Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128239
f ew mil e s l at er , B ro w n c h a llenge d h im aga in, and t h e y ra ced down oppo sit e sides of a tight sand wa sh , neither willing t o back off. Whe n th ey re ach ed t h e next road sect ion , th e Yam aha was in fro nt. T w i c e Pea r so n detoured around he rds of wild horses . Then h is b ike started to bog, apparently due t o a b ad mix o f gas , and he pu lled th e vent tube off to keep it running . On top of that, he somehow bent a rotor in the o pening section s and rode the rest of the race without a rear brake. A n h our a nd 4 0 mil es in t o th e ra ce, Pearson led A bb ott by just over two m inutes as they m ade their fir st pit stop with Brown another two min utes back . The second 40- mile loop was to ugher and took the leaders an h ou r and 2 0 m inu t es to cover. B y th en , Ab bo tt had cut Pearso n's lead in ha lf, a nd Brown had redu ce d the gap be tw een him and Abbott by th e sam e a mo un t. With o n l y a m inute lead now and 21 m iles t o the finish , Pearson put hi s hea d dow n agai n. The last sect io n st art ed out toug h w i th roug h cross- g rai n , sa n d and d eep dus t ruts . Th e n , as o ne r id e r descri bed , it turned into " pure ra cin g N irvana: hi gh- sp eed banked co rn ers in ol d riv er sec tio ns, nearly a dozen riv er c rossings , river bank j um ps, and fas t sandbar and wash sections. " F or Pea rson , th e e n d ( a n d t h e cham pi o nshi p) was in sight. "I had about 2 0 m il es to go, and my heart wa s beating ab out a thou sand mi les an hour, and I j ust bore do wn and went as fast as I co uld , not m ak ing m istakes." A t the fini sh line o n th e ed ge of Winn emucc a, the dis tin ctive so un d of a fo ur -strok e was heard approach in g , and th e Pea r son fa mi ly and c re w knew that Russ had don e it - he wa s t h e 2003 AMA National Har e f, Hound Champi on . His brother Ni ck was po int in g th e w ay wh en h e dropped down th e riverbank for th e l a st ti m e , and h is d ad wa ved h im t h r oug h the fi nal t urn tow ard th e F to fin ished th ird o ve rall fo r th e race a nd se ries b e hi nd Pe a r son an d A bbo tt. Elsewhere, Yama ha YZ2 50-mou nted Rob Zimmerman swep t th e 250cc Expert cla ss the firs t fo ur ro unds and clinc hed the t itle in W i n n e m u c c a despite suffering D NFs the l as t two rounds. "I had a good ri de going but went d own in the d ust and redislocated my sh oulde r , " Z imm e r man sa id . " I' m go ing to the ISDE in a couple week s and didn't want to push it too hard ." Taber Murphy wrapped up his th ird Four-Strok e title. "I had a great race," Murphy said . "I was third at the end of th e bomb, ev en ran at th e front for a half mile." Kenda ll No rman, wh o fin ish ed fifth o ve ra ll , t o p ped th e 125c c class, as well as the class cham pio nship . " I got a pretty good sta rt , di c ing back and fo rth fro m fo urth to thi rd ," Norm an said . "Once, I was in a wash and thought there was an ava la nche, b ut it turn ed out to be a herd of w ild horses , an d I almost ran into them . " e N Kendall Hannan fin ished fifth overall on a 125cc Honda and won th e 125cc class championship . i c h ec ke red fl ag. It had been a long time in co ming and a lo ng rac e to finish it , but Pears on had won th e cha m pi ons hip tha t he had worked so hard fo r. Hi s fa m il y an d supp ort e rs su rro unded h im at the finis h line. As B ob "Mot a Mo u t h " C a v a k i s inter vi ewed him. Pear so n w as c lo se to tears. " I' m so ha p py ." Pearso n said . "Oh , ma n. I ca n't tell you h ow happy I am ." Pro Circu it' s Da