 25-mile loops, I e n __ 'IS the last loop for his team, and he almost got caught off-guard, with Abbott putting on a charge that saw him try to sneak underneath the Yamaha in the final corner. However. Davis slammed the door on the Kawasaki pilot, who went down in a heap.. "I heard this Kawi down my neck, and it was too close to the finish, so we just kept it pinned,' Davis said. "It was probably the [biggest] adrenaline rush all day.' "Brian and I tried our hardest; we just came up a little bit short,' Abbott graciously offered. "I've got to congratulate Russ and Ty - they rode a heck of a race. It was a great day for racing, that's for sure; we really had a good time. Towards the end there, Ty and I got a little tangled, but that's racing; we had fun.' Caselli and David Pearson were a bit disappointed but understood the reason behind the penalty that denied them the overall. Actually, it took a while before Caselli realized they were in front of the entire pack. "I didn't really know I was in the lead," Caselli admitted. "I got a good start, and [ was just riding. I passed, maybe, three guys, and I was kind of thinking something was wrong when I got halfway out [on the loop], and there was no tracks - I'm following a virgin trail. "I cruised along. I didn't go too fast. When I came in, everybody was