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/128323
Round 4 OFF-ROAD ~ AMA/FMF National Ha re & Hound S eries My OWN RACE Kendall Norman · 5th Norman and partner Q Uinn Cody competed in the BITD Terrible's Tow n race in Nevada on Saturday before the National and placed third overall . "I started fee ling a litt le fatigued on the second loop," Norman said. "I don't know if it was the heat or from racing yesterday." Norman has rece ntly moved from racing a CR250 to the much larger XR650. "The 650 is great in the valleys," No rman said, "but in the tight tec hnical section, those rocky do wnhills willchase you do wn on the big bike." Elmer Symons · 9th Symons had trouble on the bom b when he went right and quicklydiscove red the course we nt left. He lost a few positions trying to get back on course . Symons also finished second in the 250cc Expert class behind Paul "Putt er" Ashford. "Putter and I changed positions three times on the second loop," Symons said. "He'd pass me and crash , pass me and cras h, pass me and crash. The last time he passed me, he didn't crash! This course was very rocky and very technical unlike Terrible 's Town, wh ich I raced yesterday." Paul Krause - DNF Krause and partner Elme r Symons made the drive out to the National fro m Nevada after racing the BITD event, but Krause just co uldn't get in the gro ove on Sunday. "I just was n't her e at all today," he said. " While I was prerunning the bom b, I thought, 'I should just wa tch today.' I had a pretty good start but just didn't feel like going fast, so instead of falling down and getting hurt , I just called it a day." Zach Dodson - 16th Dodson, who is recovering from a broke n wrist that he injured in February, swapped out his usual ride - a KX500 - for a much smaller bike , a 125cc Suzuki. "I decided to ste p down to a 125, something slower while I finish recovering from my injuries," Dodson said. "I did find myself loo king for a cou ple extra gears on a couple of uphills, and the sand hills had it tota llyrevved out. Max Eddy Jr. and I to tally batt led it out for the [O-2oocc] Expe rt win today. Eddy was just A-bom bing his yz 125 and bo uncing off rocks !" Dodson said that he wo uld re turn to an Open bike for the 2005 season . Dodson and Eddy finished first and second, respectively, in the 0-2oocc division. Mike Childress · DNF In only his sec ond race afte r having surge ry on his ankle 16 weeks ago , Mike Childress crossed line s on the bom b with anothe r rider, hit a bush and wen t down hard. Luckilyfor him, Childress did not re injure his ankle and said he is loo king forwa rd to round five of the National Se ries. Sean Bradley - 10th Uke David Pears on, Bradley also smashed his pipe in a tight, tec hnical section and found himself seriously underpowered on his Gas Gas 250. "I smashed the pipe 3, 4 miles out of the pits, but I still had fun dicing with Elme r Symo ns and Putter Ashford ," Brad ley said. "This was a good course with a great mix of fast valley sect ions and lots of virgin terrain." ~~My bike was running like a KX80 on the entire second loop." - David Pearson the thi rd overall pos ition when he took a digge r on his O 'Neal/FMF/Race Tec hlBRPbacked XR650. David and Russ Pearson both go t by Norman at th is po int and settled into the th ird and fourth overall positions as the ride rs ca me into t he pits . Norman's pit crew had to swap out a rea r nat, and despite t he ir NASCAR-style efforts, Norman lost anothe r two pos itio ns to KfM riders David Re es a nd Joey Lanza . Norman knew he had h is work cut out fo r him and quickly ta rgeted the tw o orange bikes . " I followed Lanza for a while afte r the pits and got by him , and w e swapped position s a couple of time s," Norman said. " Lanza lo st the ribbon for a little bit, and I was able sn eak by him for good and then picked Rees off in a tight , ro cky section ." Lanza just shook his head when he recounted the pass by No rman. "We w ent up this canyon , and Norman followed me for a bit," he said . "I started 76 MAY 12,2004 • CYCLE NEWS go ing re ally fast to dust him out and realized he w asn't t he re and ne ither was t he ribbon. I rode to t he top of a small hill and saw his dust. Dude, he was already gone!" Lanza re traced his tracks bac k to the course o n his FMF/Michel in/Troy Lee/G PRsponsored KfM and settled in behind Rees , who was fighting fatigue and an aching back after jam ming his foot in a rocky se ctio n. " It was hard for me to stand up , and I knew I was ho ld ing Joey off but also hold- 40th Anniversary ing him up ," Rees said . "So I le t him by a bo ut two miles before t he finish ." Re es finished ou t th e rac e sixth overall on his MSR/FMF/P recision Concepts KfM S2S. Abbott also kne w he was going to have make a move soon on teammate Brown when they headed o ut on the second loop. " I finally started fee ling good the last 20 mile s of the race, and I knew if I could keep Brown in sigh t , I had a good