ve Chase hand ed ou t 200 3 cham p io ns hip T -sh irt s and ha ts to the Pear son Racin g cre w and t o sp ec tato rs, and the new c h a m p ca lle d fam ily, fr iends and support er s o n a ce ll ph on e to tell th em th e good news . "Since I was fo ur years o ld and my dad took m e out to the desert - and fina lly my dream c am e tr ue ," Pear son said. " Yam aha has been sup port ing m e so aw esome , m y d ad a nd m y g i rl friend , Tina , N ick [Pearso n ], Moo se, A ra i," he added . " Pro -Circ ui t's Dave Ch a se has been r ig ht th ere for u s, too . H o l y C ow , m an , I work ed my butt off • I d idn 't kn ow if it was go ing to happen ." A bout a m in ute after Pearson to ok th e c he c ke red fl ag , Abbott fi nished th e race and was foll owed cl osely by K aw a saki t e amm at e s Br o wn a nd Da vid Pearso n . Abb ott had an e ve n tfu l race . He go t c aug ht in the dust at the st art an d had to wo rk up from 10th plac e. T hen he caug ht Br own on ly to wa tc h h im ca rtwheel his bik e. After check ing t o see that his teammate was o k ay , he r o d e o n a nd eve n t ua lly ca ug ht up al m o st to within strikin g dist anc e o f Russell. But Abbott crashe d tw ice and was just not able to c at ch and pass him . " Ru ss r od e reall y g o od," A bbott said . " I tried m y hardest; it j ust didn 't work o ut. I wasn 't 100 perc ent th is year, and I'm looking forward to next year. " B r ow n , wh o ended u p th ird , wa s frustrat ed w ith the sta rt of th e ra c e. He said he was try ing to sti ck to the c ourse but was losin g ground . So he decided to use th e le aders ' li nes. " I sai d , ' W hat th e heck ,' and d id th e sam e th ing th ey d id and go t up into sec o nd ," Brown said . " I trie d to p ut a move o n Russ and got ahea d of hi m , [bu t ] I hit a ho le and went over the bars, and that was about it ." Bro w n wasn 't injured and went o n cue ... Wild Rockies Winnemu cca,Nevada Results: UctDber 19, 2003 (Fin Round] al O /A : 1. Russ Pearson (Yam); 2 . Destry Abbott (Ka w); 3. Bri an Brow n ( K ew } : 4 . Davi d Pearson (K aw ): 5 . Kendall Norma n (Hon): 6 . Taber Murphy (Ha n); 7. Rob Phillips ( KTM); 8 . QUinn Cody (Hon); 9 . Robert Fouts ( He n) : t o. Elme r Sym ons ( KTM) ; 11. Craig Wesner ( Kaw ): 12. Chris BI.:I s ( Hon): 13 . Sean i Berryman (Hon) : 14 . Chad Martin (KTM ); 15 . Kelly Hill (Yam) ; 16. Erik Griffith (Kaw) ; 17. Rob Flagler (Kaw): 18 . David Fish (KTM) ; 19. J .R. Mason (Suz); 20. David Roes (KTM). OPEN EX: I. Russ Pearson; 2. De stry Abbott; 3. Brian Brown; 4. David Pearson; 5. Rob Phillips. 250 EX: I. Robert Fouts; 2. Elme r Symo ns; 3. Craig Wesner; 4 . Sean Berryman; 5. Chad Martin. 125 EX: I. Kendall Norman; 2. David Ree s: 3. .Justln Soule; 4. Chris M OdS; 5 . Dennis Hannel. 4· STRK EX: I. Taber Murphy; 2. Qu inn Cody; 3 . Chris Blais; 4 . David Fish; 5. Brian Toline. WOMEN EX: 1. Kelly Yancey. VET EX: I . Kelly H;II: 2. J .R. Moson: 3. Morshall Godson; 4 . John Sieley; 5. Nick Thorn. SR EX: I. Tom Shivers; 2. Steve Pitts; 3 . Ron Picken; 4 . Da rrol Brown; 5. Raymond Spore. S/SR EX : I . Keith Jones; 2. Jerry Johnson; 3. Jerry Betchan. FINA L 2 003 AMA NATIONAL HA RE HOU ND O VE RA LL POINTS STANDINGS ( A ft er 6 of 6 Rounds): 1. Russell Pear son; 2. De stry Ab bott: 3 . Brian Brown; 4 . David Pearson; 5 . Robert Phillips; 6 . Rob Zimm erman ; 7 . Ke ndall Norm an ; 8 . Taber Murph y; 9 . T y Da vi s; 10 . David Re es; 11. Mike Childress; 12. Paul Krause; 13 . Joey Lanza; 14. Steve Hengeveld; 15. Andy Grider; 16. Luke Dodson; 17. Qu inn Cody; 18. T. Hannifin; 19 . Elmer Symons; 20 . Sean Bradley . s n .. _ S • NOVEMBER 5 , 2003 17