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struggled to get his bike restarted. He eventually got going again and, despite a broken exhaust, still went on to finish ninth. But even with Norman crashing and Abbott now out of the running, this one was hardly in the bag for Pearson. "The second loop had a lot of trees and more twisty stuff mixed in with some washes and a couple of temporary roads," Pearson said. 'I\bout 37 miles into the loop, we headed down this wash that was just flowing with water. I tried crossing it, not just pinning it down the middle, to hopefully save my bike from watering out. At the end, I was like, I\h man! That sucks, I probably lost a bit of time.' And sure enough, I looked back and someone was coming. I pinned it. '1\ bit later, the course arrows pointed right, so I set up the corner, but suddenly I was face to face with a left arrow. I flipped a U-ey and headed for the course," Pearson added. "Second place saw me turning and dove right in underneath me - it was my cousin David! 'Crap!' David [Pearson] rides the trees pretty dang good and is strong enough to pin it through any whoop you throw at him, so I pinned it. He blew a corner a bit and I tried to pull by him, but he managed to get right in front of me." "I knew that he [Russ] was a little ways in front," said David Pearson, who got off in last place after a "20-kick" start. "I could see him out of the pits. I felt like I was riding good, but I wasn't sure I was catching him, so I just kept charging." Now in second, Russ stayed with his cousin, but it was not easy after having gotten doused with muddy water by the leading Kawasaki KX500. "The bottom of every whoop was full of water, so I got the sucky end of the deal my goggles were soaked," Russ said. "I couldn't take them off so I could see, but if anyone has ever ridden behind a SOO, [they know] that it is like playing Russian roulette, so I elected to ride with a bit blurred vision. A couple of miles later, we hopped on a fast road and were both pinned. With all the rain, there was a section of road that was completely covered with water, and David elected to ride the edge. I was like, 'This is it,' and pinned it right down the middle hoping to make the pass. Iwas doing probably 10 or 20 miles an hour faster than David when all a sudden he crossed the road to the other side. I seen bodies flying and bikes tumbling, as I slammed on my brakes and missed hitting him only by inches. I dove left and made the pass." Actually, David said that he did not crash, but he did come close. "It was a big, about a 100-yard mud puddle that took up the whole road," David said. "I tried to skate the bushes, but the back end slid around, and I shot off to the other side of the road and back again." Russ emerged from the big puddle in the lead. "Ten miles to go and I was first," Russ said. "I was riding on the edge or maybe over a bit, considering my vision and everything. But I had to. David stayed right there as we entered a common course area, which was about the last mile and a half of the first and second loops. Well, there was another water section covering the road that, the first loop, I went around. I couldn't afford going around this time, because I figured David would do what I did to him [a few miles earlier] and pass me, so I leaned back and pinned it for the 200 or so feet of water. I made it through and put probably I0 or 15 bikelengths on David." Bu now David had vision issues. "My goggles got splashed, so I had to take them off," David said. At this point, the race boiled down to a short sprint to the checkers. "We got in the whoops that were bad the first loop, but with a couple hundred bikes going on it, it was just awful and torn up bad now," Russ said. "I tried to pin it as much as possible. I caught and passed a rider that was on his first loop - I lost a bit of time, so I pinned it harder. I was riding on the edge of disaster as I approached [an ATY]. Quads rode the first loop, and [the ATY] took up the whole course. I had no choice but to go through the sagebrush. I picked a line but knew David would be able to read off me, so no time for error. About 100 yards before the finish, I stuck my front in a nasty whoop and the front end dropped. I did like three whoops with the front end down - not up - and swapped something awful but managed, somehow, not to lose the bars in my hands and the seat with my legs and made it through that, but I could hear David and did a panic pinit to the finish. I crossed the finish line first. David was like three feet behind me. Talk about an adrenaline rush! After 90 or so miles of hard racing, it came down to like three feet! Well, Iwas stoked and did what I came to do, and that was win." Finishing out the race in third was Hengeveld, followed by young local prospect T.J. Hannifin. Rounding out the top five was Idaho's David Kamo. With one round left to go in October, Russ Pearson can rest a little easier now that he enjoys a 30-point lead over Abbott. Pretty much all Pearson has to do now is finish 20th or better to wrap up his second title. As for Abbott, the Jericho round was a heartbreaker. "Today was one of those days that just didn't go right," Abbott said. "That's the way racing goes, but this one was a tough one to swallow." eN CHERRY CREEK JERICHO, UTAH RESULTS: MAy 7, 2005 (ROUND 5 OF 6) OVERALL: I. RuiSell Pearsbn (Yam); 2. David Pearson (Kaw); 3. Steve Hengeveld (Hon); 4. T.J. Hannifin (Kawl; 5. David Kame (Kaw); 6. Quinn Cody (KTM); 7. Brian Brown (Kaw); 8. Bret Bradford (KTM); 9. Kendal Norman (Hon); 10. Brian Pinard (Hon). AMA FMF RACING NATIONAL HARE & HOUND CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After S of 6 rounds): I. Russell Pearson (140/3 wins); 2. Descry Abbon (110/2 wins); 3. Steve Hengeveld (93); ... David Pearson (87): S. Kendal Norman (67); 6. Man Gosnell (39); 7. D.vid Kama (J7); 9. Qu;nn Cody (36); 9. T.j. Hannifin (34): 10. luke Dodson (31). CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 1,2005 53