Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Abbott Takes Moose Run National H&H D..try Abbott wot unrtoppoble in lhe 56llt onouol Moote Run. D y the time he chcked into founh gear, lJTearn Green's Destr/ Abbott knew things were 8oin8 his way. Sure enough, by the time he reached the bomb, he had thinSs well in hand at the 56th annual Moose Run by the Four Aces Motorcycle Club, and he never saw another racer's dust en route to taking his first win this year in the AI'4AFMF Racing National Hare & Hound Series. "Yeah, it was a good day," he said on his drive back to Arizona. "l really can't complain, because I haven't won a race wire to wire in a long time. That was nice, not to have dusty goggles or anythinS." At the Spangler Hills'Waton Wheel Staging Area near Red Mountain, California, Abboc had a commanding lead at the bomb and timply stretched it from there on his Pro Circuit/D'lnlop/Thor- sponsored fi450E "l knew the start was super important [because of the dry dr.rsty conditions]," he said. Round-one winner and reitninS series champion Russell Pearson seemed to have all sons of problems, beSinninS with a multikick start that left him mired in (he dusry pack. By the end of the firsl loop, he'd worked his way up to third, behind Abbott and Honda's Kendall Norman, who rode a Precision Concepar/Pro Honda OiIVO'Neal CRF450X, but that was as far as he'd get. Though he closed on Norman. Pearson s l'4ontclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racint/f'1oose-backed YZ450F ran out of fuel with less than a mile to go. Fortunately. he was within srghc of one of his pit-crew members. who ran down a hilt with 8as can in hand ro Eive him a splash that to( him to the fin_ ish line. "lt was just one of those days where you do your homework, but it doesnt work," Pearson said. KTM s Davrd Pearson. Russell s cousin, ran second in the early goin8 on his TaglHichelin/l4oose 525 XC, but he couldn't keep that pace up due to losinS After C,,cr€ News broke the story in last w€ek's issue that PJ. Harvey, chairman of the Al'1A Pro Racing Board of Directors, was resiSning his post, the AMA issued e prcrs release thankinS Harvey for his con- tributions. "Under PJ.'s leadership, AMA Pro Racing reinforced it5 place as one ofthe world's pae-eminent sanctioninS bodies for professional motorsports," said Patricia DiPierro, lhe AMI(5 chiefexecutive oflicer. "The AMA joins the Arnerican motorcycling community in thanking PJ- for hir immeas- urable contributions to our sport, his pride in AMA competition, and his Passion for racing." Harvey became chairman in Febru- ary ol2$2. Maryland motocrosrsupercross racer and former AMA National number 47 l(evin Crine, 32, was killed on February 8 when the car he lyas drivint collided with a trdc- tor trarler on a rural stretch of road in south Maryland- According to newsPaPer reports, Crine was pronounced dead at the scene. Crine flrst turned professional in 1992 and qualilied for three Al4A l25cc Eastem Re8ion Supercross events that sea- ion- He also scored his first AMA National points at the l25cc National in Troy, Ohio, Crine brok€ into the top 20 for the first time in his career in 1995 when he finished l4th in the AIYA 250cc National Mx Championship. ln 1998, he recorded his career-best flnish in a 250cc National, ei8hth place, in his home round at Budds Creek, Maryland, Crine is survived by his wife, Stacy, and a son, Brett. A memorial fund has been set up for Brett Crin€. Donations can be sent to the Kevin M. Crine Memorial Fund c/o NASA Federal Credit Union, 500 Priflce George's Bkd., Upper Marlboro, MD 20774. Ducati Co6e has done a deal with Getorade that will see the beverage a! its oflicial sports drink. Gatorade will sponsor both the MotoGP and world Superbike Ducati teams, with hs loSo on llater bottles used by the factory riders on the startin8 grids and at the end of the races, according to Pepsico geveiages ltalia- "We are really satisfied with this partnership, which will also be associated with a series of impqr- lant initiativei" said Dario Bassetti, ma.ket- ing director of Pepsico kalia. "We wanted to tie our neme with Ducati because with Gatordde i! shares essence and v-alues, such as the taste for competition and a desire to always exceed its own limits." E o o the clutch. On the more technical sec- ond loop, he slipped back to fourth, with fellow KTl4 525 racer l"latt Gosnellcom- ing back from a bad start and a knee iniury to claim fifth on his BRP/GPR/FIy- sponsored machine. ,. ( Abbott's win gives him a slitht cush- ion in series points after two rounds: he has 55 points from his 2- I finishes, while Rursell Pearson has 51, thank to his l-3 record. Motk l

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