Cycle News

; ~ - -- l!") 00 Q') ~ 0 ..... < 0- lo-< >- ::i 0: 0: al -' t:l Z w >- ::i >- I- 0 '"0 :x: a, Randy Morales rode an XR500 for the last time and finished third. steam left to hold off Pettigrew's charge. Pettigrew's ride started off on a Dan Smith began the race and rode with Dan Ashcraft t o the overall win on their 500XC Husky. Can-Am rider Chuck Pettigrew was second. SCORElHDRADesert series: Round 2 SmithlAshcraftwin GreatMohave250 By Larry Langley LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, MAR. 30 Team Husqvarna's Dan Smith and Dan Ashcraft rolled to yet another major off-road victory by taking a two-minute victory over Can-Am rider Chuck Pettigrew in the SCORE-sanctioned FirstAnnual Great Mohave 250 desert race. While it was billed as th e "Firs t Annual ," the race had its roots in the event run last year when SCORE pulled out of Baja a t the last mi nute and put on the "Baja in Barstow SOOkm," and th is year's race was act ua lly held on the same course in Lucerne Valley as the Baja in Barstow . But , th is year's event was put on with th e cooperation of the town of Lucerne Vall ey - sign-up, tech inspection, cont ingency row , im- pound and th e actual start were in Lucerne Valley itself. The town really got behind the race and an estimated 10,000 people poured int o the area to watch or pit for th e 27S ent ra nts, which included bikes,ATVsand car/- trucks. Sparks flew during the riders' meet- . 10 ing when SCORE President Sa l Fish made a remark abo ut motorcycli sts cutt ing the course while pre-running. Ashcraft poi nt ed out th at th e bulk of racers shouldn 't be indicted over a few course-cutters. Fish lat er sta ted th at he didn't mean to imp ly th at large numbers of mot orcycl ists were cutt ing th e course. Mor e serious ly, Ashcraft pointed out th at the bikes were gett ingaround th ecourse so fast that they might be fin ish ing while the cars and truckswere sti ll starti ng. Since the start/ finish route was th e same road run in opposite directions, it cou ld possibl y be a very dangerous situation. Fish contemplated the pos- sibi li ties and decided to end th e motorcycle race at checkpoint 13,just . before th eywere,to head back towards town. As it turned out, the bikes did indeed fini sh before all the cars and trucks started. The Smith/Ashcraft victory was not easy. A pipe smashed by an encounter with a rock led to the expans ion chamber spli tting open, caus ing a loss of horsepower and a fear of seizing toward th e end of th e race. '" thought Pettigrew was going to catch us for sure towards the end." said Ashcraf t. "I looked back and saw hi s dust and since the bike had trou- ble p ull ing sixth gear with the sp lit pipe, I was afrai d he was going to get us for sure." But the Bel-Rav/Auto- lit e/Gold Belt/Hi-Point/ Scott/Pro Circuit SOOXC Husky had enough sour no te when his big Can-Am seized on th e wide-open dirt road leading out of town towards j ohnson Vall ey. T he co ld (380 F) morning caused a few je tting problems when th e first bi ke left at 6:00 a.m. sharp; th e rest of the bikes and ATVs followed in IS- second interval s. Most of th e riders compla ined about hands tha t were so cold th at they'd lose. feeling in th e fingers for a while. T he start also headed right into the rising sun, and with no wind, th e dust crea ted major visibility problems. T ed Hunnicutt j r. didn' t mak e it but 10 mil es before seizing hi s Yamaha YZ490, putting him and teammate Mike "Downhill " Alexander out of th e race. "I guess I was just too pumped up," said Hun- ni cutt. " I just push ed it too hard down the road ." Spec tators were surprised to see AT K rider Chris Crandall on the course. Crandall had crashed in the In vaders M.C. AMA D-37 hare and hound th e week befor e and was re- ported to have a broken collarbone. It turned out to be a spra ined sho ulder and he a ttacked the course on the big thumper until he bail ed off in th e ro llers past Anderson Dry La ke - right onto hi s sore sho ulder. A broken throttle and a very sore shoulder put Crandall out of the race. Pett igrew had the lead until the p it nearBessimerMine Road whereSmith passed when he pitted. Other problems reported by Smi th and Ashcraft included a spectator truck on th e course and spectator bikes crossing .in front of them. Team Honda rider RandyMorales, riding solo, powered his four-stroke Honda XRSOO to thi rd in Class 22, thi rd overall. Morales had a great duel go ing with Larkin Wight on an AIBaker-prepared XR600. At th e last gas at Soggy Dry Lake, both riders pitted and powered out together in a drag race. Morales got the bett er line through th e hills and Wight couldn 't get pa st him again. It cost Wight, as the payback in class only went down th ree positions. Wight spent a lot of time pre- running as he is a Lucerne Vall ey resident, bu t he suffered bik e prob- lerns on T hursday. Bak er pulled th e motor and worked a ll day Friday and just made it back in time 10 install the motor for im pound. Wight was pre- pa ring the pre-runner for impound in case Baker did n' t make it back with the race bike. Moral es said it was hi s last ride on an XR- he'sp icking up newCRSOOs to race in the future. The team of Garth Sweet land and Mark Hildebrand (Hus) suffered bad luck when H ildebrand lost the nu t off th e rear ax le. A nearby spectator loaned him a nut so he could con- tinue. T hen the new nut also backed off, this time breaking the brak e backing pl ate and lunching the rear brakes. T hey fini sh ed I Ith in class. Class 21(2S0cc machines) winners were Team Husqvarna riders Larry Roeseler and Kurt Pfeiffer, sponsored by Bel-Ray, Aurolite, Hallman,jones Goggles (Pfeiffer) and Scott USA (Roseler).They edged th e Brett How- ell / Cha rl ie Morris j r. team by just Sl seconds. Howell andMorris led most of th e way until a rear flat near Soggy Dry Lake slowed them down. They still probably would have won after cha nging the rear wheel. but the brakeswere not functioningand Mor- r is had to return to the pi ts to fix them.The extra down time cost How- ell and Morris the class lead and even- tual ly the win. Seventeen-year-old Mor ris wasn ' t scheduled to ride, bu t was called in to replace Derri ck Pai - merit . who injured hi s back th e pre· vio us week at the Invaders hare and hound. Their bik e was prepared by off-roa d ace Dave Chase, who was really pumped up. " I usually ride, but th is was really different. I was as excited as if Iwas riding," said Chase. " Be sure to mention Answer Pro- ducts, Kern Cycle and Maxima for th eir help." Third in Class 21 went to Hemet, California Pro motocrossers DaleDon- del and Mich ael Neff (Ha n), who were participating in their first off- c; road race. They were sponsored by • Riverside Mitsubishi and Hemet Cycle Center. Chuck Pettigr ew' s brother Dave teamed-up with Rand y Yeuo on a Ca n-Am 2S0 out of Apple Valley Cycle Cent er to lead th e class for the firs t SOmiles, until they seized af ter

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