Pro Diaries: Destry Abbott, Russ Pearson and the Alessis Check In

Hear all about the four-way battle for first in round four of the Hare & Hound Series from two sides, as Russ Pearson and Destry Abbott each give their race accounts, including a drag race out of the pits. The Alessis check in, also, from Glen Helen's REM motocross race, where Jeff Alessi, back from injury, made a return to racing.

Alessi Weekly - Vet X Glen Helen

Today was a fun day of racing at our favorite local race venue (REM)!

It was good to see the crew there, too. Our race boss Larry Brooks and his son Paul, our mechanic and his son, Rick, Jeff and his friend from Texas, Jesse Moore, Nicole, Mike Smith, our best mate and his son, and all the media people, and friends from the old days at super Sat Perris days! It was like one big get together.

Oh yeah... Mike won both motos with big leads—racing the 250F against the 450s! Today also marked Jeff Alessi's return to racing. Yep, we got some work to do, but he did get second place a ways behind Mike.

Competition:
their was the usual rem culprits their dubach, nihan, a guy from the worcs series bell, amaradio, and we talked our friend joe into coming!

—Tony Alessi

Russell Pearson Race Report

Utah Hare & Hound

Hello Everyone,

This weekend marked the 4th round of the AMA National Hare and Hound series in Jericho, Utah. The Sageriders put on this race and it is usually one of the most fun of the year and I was really looking forward to it. After my brother Nick and girlfriend Tina got off work, we were on our way Thursday evening with dogs and squirrels. We arrived in Delta, Utah at our motel at around 1:30am and were ready for some shut eye.

Friday, we were up at 7, got some breakfast, and back driving the 45 or so minutes to where the race was. We pulled off the road by the Little Sahara riding area for jetting and final suspension check ups. There was a bit of snow on the ground and the conditions were just epic.

Right before I headed out, the dogs (YZ and Riley) disappeared. Well, they've done that before, but usually in a couple minutes, they come back, so we (Nick and I) went out. My YZ450F felt really good and comfortable. I ended up slowing down the rebound in the shock 1 click and that made the little difference and I felt confident and stoked.

We got back to the truck and still, no dogs. Crap, they've never gone that long. I yelled and yelled and was like, "Well, I got to find these crazy dogs." So, Nick and I started the search. I'll go over here, you go over there. I ended up coming upon Destry Abbott and his mechanic John and Destry's dad, they said they'd let me know if they see them. Then I saw Steve Hengeveld and his mechanic; they said they'd let me know if they saw them. Then, David (my cousin) showed up and he started looking with Nick and Me.

Man, we searched and searched. We put our pit-board out on the main road with "Lost Dogs" written on it and phone numbers. After a couple hours and all the nearby hilltops, sagebrushes and trees searched, I headed to the boxvan. I was kind of in a panic and bummed. It wasn't so bad at first, but as the minutes turned to hours I was getting scared.

I thought, "We need a bigger sign," so we got our big table out and got some duct tape and started writing "LOST DO—" but as Tina went to put the G and then S on the table, here came the hoodlums, trotting through the trees, back to the boxvan. Well, after a pretty good spanking and then some hugs, they were put on a short chain. A big thanks to David and Nick and anyone else who helped.

We headed to the pits and they said the start would be open early in the morning, so we headed on into town. After getting the bikes washed and prepped and eating dinner, our dad showed up with Tuffy, Axel, Maggie and Emma (some of our little brothers and sisters). We did a couple things to help them out with their little bikes and then it was lights out.

Saturday: "Ring a ding ding," as the alarms were going off and after a shower and a quick dog walk, we were on the road at 5:15am Utah time. We rolled into the pits at around 6 am and it was just showing glimpses of light. We got signed up and they said the start wasn't going to be open now 'til 9. Axel and Tuffy were racing at 8:30, so we checked over their little YZ125L four-strokes. Axel's throttle grip looked like it had been through the cheese grater, so we put a new one on and got them some hand guards and they were all ready.

We got to watch them start and that was a lot of fun and then it was back to the boxvan to put gear on and check out the start. We (Nick and I) got down there and checked it all out. We got the best line and practiced a couple more starts and she was firing and ready to go. We went back to the van where Tina had us some PB&Js for some fuel and the kids had just finished their race. They were telling stories and they had a blast. Dallin (my cousin David's brother) raced also along with a couple more of our cousins and they were doing all kinds of story telling.

