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1st of 8 in Open B
Fifteen races, and it all came down to this.
Actually, only a few class winners were determined at the 16th and final round of the 2002
Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship. Most notably, the overall champion would be
crowned on this day, with the battle between Steve Leivan and Brandon Forrester culminating
with a final showdown. The highly competitive Vet class winner would also be determined, with
Kevin Ruckdeschell in the driver's seat, and the Junior class also came down to the wire.
Throughout the year, the MHSC has been testing a new scoring method in which plastic
cards, about the size of a credit card, are placed under helmet visors. A PVC pipe contraption
rigged up to the scoring trailer detects the cards as riders pass through. The cards take the
place of bar code stickers, so there's no manual scanning involved. As I found out while
attempting to run the scanner at Smithville Lake, there is a certain technique to its operation,
which can lead to scoring errors. With the cards, it's all automatic. A sampling of riders had
been using the cards in past races, but today everyone would get a plastic card duct-taped to
the underside of their helmet visors. What happens if your visor gets ripped off your helmet,
you ask? "Better go back and find it," said Tom Eidam.
After I signed up and received my card, I walked down to the big creek to check out the water
level. The Knob Noster area had apparently been dry for some time, as the creek was fairly
low and easily passable, unlike last year when it was just high enough to make for an
uncomfortable crossing. I suited up with an extra jersey and shivered in the 45-degree air,
hoping my bike would start after its second engine tear-down in two weeks. It came to life after
a few good kicks and I began my practice lap.
What I found on the trails was pure joy. The course was nearly identical to White City the
previous week, with twisty trails on loamy ground with very few rocks. Most of the woods could
be ridden at a very fast pace in second and third gear, except for two drop-downs into small,
narrow creek beds that were first gear and a lot of clutch. The first creek bed run was
relatively short, but the second run was longer and tougher and ended with a rock garden,
just to remind everyone that we were still in Missouri. Anyone caught behind a slower rider
would have no choice but to follow. The 9-mile course had a few wide-open areas and a small
track laid out in an open field, but no major obstacles. Today, everyone could ride at an
aggressive pace.
Back at the truck, once again I smelled antifreeze on the bike, but this time it was just the
radiator bleed bolt that I forgot to tighten. The heli-coil was doing its job in the cylinder and the
bike was running perfectly. My fingertips were cold, so I switched to winter gloves and headed
to the starting area to wait in the cold for our row to start. The Open B class was about 7 rows
back, which meant a total of around 15 minutes on the line trying to shake off the chill and get
a good view of the other classes starting their races. On my left was Dwayne Parrish, riding a
KTM 300MXC, and Pat Welch was on my right with his big 520SX. When the board dropped, I
had to two-kick the bike and went into the first corner in the back of the pack. The trail
wandered in and around the pit area before crossing the big creek. I charged through the
creek and passed Pat, sending a nice cool splash of water his way, but he immediately
passed me back in the open area on the opposite side. My 300 was no match for his big
4-stroke and with watered-up goggles I followed him in a train of riders that included Dwayne
and Marty Smith. Pat eventually let me by, but Dwayne and Marty were riding strong. I had a
chance to get by Marty on a tricky hill that had two lines to the top, but I foolishly followed him
while he spun out on some rocks at the top. We both lost momentum but Marty recovered as I
continued to spin, so I had to play catch-up. Pat passed me in the long stretch of narrow
creek bed after I got hung up on a nasty tree root. The bike fell over upside-down and I had to
drag it out of the way. At the end of the first lap, Dwayne checked in first, followed by Marty
and then me. Pat and Wayne Hatfield were another 30 seconds back.
I was finally able to get around Marty near the end of lap two, where we crossed the big creek
for the second time. I learned from my previous mistake and took a different line up the creek
bank, which was just enough of an advantage to get around him and focus on Dwayne. I took
the lead just before the scoring trailer, but lurking behind me was Wayne, who passed me
somewhere in the third lap. By then, I was starting to encounter traffic as we began lapping
riders. Other than a few deep ruts in creek banks, the trail held up very well for the entire
race, so the fast guys kept going fast. Just after the first woods check on the fourth lap, the
AA's were already lapping me. Steve Levian and Doug Stone had set a blistering pace, with
Brandon Forrester close behind. I got around Wayne somewhere in that fourth lap, but he
was on my back tire when we passed through the scoring trailer to start our fifth and final lap. I
put just a small amount of distance on him, but then got caught behind a slow rider in the long
stretch of narrow creek. After the long creek run, passing was still a challenge. I rode hard for
the last lap and could see Wayne behind me when I came through the last section of grass
track around the pits. Once again, I took the win, but the margin was only 15 seconds. As the
lap times showed, everyone was riding fast at Knob Noster. The top 25 overall finishers
included exactly one person who wasn't an A or AA rider. Funny how perfect conditions can
bring out the best in bikes and riders.
The overall winner was Steve Leivan, who also took home the series with his victory. Doug
Stone placed second while Brandon Forrester, poised to de-throne Leivan as King of the
MHSC, suffered a mechanical problem and finished as runner-up for the series. The final
standings will be permanently marked with controversy, as Forrester was denied his request
to work the Knob Noster race and earn work average points that would have given him the
overall championship. But congratulations are well-deserved for Leivan, who came back from
nasty off-season injuries to win the series against some very tough odds. Congrats are also in
order for K-Ruck, who secured the Vet class series with his 4th place finish.
For me, the 2002 season brought the most success I've ever had, with 5 MHSC class wins
and the Open B series win. A milestone this year was three top-20 overall finishes in the
MHSC, which left me tied for 49th overall in the series. The only real disappointment was not
finishing that friggin' White City enduro for the 4th year in a row. People ask me where the
speed came from this year, but there's no magic to it. I kept the mistakes to a minimum, added
some new aggression to my riding style (as Adam Ashcroft can attest to), and built up a pretty
good resistance to the summer heat. But the real success this year was no visits to my
friendly doctor, who probably wonders why I don't come around anymore.
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See you next year....
