Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

"I wrecked and hurt my back last week," said Pearson. "It felt good off the start to about 0 to 30 miles into it, and then it started hurting. I almost wrecked once and said, 'That's it.' There's always next weekend." The tight battle at the front of the pack continued all the way around the first loop. Brown continued to hang on to the lead, but Abbott dodged past Chiapuzio to steal second as the course turned in toward the pits. A sudden tightening of the terrain meant there was little that Chiapuzio could do to get him back. "The second loop really started coming into the pits," said Baumann. "They brought us in through the boulders, through some really tight sfuff through the whoops. They really worked you out on the last three to four miles of the first loop." More than 53 minutes had elapsed before Brown entered pit row, and Abbott was only 12 seconds behind him in second. Chiapuzio was less than half a minute back in third, and Baumann made it one-through-four for Kawasaki when he dashed through at the head of the Vet class in fourth overall. Campbell was three minutes behind the leader in fifth, and Davis tumed heads when he dashed into pit row in sixth. Russ Pearson came in for gas in seventh overall, just ahead of fellow YZ426 racer Paul Krause and Vet Expert Shuler. Honda-mounted Steve Hengeveld rounded out the top 10, just ahead of KX250 jockey Shane Esposito, who was heading up the 250cc Experts and was five places ahead of his nearest quarter-liter rival - Adam Evans of Boise, Idaho. Matt Murphy was leading the 125cc racers in 14th overall. Loop two was another clockwise 40-mile circle, but that was about all it had in common with loop one. The fast-paced opening sprint was over, and the terrain was tight and rocky all the way as the racers headed out to the west through an area dubbed "Desert MC Valley," then tumed north for a blitz up to Andersen Dry Lake. And it got even tighter as the loop tumed south again for the run back to the finish line. "The second loop was awesome, said Russ Pearson. "It was definitely good for Luceme." The battle for the lead could also be described as awesome. Brown led the way out of the pits, but Abbott was nipping at his heels, and last year's number-two finisher in the series was ready to make his move when the defending champion bobbled. "I went down on a little rock hill," Brown explained. "Abbott was right behind me. I picked it up before he got me and we were battling. We passed back and forth like two or three times, and then he got me for the final time. I crashed and just decided to stay with what I had for second. If I was in shape, I might've liked it, but I have a brake about five miles out of the pits, but fortunately I only got passed by two people," said Chiapuzio. Campbell completed his ride in sixth overall, just ahead of Abe Baumann, who took a wire-to-wire win in the Vet class. Krause crossed the line in eighth overall, and Kurt Caselli took the 125cc-division honors in ninth. "I think I was running about third or fourth in class in the first loop," said the KX 125 racer. "I passed a few people and, coming into the pits, they said I was in second. I finally caught up with Matt Murphy. Matt was riding really good and we had a good little battle, but he kind of fell over, so I got by him. It was pretty fun." A slightly dazed Shane Esposito finished 1Oth overall to capture the 250cc honors. "About halfway through the second loop, I went down pretty good," said the KX250-mounted Esposito. "I'm still a little dingy from it." Nate Pearson finished 11th overall on a box-stock Husky 125, narrowly edging out his Yamaha 250mounted cousin, David Pearson. Todd Hoy finished second in his first race in the Vet division and 13th overall; Matt Murphy's KTM 125 w~s hard on his heels in 14th; and Ed McCoy, racing a Yamaha in the 250cc Expert division, fin· ished 15th. Four-Stroke honors went to Hondamounted Taber Murphy, who dropped back to 16th overall after thrOWing the chain a couple of miles from the finish, and former motocrosser Andy Grider took second in the Four-Stroke division. The