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Kendall Normon ducks uncler the "south" trestle en route to fifth overall. Abbott ducked underneath to retake the lead. "Then. it was just wide-open whoops coming down [a wash]," Pearson said. "I started to back off, then I said, 'No, I can't; the finish is right here! I've got to give it everything I can, at least to the finish.' So I tucked in behind him, then all of a sudden I saw him do one of these [Pearson looks around]. I'm like, 'Oh gee, don't give me that. I know - we're lost!'" The two leaders looked left, right, backward and forward but didn't immediately see where to go. "I couldn't see anything - no ribbon, nothing," Pearson said. "I'm like. 'What do we do? What do we do?' Destry was kind of heading left; I pretty much just tucked in with him. The next thing I know we're just shifting gears trying to get closer to the finish. Then we're coming in on the first loop's finish. I'd seen the finish [earlier]; I knew the finish was [to the right of that) so I go. 'We've already passed it somehow.' So, I hooked a right on the course and pinned it into the finish. I think Destry followed me right in there." ''I'm disappointed in how it came out," Abbott said, "the whole way we came down to the finish. I was leading, and Russ and I were just going back and forth, and we lost the course, so that was a little frustrating. That's the way it goes." Finishing not too far behind the two riders ahead of him was Hengeveld, who. despite losing the course a few times, enjoyed the course and was pleased with his third-place ride. "The whoie second loop, except for probably the last 10 miles, Destry and I were going back and forth the whole time," Hengeveld said. "It was fun. It was a good race. The course actually was pretty good. Their markings, however, were off. There were a few times, even on the second loop, where Destry and I were both lost. All in all, the layout was pretty good. It was real fun, had a lot of ups and downs on the ridges. The sand dunes were cool; it was way cool riding in those. I was pretty impressed. " Kawasaki Team Green's David Pearson finished fourth but was credited with ninth. Pearson said that he physically crossed the finish line in fourth place. "I don't know what happened, I don't know what's going on," said Kawasaki Team Green manager Jason 5megle said. "They just said he got ninth; he wasn't penalized for anything." Pearson has protested the results with the AMA, but for now, the results stand. Getting credit for fourth overall was KTM rider Gary Klopp, who was reportedly riding his first desert race and had entered in the B class. Rounding out the topfive overall was Kendai Norman on the Precision Concepts/Dunlop/O'Neal XR650R Honda. He spent most of the second loop dueling with desert newcomer M ike Metzger. "It's pretty unreal," Norman said. "I've watched him on lV since I was a little kid. At first I was shocked, because I was like, 'This isn't his territory!' But we started dicing, and he's a really, really good rider. Following ribbons and stuff [for the first time] is difficult. He'd blow a corner, and I'd wave, 'This way!' I blew this one corner, and he stopped and was waving to me, 'This way!' We just kind of kept going like that; he'd lead me for a good while, then I'd lead him. I was able to just hold him off at the finish line. But it was a pretty cool race." Metzger, riding a Honda CRF450R with stock gearing, took the checkered flag in sixth. This was Metzger's first hare and hound, but he once raced the Best in the Desert Laughlin hare scrambles a few years ago. "This is a really cool learning experience." he said. "We didn't really think about coming out here until probably Monday or Tuesday, when I heard about it. Derrick Mahoney and I, last weekend we did the team race at the Big 6 GP. We're just having some fun doing some off-roading. The