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/128638
AMA National Championsh ip Har e & H o und S e r ie s F inal R o und : 1 OD's M . C . tea m. "Th e b igg est thing wa s to be sa fe . I wa s coming in he re to make s ure I didn 't get hurt. I wa s ha ppy to get out of here with a win. · Abbott cla imed tha t he was p la n ni n g o n pla yi n g it s a fe to c o nse rv e hi mself for t he upcom ing ISDE, bu t h is competitors were not co nvi nc e d of his la id -bac k stra te gy. By th e tim e the 10 2- m ile ra c e wa s thre e m ile s ol d , th e n ew champ io n wa s in th e lea d with a n ons la ught of oth er KX500 s hot o n h is d u s t y h e els . Kaw a s a k i-m o un te d Ab e Baum ann , Da n Richa rdso n , B ro wn , Sh an e Es po s ito a nd Ron Shu le r a ll got gr eat s ta rt s wh e n th e 10 0 ' s M.e. banner d ropped a t 9 :30 a .m. T h e hosting club had laid o ut a wide -ope n gra d ua l uph ill bomb th at was dusty, long and kind to two -stroke Open bike s . "' wish I had a bette r s ta rt, but it wa s a KX500 bomb run ," s a id Mont cl a ir Yam a h a YZ4 2 6 F -m ounted T y Davis. "I got a firs t - kic k start a nd I was off. Right o ff the line I pull ed [Jeff) Capt, Destry a nd Espos ito , but once they hit fifth gea r, the y jus t lost me. I was e a t ing all their dust from th ere. I was riding on Esposito' s c oat ta il fo r a wh il e , looking o ver h is s hou lder, r idin g bl ind , a n d th a t ' s when they pulled m e . I cou ld n 't see s quat, so I peeled off, but it was too late. I got dusted o ut.· STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATT FREEMA N LUCERNE VALlEY, CA, OCT, 22 he final ro und of the 199 9 AMA Nation al Ch a m p io ns h ip Hare [, Hound S e rie s was o n e of the most disa ppointing days in' Destry Abbott's yo ung life. Wh ile in co ntenti on for the ov era ll win a nd th e series title , Abbott's KX500 stopped dead in its tra c ks, Meanwhile, teammate Brian Brown rod e off into th e sunset, literal ly , to win b o th t he race a n d t h e champ ion sh ip , lea vin g Abbo tt with s e cond on the year. At the year Y2K fina le one year la te r - held a t exactly th e same loca t ion - Ab bo tt wore th e nu m ber-two plate fo r the last time this year, a nd he d id it with a conv incing o vera ll win. Gra nted , Ab bott wrapped up the champ ion sh ip a mon t h e a rlie r in We lls , Nev a d a , but the T eam Gre e n rider proved at the e ig ht h and fina l ro und that he is up for the challenge of defending his c rown, When the new series starts in January of 2001 , the 2 8 -year -old Arizon a native wi ll pr o udly display a number one on his KX500 . " I'm h appy to get t h e w in fo r Ka wasa k i and now go to Spa in o n Tuesday and hopefully do good in the Six Days ," sa id Abbott, who will serve on the six -man U.S. World Troph y T 20 N O VE M BER 8 , 2000' e ye I e n e vv s Newly crowned champ Destry Abbott finished off the year exactly where he's spent most of i t - i n fi rst plac e . America n Honda 's Steve Hengeveld go t du sted out from the get -go. "Some gu y bumped me on th e s ta rt ing line a nd jus t me ss ed me up on my kick ," sa id Hengeveld , who had to kick his XR650 s e v e ral time s a s a result before getting off th e line . On ce started , he blasted into the he at of things , c a tc hing up with Davis as th e course filte re d riders into a san dy c an yon a pproximately five miles out. Th e YZ426Fs of Pa u l Krause and Andy Grider followed the KX500 tra in thro ug h the c a ny o n , but He nge ve ld a nd Dav is ' c ha rge took