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/128349
My
2
OWN RACE:
Mike Ch ildress
4th overall/Jrd Open A
Childress dou bled up, as did several others, by racing the desert scram bles that the club
put on the day before the National - whkh he won. As for how the National went, it was
fairly uneven tful. "I got a pretty good start , actually. I think I was about fifth at the end of
the bomb ," Childress said. "I passed one guy and kind of had a good , co nsiste nt ride. I didn't wan t to get hurt before I leave for Baja [and the 1000 next month], so I didn't want to
take any chances. I rode along and didn't get passed, but I was n't able to make up much
time on David [Pearson]. His seat felloff, and I could see him, but I never got within passing
distance . I caught up to him and stalled the bike in this roc k pile right before the end. I
think I'm one of the few to ever get a 650 into the top five at a National Hare & Hound."
N 17 Q uinn C od y
5th overall/I st Four-Stroke A
Even with a poor start , Quinn Cody was able to pull off an impressive ride. "I got abo ut a
th ree -kick start . Luckily, I had a line that I had kind of burned in; I wasn't planning on using
it unless that happe ned, so I made it to the bo mb in about fifth and got be hind Mikey Childr ess and rode behind him until about 10 miles out on the first loop. I went off the cou rse
and was trying to get back on and felldown . Paul [Krause] and Nick Blais got by me." Cod y
wo uld repass them before the finish, though, to win the Four-Stro ke A-class for the third
time this season on his Santa Barbara MotorsportsiPrecision Concepts CRF450R and clinch
.
the class National championship, unofficially
F7
Paul Krause
6th overall/2nd Four-Stroke A
"I was probably eighth or ninth at the bomb, and I work ed my way into fifth at the end of
the first lap. Going out [on the second loop] , , got passed by Luke [Dodson] and Qu inn
[Cod y], and the n Nick Blais passed me," Krause said. "The n the four of us, we round
rob ined . One guy led, different guys followed. We'd get into the fast valleys and I'd get by
most of them there, but then we'd get into the tight stuff and whoever was leading would
lose . About the 75-mile marker, maybe the BO-mile marker, Qu inn was lead ing and 1was
last [in our pack]. Igot back by Nick and the n Luke, and everyone kind of se parated , but I
was on Q uinn. I thought , :All right, I'm going to win the Four-Stroke class today,' and
floored it behind him. Then' hit a rock or something and put a bush through the [oil level]
sight glass on the side of my motor so all the oil came out , and my foot was slidingoff the
peg. Literallyfrom the start of the race, Nick and I, at the bom b, were right together. We
caught Q uinn, then Luke got caught into the middle [of us], so the four of us rode toge ther
for B5 miles just back and forth, back and forth. I can't think of a race where I've passed the
same group of guys so many times - and being passed back by them , it was fun."
1X Luke Dodson
7th overall/I st 250cc A
Taking first in the 250cc A class, Luke Dodso n had a day to be prou d of. "Most of my time
was made up on the second loop," Dodson said. '" got hooked up with David Rees. I start ed following him, and he was riding at a good clip. We started passing people and getti ng
around. I worked my way up to Paul [Krause] and Nick Blais, and just rode with those guys
the rest of the loop. It was a good day."
dropped to thi rd .
" Pro bably 20 miles
be fore the finish , I lost
my seat, " David sa id.
"Afte r I lost my seat, I
ha d to stand up
through everything. I
was st ill t rying to go
fast and ca tch the
guys, b ut you ca n't
corn e r in t he sa nd
was hes , you can 't sit
down , you can't do
anyth ing [w it hout a
seat] - so finally I just
started cru ising. I
almost had to stop o ut
there and stretch o ut
my back; it was sta rt ing to cra mp up ."
As for Abbott, he kne w w hat he had to
do to win the cham pionship and had it figure d out beforehand.
" I needed to finish top th ree if Dav id
won, a nd to p six if Russ w o n," Abbott
said. " I felt pretty confide nt coming in
here ; I've been riding really well. I wasn't
I(e Childress rode a strang race and finished fourth.
" I w as hoping to go o ut t here and do
my best ," David said.
Howev e r, he lost contact w ith the lea d
duo after a crash , and w he n his sea t fell
o ff, he could do littl e but finish o ut t he
race . The 2 I-yea r-old Team G re e n
racer and his Pro Ci rcui t/G PR/Moose
KX500 had be en second in poi nts go ing
int o the finale but due to his ba d luck
too worried about a w in."
Storms ea rlier in t he wee k did a
tremendous job in reducing the dust
problem on both 40-mile loops, but the
race was essent ially ove r afte r the first
few miles . Team Gr ee n veteran Abbott
got the best start and led the field to the
banner at the end of the bomb ru n on his
FMF/Acm e Suspe ns ion/O'Neal-backed ,
Jonat han Weisman-prepared KX500 , with
Russell Pearso n slo tting hims elf in right
behind him as the course funn e led down
into a na rrow sand wash.
Th ey traded spots a few times in t he
first th ree miles , ne ithe r wi lling to bac k
dow n.
'I\t t he ve ry top [of the bomb run] , we
cr o ssed [lines] a littl e bit , and I jum ped
into the wash where he backed o ff," Russ
said . "I was able to pass him there. T he n I
go t into so me rough wh o o ps, an d someho w he took a litt le line o n the inside of
me and passed me back. In some rocky
little w ash , I went up over a little [rise]
and ended up ge tti ng [back] by him.
T he n, afte r th at , I just stuck my head
do w n an d charged. "
As always , e ven t hough they were in a
fie rce ba tt le for the lead , Abbott an d Russ
st ill have a great d eal o f res pect fo r each
othe r.