only thing that really scares me is when you're haul in' butt down some of those fast sand washes and it's dusty. What do you do? Then you try to get off the main trail, [but] you start losing time. Kind of by the end of the race, I learned that if you're in a pack, you need to get right next to the rear wheel of the guy in front of you. Otherwise, you don't have a chance." Unfortunately, there were a few riders that got hurt at the race, including notables Brian Brown and David Reese. Brown, a former National Hare & Hound champ, reportedly crashed on the bomb run while avoiding a truck that had wondered onto the course. Brown went around the truck and was trying to re-enter the racecourse when he hit bad terrain and bailed. Brown took a blow to the head and broke the L4 vertebra in his back. He suffered no spinal damage and the break isn't considered to be serious. It was also early in the race when Reese crashed, leaving him with a broken femur and a head injury. Metzger might've seen the crash. "Right at the end of the bomb run I ended up turning around, because the guy that was next to me ended up hitting a kicker and flew about 50 feet, straight onto his head," Metzger said. "I turned around to see if he was all right, and he rolled over with a broken femur - like for sure. A guy rolled up and said he'd stay with him, and I got back on the trail. After I saw the broken femur it took me a good couple miles at least to quit thinking about it, because I've broken both my femurs; I know what it's like. It was a tremendous wreck, to see a guy flying next to me no more than 20 feet from my side. Then he hit and tumbled." eN SUPERSTITION DRY LAKE OCOTILLO, CALIFORNIA RESULTS: MARCH 12, 2005 (ROUND 2 OF 6) OVERAll: I. Russell Pearson (Yam); 2. Destry Abbott (Kaw): 3. Steve Hengeveld (Han); 4. Gary Klopp (KTM): 5. Kendall Norman (Han); 6. Mike Metzger (Hen): 7. Derrick Mahoney (Han); B. Matt Gosnell (KTM); 9. David Pearson (Kaw); 10. George Follis (Yam). OPEN A: I. Russell Pearson (Yam); 2. Kendall Norman (Hen); 3. Mike Metzger (Han); 4. David Pearson (Kaw); 5. Matt Kearney. FOUR-STROKE A: I. Steve Hengeveld (Hen); 2. Matt Gosnell (KTM); 3. George Follis (Yam): 4. Brian Pinard (Han); S. Bobby Kirny (Hon). 250 A: I. Luke Dodson (Suz); 2. Matt Henderson (NA): 3. Jason Tyer (NA); "1. Keith Jones (NA); 5. Ryan Abbatoye (Kaw). 125 A: I. Derrick Mahoney (Hon); 2. Brent Harden (KTM): 3. Nick Hamill (Yam); 4. zach Dodson (NA); 5. Cameron Corfman (NA). VET A: I. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 2. Joey Lane (KTM); 3. Pete Andrassy (Hon); 4. Dewey Belew (Hon); 5. Carl Collier (NA). SENIOR A: I. Steve Fenton (Hon); 2. Loren Dimond (KTM); 3. Vincent Reger (NA); 4. Duane Quale (NA); 5. Jimmy Jamieson (NA). SUPER SENIOR A: I. Robert Koch (NA); 2. Kent Nichols (KTM); 3. Roger Flaming (NA); 4. Keith Jones (NA). MASTER A: I. Dean Dlouhy (NA); 2. Robert Torgerson (NA): 3. Fred Tervet (NA). WOMEN A: I. Angela House (Yam); 2. Christi Evers (NA). OPEN B: I. Chris Hemandez; 2. John Tedrow; 3. Mike Praytor. FOUR·STROKE B: t. Brian Craft; 2. Jason Stankaitis; 3. William Moore. 250 B: I. Curtis Myers; 2. Brian Benton; 3. Ray Schooley. 125 B: I. Blaine Fenner; 2. A.J. Stuart. VET B: I. Gary Klopp (KTM); 2. James Johnson; 3. Bob Stuhler. SENIOR B: I. Tim Craft; 2. David Campbell; 3. Grant Krik. SUPER SENIOR B: I. larry Engwall; 2. Mike Maginn. OPEN C: I. Charles Gumbert: 2. Andy Silverthom; 3. David Turner. FOUR·STROKE C: I. John Janke. 250 C: I. Thomas Lowry; 2. Jorge Gonzalez; 3. John Johnson. 125 C: I. Jeremy Henderson; 2. Kyie Heuitt: 3. Alex Wagonner. VET C: I. Dan Malcolm; 2. Scott Williams; 3. David Silverton. SENIOR C: I. Robert Rosenberg; 2. Kevin GaMn; 3. Dean Rehse. SUPER SENIOR C: I. David Chappell. WOMEN C: I. Dame Dietrich: 2. Tracey Raybon; 3. Brenda Blackstock. CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 30, 2005 49