time . " I was wa y b a c k , an d I k in d of slowly sta rted working my wa y up ," Da vis s aid . "At th e c a nyon, I staye d up h igh , boo nie -bash in g . I wa s like 20th, wa y ba ck there . He nge ve ld was th ere , a b un ch of us were th er e . I sta rte d picking thr ough them o ne by on e. I pa ssed a who le bunch of guys in a c an yon , and that pu t m e in into s ixth or seventh." T he first lo op even tua lly o p e n e d up a ga in, le a ding ride rs east for sev era l m ile s through a vall e y before heading west a ga in toward the p its to a n a lte rna te gas stop that wa s located at m ile 29 of th e 62 -m ile firs t loo p . Things be ga n to happen , a nd a plo t developed in th e va lle ys th at led to th e al te rn ate gas stop. Ab bott was still out front coming into the alternate gas , but he wasn't alone. Richardson hounded his team mate throughout the open ing loop , followed closely by Brown, Davis and Esposito, who were in a he a ted battle of t hei r ow n to reach t he Ric h a rd so n/ Ab b o tt d u o . Kr a u s e also put to geth er a go od run com ing into the a lternate gas , pa ssing Baumann a nd S hu le r before findi ng the rear wheel of Espos ito . Th e mu lti-man drag race coming out of the alt ernate ga s did n't la st long , ho we ve r , a s key play ers bega n to drop. "I c a me in to t h e fir s t p it rig h t be hind Rich ards on , and I passed him a bo ut five m ile s af te r," s a id Bro wn . "Afte r tha t, I hit a roc k with m y foo t p eg an d w e n t ove r th e bars and smacked m y hea d on a roc k. I pic ked m y bik e ba ck u p a n d g ot it g o ing a he a d o f Rich a rd s on , b u t I j u s t couldn't do it. I pull ed to th e side a nd let him go by. Then I lost the course someho w in my mental state.· With Brown wandering aim lessly around the desert, Richardso n, Da vis and Es p os it o were all able to move up a spot, but Krause wasn't a s fortuna te : "I ca me throu g h the altern a te p it in s ixth , · s ai d Kra u s e . " I p as sed Es posito, and he got me b a c k . He c a ug h t and p a s s ed Bro wn , w ho loo ke d like he must have flipped o r s om e th ing be ca us e he wa s n't rid ing like he no rm all y doe s . Espos ito got b y h im , an d just a s we ca me o ut throu gh this va lle y, I go , 'A lright , I'm goi ng to get him now ,' beca us e I was g etti ng close r a nd clo ser, b ut th en I ran out of ga s . I la id th e bike on its s ide . I got e no ugh g a s ove r th er e to fire it. It we nt another thre e -qua rters of a mi le a n d it s tarte d bur b ling ag ai n. Th e re wa s a g u y out th ere watc hing , a nd he ye lle d , 'Yo u ne ed gas? ' I s a id , ' I need it now!' I d id n 't s to p for gas a t th e alterna te . I thought I cou ld m a ke it. · Meanwh ile , as Krause was m a king an unsched uled p it s to p, Bau m a nn , G r id er an d C a p t , a T e am G r e en KX500 p ilot tha t did not have the for tune of g ett ing a g ood start, continu ed the ir qu es t to c a t c h t he lead g ro up. "Com ing into the pits for the a lternate , I c a ught up to Abe [Bauma nn ) an d abou t six m ile s la te r I pa s s ed him,· sa id Capt, who co m pe te s in the Vet cl a ss with riva ls Baumann and Richardson. "Tha t was the e nd of it. I just stayed the re, a nd e nded up s ix'th ov erall.• Wh il e C a pt s t ay e d s tag nate th ro ughout the s eco nd loo p , th e tr io of Abbott , Rich a rdson and Dav is certainly d id not. Com ing into the ma in pit at the end of the first loop, Abbott gave up h is lead to Richardson . but only momentarily.