Well, it was about that time.

After the National Anthem and the Rider's meeting, we headed like a bunch of crazy ants to the start line. They got us all lined up and, after a bit, the banner was up. Dead silence for a minute and then... it drops.

Kick and no "braa," just twisted the throttle and no go, "Craapp." Kick, kick, kick and after a bit, finally fire and, "braaa," pinned. I cheezed it on the start, so now I was behind a hundred or so people and we all had to funnel down at the end of the bomb between 2 banners about 50 feet apart. I came into it and it was scary: soft sand dunes and everyone wanting to go fast.

"Ooh," as somebody hit some sand and hooked a right, right in front of me, then another guy sticks his front end and flies over the handle bars. I wiggled my way through the banner and back, pinned, trying to pass as many people as possible. I saw David off to the side doing the same thing, then Quinn Cody and I were passing people together. It was totally craazy.

We had like 7 miles of sand and it helped me out in passing a lot of people. I finally caught up to Matt Gosnell and pulled up on him and he kind of backed off, and then on to the next, who was Kellon Walch. I finally snuck around him and then just pinned it. After another couple miles, there was Destry. We were probably 15 miles or so into it and somebody held out 4 fingers. I was 4th. And the leaders were all right there.

I pulled up to Destry's rear tire and he was riding good. I would almost put a tire in there every once in a while, but he was riding good and now we were right on Kendall's tire. David had pushed his way by both them and I could see him stretching it. Crapp, I pushed and tried a different line through the trees. Bad idea, as I was now off the course and finding my way back. I lost Destry and Kendall, so I pinned it and after a little bit was right back on Destry's tire.

About the 30-mile mark, Kendall blew a corner. Destry tucked in and I pinned it right with him. I was 3rd now. We got on some roads, and Destry dusted me a bit, but we got back in the sand and trees and I was like, "OK, this is it." I floored it so I could be right on his tire coming into the pits and that's what happened. Alright, it was 5 mph pits and I could have thrown a rock and hit him.

OK, quick pit, so I can get by him! I threw some goggles on and didn't even take a drink of water. Nick said I was like 40 seconds behind David. She was full and "braa," back to 5 mph. Destry was still filling. I was like, yeah! But then they did the extra pump on the dry break and he dropped it into gear and we were practically side by side, but he had like 2 feet on me. You can't pass in the pits, so I had to hang there 'til the end.

End of pits and it was a drag race.

We were both going for it, pinned. We were now in some whoops and going fast. Scary fast. My heart was thumping. I pulled to the side and made the pass. Breathe, breathe... as I left it pinned and looked forward to catch David. My Yamaha was finally open and we were flowing. I looked back at a check—no Destry, cool. I pinned it and then around the 15-mile mark, I just blew a corner. What?! And then I went to the next corner and no rear brake! ??? Did I heat it up, I bled the brakes right before the race with a brand new bottle of the best fluid. Did I bend the disc??? I'll play it cool for a bit and maybe it will come back. Never did.

After a bit, I could hear Destry. I was riding a bit over my head as I would bang off trees and bounce off rocks, trying to give it my all with not much stopping, but the wicked front brake. I finally blew a corner and he snuck under me. I followed him for a bit and he slowly snuck away. I rode my butt off and came into the finish 3rd, like 15 or 20 seconds behind Destry. David won by like 25 seconds and that was the story.

1st David Pearson
2nd Destry Abbott
3rd Russell Pearson
4th Kendall Norman
5th Matt Gosnell
6th Quinn Cody
7th Kellon Walch
8th Carl Massaberg

Something I noticed was that out of the top 8 this weekend, and also 2 weeks ago at the last National, 5 of them are my buddies from Vegas. Carl is a kid I ride with quite a bit during the week and all the others are close friends we hang out with and ride with, too.

I am back home and back to work, because this weekend is a WORCS race in Victorville, CA, followed by our next AMA National Hare and Hound in Lucerne Valley, CA the next weekend. I want to give a big thanks to my dad and brother, Nick, and girlfriend, Tina, for always being there at the races and waking up at the wee hours of the morning and running around for me, you guys and gal are awesome and I truly appreciate it. Also, a big thanks to Yamaha and all of my incredible sponsors for their support. Thanks to all my family, friends and fans for your support and backing also.

