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AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series Final Round: 100'S MC (Left) Russell Pearson got the holeshot the first time he raced hIs VZ450F two weeks before, but thIs time he held the lead all the way to the finIsh, recording his second overall victory of the series. Teammate TY Davis finished second. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA LOCERrIE VAll.EY. CA, OCT. 27 ussell Pearson and Ty Davis gave Yamaha's new 2003 YZ450F another 1-2 finish in only its second official outing, this one the finale of the eight-round AMA National Hare £, Hound Series. Unlike two weeks ago, however, the 100's Motorcycle Club's season-ending event off Bessemer Mine Road in the Johnson Valley area found Pearson taking the top spot with a wire-to-wire win over the newly crowned champ. It marked Pearson's second overall win of the season and pushed his record for the year to two wins, three runner-ups, one third, one fourth and one fifth. When you take into account the two throwaways each rider is allowed, Pearson - who'd wrapped up the 250cc-c1ass championship earlier - ended up with 156 points to Davis' 165 from his three wins and four seconds. Pearson wasted no time in getting to the front, taking the lead from the bomb on his Montclair Yamaha machine as the field headed out for the first 40-miJe loop. Cousin David Pearson tagged along right behind him on his Team Green 10<500 after sneaking past teammate Destry Abbott, who tucked into third in his last ride of the year wearing the number-one plate. Team Green GNCC regular Chuck Woodford displayed previously unknown desert speed by putting his Pro Circuit KX500 into fourth with Davis back around eighth and in the dust on his Montclair Yamaha YZ-F. With Russell Pearson concentrating on staying out front, most of the action took place behind him. David Pearson didn't last long in second place, hitting something and going down hard a few miles out. The crash dislocated his shoulder and will put him on the sidelines for at least a month. Abbott stopped briefly to check on his fallen teammate and then set out in pursuit of the lead Yamaha . .Davis, meanwhile, had inched his way up to third, closing on Abbott after getting around Woodford. "I could see Russ and Dest~y [ahead then], but I didn't know who was fjrst or second," Davis said. "But they'd put some time on me, so I just hammered down, and I reeled in Destry. I ate his dust probably 'til we came [into the pits at the end of the R 58 NOVEMBER 13, 2002' cue "ltional Hare & Hound first loop]. I almost got him a couple times, but at that speed, if you're not on the course it's so sketchy." Davis' pit crew got the YZ450F gassed and out of the pits ahead of Abbott as they started the more technical last loop, also 40 miles long. With the constant pressure,' both riders started to gain ground on Pearson - at least for a while. "I stayed behind [Davis] for the whole second loop before I got a flat," Abbott reported. "We were catching Russ, so I thought, 'Man, this is going to be good. There's no one behind us.' And I felt really good going out on that second loop. I finally loosened up, then about 15 miles out got a flat. " Though he tried to maintain as much speed as he could, there was little he could do but watch Davis ride away in his effort to chase Pearson down. By this time, Pearson had a sizeable lead. Woodford came through the pits a distant but comfortable fourth, while Rob Zimmerman held fifth on his YZ250 ahead of Andy Grider on the first XR650R. Joey Lanza came through in seventh place but easily led the 125s in his bid to sew up the class championship on his KTM. Pearson continued to streak to the finish unimpeded, except for dropping it briefly when the front end washed out in a turn. Davis, knowing he had nothing to prove in this race, settled for second place, while Woodford took advantage of Abbott's unfortunately timed flat rear tire to seize third place a couple of miles from the finish. "I was trying to ride as hard as I could and just broke a lot of spokes in the rear wheel," Abbott said. "I'm surprised I made it." • Woodford was stunning in his desert National debut. After having (Left) Chuck Woodford got hIs first taste of racIng in the rocks and dust of a desert National at Luceme. In hIs first race on a 500, he ended up a very Impressive thIrd overall and plans to do more desert racIng In the future . GNCC and hare scrambles schedules permitting. • • n • _ s