Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ 0FF·ROAD Casey Folk's Best in the Desert Series: Final round m- Dan Ashcraft came from behind to score the overall and 500cc Pro class win at the Laughlin Hare Scrambles in Nevada. Laughlin Hare Scrambles win to Ashcraft By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LAUGHLIN, NV, DEC 5 he back of the Over-30 class is no place to start if you're looking for an overall win in an off-road race, but Honda's Dan Ashcraft didn't let' that stand in his way at the Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles Championship. The Honda CR500 pilot, who finished second at this year's Baja 1000, exploded off the 16th row of the starting grid and turned the throttle as hard as the tightest, most technical terrain of this year's Casey Folks series would allow. Despite being five minutes behind the first Open Pro starters, Ashcraft passed all but one of the earlier frontrunners, and when the 96-mile event was over, he took the checkered flag by a time-adjusted margin of almost three minutes. "I can't believe I won it," said Ashqaft, who moved into the Vet division in June. "I have no idea when I last overal1ed a race. It's been a couple of years at least. This feels really good." The final round of the series offered double points towards the overall class titles. This left all 24 classes up for grabs and ensured a large turnout for the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casinosponsored event. To preserve the terrain and the. riders, many of whom had complained of exhaustion and jokingly threatened to quit racing after last year's evep.t, the figure-eight course was extended to 48 miles and the race was cut to two - rather than the usual three - laps. T But the difficulty of the terrain made up for the shorter distance, especially in the 17-mile first loop. "The first 17 miles was like a trials course," said Scott Morris, who wrestled a Kawasaki KX500 through the tight corners. "It was turning, turning, turning. My clutch hand got tired, it was so tight." The starting light flashed green for the first time at 9:00 a.m. Lundgreen, aboard a Kawasaki, and Daryl Folks, on a KTM, led the Open Pros into the 17-mile easterly loop of the figureeight course, and the rest of the field followed, two bikes at a time every 20 seconds. - Mark Lundgree'n got the drop on National Hare & Hound Champion Danny Hamel off row two. Scott Morris started alone on row three and Todd Hoy was an unexpected solo starter on row four after Kawasaki's Larry Roeseler withdrew from the event early on. Tony Bergman led the 250cc Pro charge off row five; Charles Kline and Patrick Fuller, the only 125cc Pro-class riders in the race, blasted off row 12; and 'the seven-man Over-30 Pro field started racing from row 13, ahead of the Over-38 Pros on rows 17 and 18. The rest of the 160-strong field, which consisted of sportsmen racing in Expert, Amateur and Vintage classes, followed two bikes at a time for almost half a hour. The morning was crisp and cool, but thankfully dry after heavy rain and snow flurries the day before the race. The riders were hoping for a faster than usual pace- in the dust-free conditions but tight terrain kept speeds low and 40 minutes had elasped before the first rider completed the 17-mile opening section. . Hamel, who grabbed the lead at the four-mile mark and stretched it out to 49 seconds by the end of the loop, said the pre-race rain was a mixed blessing. "I didn't have a good first section. The rain and wind had taken down a lot of course arrows and it was really hard to follow," Hamel said. "There was no trail whatsoever - maybe three people had ridden over it total, and that slowed me down a lot." Morris was the second rider through the pits and Greg Zitterkopf, who arrived just three seconds behind him after starting back on the second row of the 250cc Pro class, had his brand new KTM in a commanding position. "I got the-bike on Tuesday and I'm really surprised I did as well as I did," said the newly signed KTM factorybacked racer. "I knew there'd be a few things to get used to after changing manufacturers, so I was just hoping to win my class so I could get the (250cc Pro) championship." Johnny Campbell and Ed Sorenson - both competing in the 250cc Pro class - were the next riders through, followed by Tony Bergman's 250cc KTM, and the Open class bikes of Mark Lundgreen and Daryl Folks. "I went straight over the bars in the first two miles and landed on my head, and then the bike landed on me," said Folks. "Everything was tweaked and I decided I wasn't in any hurry for anything after that. I didn't need to be taking chances." Ashcraft dashed out of the first loop in 13th overall, more than two minutes ahead of Hamel on adjusted time. His Vet classmates Dave Donatoni, Darin Cartwright and Scot Harden were close behind. Harden was one of a number of racers who were battling,health problems as well as the difficult course. "I had the flu and I was in bed all day yesterday. Today, I got halfway round the first loop and I was completely spent. I had no. strength at all," said Harden. "I didn't even make it four miles before I was ready 'to give up, but I had to finish to get the points." The duel in the 125cc Pro class was blown wide open when Charles Kline fouled a plug on the start. Kline was still trying to kick his bike over when PatriCK Fullmer's rival Suzuki RMl25 disappeared into the first loop, but the competition evened out again when Fullmer tweaked his knee near the 10mile mark. "I had surgery about a year ago to . put a new ligament in and I think I've knocked it out of place again," said Fullmer. "I just caught it on the ground and ripped it off the bike." The Suzuki pilot ripped half his footpeg off in the process but refused to call it quits. . "I needed the win for the points. If \ I didn't win, I couldn't get the championship, so I kept going," said Fullmer. The 31-mile second loop headed out to the north. Hamel was settling into stride after his slow first loop and was starting to feel confident when his KX500 seized without warning six miles from the pits. "I have no idea what happened. It just seized for no reason," said Hamel. "I was just starting to feel really good, too." The bike and an obviously disappointed Hamel went back to the pits in a pickup. "I needed to finish to wrap up the (Open class) championship, but I shouldn't complain," said Hamel. "I've really had a perfect year. This is the first mechanical problem I've had all year out of 43 races." The second half of the figure eight course was costly for other riders as well. Mark Lundgreen blew a corner, hit a washout and retired with an injured shoulder. His brother, Jeff Lundgreen, reinjured a forearm that he had jammed racing over Thanksgiving weekend and was forced to call it quits, and a spectacular endo on pit row pummeled Mark Morris out of the running before he saw the second loop of the figure eight. . Riders who got to see the second loop weren't disappointed. "It was awesome - the best Laughlin I ever rode," said Richard Wilk, who led the Open Experts into the second half of the figure eight. "The rain yesterday had a lot to do with it. There was no dust, lots of vegetation - a really neat race, plus they chopped 20 miles off it from last year, so I knew I'd survive. Last year, this race almost killed me." Hanging tough in third behind Zitterkopf and Ashcraft, and trying to make up time despite a bad case of the flu, Morris wasn't quite so sure he would survive the distance. "I didn't get any water in the pits

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