" It 's always fun riding with him
[Abbott] or David [Pearson] or someone
like that because yo u can tru st them, "
Russ said . "Wh e n t hey're right be side
you, you know they 're not rid ing out of
control ; they're no t just going to clean
yo ur clock. You respect him, he respects
yo u, but in the mea ntime you're tryi ng t o
give [him] a face full of roost."
After trading positions for a few m iles,
the Yamaha race r made one final pu sh
that put him in front. At that poi nt , the
race for t he lead was basically over and
Abbott w as left exploring two o pt io ns fo r
th e rest of th e day.
"O nce we took o ff, I go t a good start ,
and I was like, ' Man, this is kind o f co ol,"
Abbott sa id. "Russ [Pearso n] and I went
back and forth right o ff the start, the n he
finally got me on a good line . I followed
him, which d id n't bother me because it
wasn't su per dusty and it was so easy to
follow [people]. I followed him th e w hole
first loo p. It was pre tty uneventful; it was
just a good loop fo r me. Dav id was beh ind
me, and all o f us we re within 20 secon ds
or something, maybe 30 seconds ."
But when Ab bott found himself getting
closer to the leader, his competitive side
ca me out, and he pushed to go for the
wi n. Two cras hes brought him back to
rea lity, though, and he settled for accepting the run ne r-up spo t for the day, knowing it would be more tha n good enough to
win his third ch am pio nship.
''I' m just so happy to w in th is aga in
wit h all the people [who've been] sup porting me ," Abbott said. "This one feels
better than the other two I've won, too. I
wanted th is o ne re ally bad this year. I just
feel like I'm rid ing really well aga in; I'm
www.c ycieneW5 .com
,
Briefly•..
Team Green 's Brian Bro wn had a slim
mathe matical shot at the series title, but he
was a no-show at Lucerne , with som e
re ports citing unspecified personal issues.
He ended up fourth in final ser ies po ints.
The 100's M.C. held two races over the
weeken d, with Saturday reserved for a
100-kiiometer (62-mile), two-loo p, District
37-po ints-paying desert scramb les that
drew approximately 350 entrants, all of
them chasing eve ntual winner Mike Ch ildress and his XR's O nly/T ecula Motorem
sports/ O 'Neal-sponsored XR650R. The
National on Sunday drew abou t 320.
Sunday's course received much praise
from racers , many of w hom pointed out
the good number of tighter, virgin trail as
evidence that the club had put in many
hours of work laying it out. It included fast
valley sections and w hoo ped trail (of
course), but both loops included miles of
more technical terrai n that helped to keep
speed s down . Rain during the week didn't
hurt , though the race certa inlywasn't dustfree.
Though 2004 marked the fina l year of
production for Kawasaki's KX500, this
won't be the last time you'll see it in the
hands of Team Green's desert team . "This
is the last 500 Iget," Abbott said. "So no
matter what , this bike's staying. It just tops
it off to win the championship on it. No
matter what , I'm keeping this one for as
long as I can think. No matte r what , it'll
stay in my garage. I'm going to ride it again
[next year] until the [KX450F] comes out ,
whenever that may be. They 're great bikes
still; they 'r e bulletproo f, and they just work
really well."
KTM's Kelly Yancey came from beh ind to
record her sixth Women's-dass win of the
season , successfully defending her National
championship on her 3 Brothers
Raci ng/FMF/T Lee Designs KTM 450
roy
MXC.
look ing forward to ne xt yea r."
Russ is also look ing forward to ne xt
yea r. "I wanted to win to day," Russ sa id. " I
earned the numbe r-one [plate last yea r],
and I w ante d to show ev erybody it wasn't
a fluke . I was t he re."
eN
100's MOTORCYCLE CtUB HARE
LUCERN E VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
RESULTS: OctOBER 24, 2004
(ROUND
8
OF
&
HOUND
8)
OVERAlL: I. Russe ll Pearson (Yam ): 2. Destry Abbott
(Kaw ): 3. David Pearson (Kaw ); 4. Mike Child ress (Hon ); 5.
Quinn Cody (Hon ): 6 . Paul Krause (KTM); 7. luke Dodson
(Suz); 8. N icholu Blais (Han); 9. DavKt Kamo (Kaw); 10
EI""" Sy". ." (KTM): II . Ryan Orr (So2): 12. Sean B,.d ~
(GG): I) . Chad MMti n (KTM): 1<. Joey Blanton (Hon): IS.
D. vkl Rees (KTM): 16. 8r.>ndon Ritzman (Kaw) : 17. Tom
W illis (NA); 18 . C raig Adams (Hon ); 19. Dal Tru bey (Kaw) ;
20 . Ryan Kudla (Yam).
AM Al FM F NATIONA L HARE & HOUND CH A M PI·
ON SHIP SERIES POI NTS STANDINGS (Mer 8 of 8
rounds) : I. Destry Abbott ( 163/4 wins); 2. Russe ll PeMWO
( 15211 wins) : 3. David Pearson (14812 wins): 1. Brian
Brown (I ))): 5. Robert Phillips (87) ; 6. Paul Kelty AshfOl'"d
(70); L. Q utnn Cody (63); 8. David Kama (52); 9. Elme r
Symon. (52): 10. Sean B,.dley « 8 ): I I. joey Lanza «6): 12.
TJ Hann ir" «5): I J. Thomas My (J I): 1<. Kendall
Norman (30) : 15. Chad Mart in (28 ): 16. Tabe r Murphy (26);
17. Wes MacMillan (26): 18 . TyDavis (25); 19. Cody Young
(25): 20. Luke Do