Over 40 win went to Charlie Bamey, who is part of a new Gas Gas team fielded by Motowest. eN (Left) The last time BrIan Brown raced In Luceme, he not only won the race, he won the series championship. This time Brown was again In the position to win, but a second-loop bobble cost him the overall, "'legating him to second. (Below) The trials and tribulations of Ty and the desert continue. When Davis' VZ426F ",fused to fino at the starting line, his pit c",w had to push-start the bike. Amazingly, Davis charged to third overall, finishing lust 90-seconds behind second place Brown. hurt shoulder and I haven't been riding for a month." Brown wasn't the only one challenged by the course. Some of the hills were touch-and-go for Pearson, who was suffering from on-again, off-again brakes, and Chiapuzio had no front brake at all for most of the loop. Gas Gas-mounted Andy Grider raced all but the first mile of loop two on a rear flat. Todd Hoy had to stop and pound his skid plate back into shape with a rock after it jammed his shifter, and Evans snapped the steering stabilizer off his 250cc Yamaha. Campbell saw a little more of the countryside than the Desert MC had intended. "I lost the ribbon a little on the second loop, but I had a good time riding with those guys," said the Honda racer. Out in front, Abbott had no problems at all. He had shaken off the persistent Brown by the halfway point and had settled in for a comfortable ride to victory. "Brown made a mistake about a quarter of the way around. He went down, picked up his bike right in front of me, and we were dicing pretty good; then he disappeared," said Abbott. "I don't know whether he crashed or what, but I was pretty much by myself after that. " It took almost 1 1/4 hours for Abbott to complete the 40-mile second loop. In addition to giving him the early points lead in the championship series, the round-one win was something special to Abbott. "In the last two weeks, both my children had birthdays," said Abbott. "I had to miss both their birthdays to be at the race or doing testing, and I kind of wanted to win it for them. I was thinking about them." Brown crossed the line in second, three minutes behind his Kawasaki Team Green teammate. "This is how we started out last year, so you never know," said the defending National Hare [, Hound Champion. Davis continued to move up through the ranks in the second loop, and by the time he crossed the finish, he had tumed a disastrous start into third overall and was just 3 1/2 minutes behind the winner. Russ Pearson survived brake problems to capture fourth overall. "I think I might've dinged my disk or something," said the Yamaha racer. "Coming down some of those hills my brakes weren't working very well. It was a little sketchy." Chiapuzio sprinted home in fifth overall, despite losing his front brake going into the second loop. "I blew the lines and lost my front cue' • DesertMC L-.. V.IIey, c.Iifw1rioI 1IBuIls: .IMIwy 23, ZIIIO lllllund 1) O/A: 1. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 2. Brien Brown (Kaw); 3. Ty Davis (Vom); 4. Russ Pearson (Vam); 5. Doug Chiopuzio (Kow); 6. Johnnie Campbell (Hon); 7. Abe Baumann (Kaw); 8. Paul Krouse (Vom); 9. Kurt Caselli (Kow); 10. Shone Esposito (Kow); II. Note Pearson (Hus); 12. D8vld Pellrson (Yam); 13. Todd Hoy (Hon); 14. Matt Murphy (KTM); 15. Ed McCoy (Yam); 16. Taber Murphy (Hon); 17. Adam EVllns (Vam); 18. Paul Shafer (Kow); 19. Jon Parks (G-G); 20. Lester Lehigh (Hon); 21. Robert Marshall; 22. Ron Shuler, 23. Andy Grider (Vom); 24. Luca Trussordi. OPEN EX: 1. Destry Abbott (Kow); 2. Brian Brown (Kaw); 3. Ty Davis (Vam). 250 EX: 1. Shlme Esposito (Kaw); 2. David Pearson (Vam); 3. Ed McCoy (Vam). VET OPEN EX: 1. Abe Baumann (Kow); 2. Todd Hoy (Hon); 3. Lester Lehigh (Hon). VET 250 EX: I. Paul Shafer (Kow); 2. Jon Parks (G-G); 3. Luco Trussardi. 125 EX: 1. Kurt Caselli (Kew); 2. Nate Pearson (Hus); 3. Matt Murphy (KTM). 4-STRK EX: I. Tober Murphy (Hon); 2. Andy Grider (Yam); 3. TIm Staab (Hon). SR EX: I. Charlie Barney (G-G). 1'\}\G EX: 1. Bill Maxim (Kaw). n e _ S • FEBRUARY 9, 2000 19

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