Russell Pearson

www.RussPearson.com

Destry's H&H Race Story

AMA Hare & Hound Round 4 - Jericho, UT

Pre-race:

Back on the road again... It was really a short week from the last race at Honey Lake. Now it's Thursday and Jonny, my dad and I are on our way up to Utah. We're planning on spending the night in St. George, Utah tonight and we'll drive the rest of the way in the morning. Coming into this race, I have a little RC outdoor streak going on. My plan is to try and keep the streak going, but I know it's not going to be easy.

I'm really happy with the way my KX450F is working and from what I'm hearing it's going to be on the wet side at the race. I heard it's going to clear up tomorrow (Friday) and the racing should be really good. The Utah rounds are a lot different than most of the H&H races. The clubs up here put you into the trees and the speeds are a lot slower, which I like. I'm really looking forward to Saturday!

Friday:

Wow! What a great day of riding. We showed up around 11:00 and I was really surprised to see how much snow was on the ground. Jonny and I geared up and went for a ride. I wish I had some pictures of our ride, because most of the time we were riding in snow. It was a blast, but really slick in a few spots.

After riding for a little while we loaded everything back up and went further down the road to the race site. I signed up and talked to a few guys and from what I'm hearing they're going to be cutting out some of the mountain sections. It a real bummer, but there's too much snow and we wouldn't be able to get through some of the sections. I'm sure the race is still going to be really good, and I know I need to ride smart tomorrow. It's going to be really muddy and slick in some of the upper sections. The course is going to be 85 miles long. The first loop is 45 and then the next one will be 40. I'm really hoping tomorrow is going to be a great day for me. I feel like I'm ready and now I just need to go out there and get it done!

Race Day:

After hitting the snooze button twice, we finally got up and had the hotel's continental breakfast. Then it was off to the race. At 9:00, I went out to the start and got my spot dialed. We couldn't practice the start, but we were allowed to walk it. It was a really fast start and then went into the sand dunes about a quarter mile off the start.

At 12:00 it was race time! When the banner fell the 450 started on the first kick and I was off. I actually grabbed the holeshot into the dunes and led the race just for a little bit. If you've never seen the start of a National H&H, it's really a must-see. There's usually a minimum of 100 riders on the front row, so when you grab the hole shot it's a pretty big deal!

Then Kendall Norman bagged me when I shut off on one of the dunes. Since the ground was still pretty wet, I could just stay on Kendall and key off him. About 7 or 8-miles into it, David [Pearson] made a great pass on me. He was right behind me off the start and riding really well. When he went by me I just stuck on the back of him and then we tried our best to get around Kendall. While this was going on, I looked back and could see Russ [Pearson] right on me. It was really cool to have a four-way battle with everyone this close.

Then David made the pass on Kendall, and started to pull away. Now I knew I needed to get by Kendall as fast as I could, but with all the trees and as tight as it is, it's really hard to pass. I followed Kendall for a good 10 or 15 miles and then he blew a corner and both Russ and I got by. I couldn't see David anywhere and this wasn't a good thing. I tried my best to give it a good push before our pit, but Russ was still all over me and keeping me going.

When we came into the pits from our first loop (which turned out to only be 35-miles), they ended up having to cut out more of the course then they wanted to. I was about 30 or 40 seconds behind David, and Russ was less then a second behind me. I believe fourth was Kendall and then I'm not sure after that. We had a great pit stop with my dad and Jonny giving me Trick gas and my Scott goggles (my little sponsor plug!).

I was able to get back onto pit road right in front of Russ, but as soon as the 5 mph pit speed was over we both pinned it and he was able to get by me while I shut off for some whoops. Dang, I knew I should've kept it on a little longer! Now I was running third and I figured I would do my best to stay on Russ and maybe we could catch up to David. I was doing good, until a close call and then before I knew it Russ was gone. Now I didn't have anyone to ride with and it wasn't much fun.

The course was actually just about perfect. You could be super aggressive and just lay it down in some of the corners, but then there would be the ones that looked good until your back end passed your front. It was still a little muddy, and then we had some sections that still had snow on the trails. About 10 miles into the second loop I felt like my line choices were a lot smoother then the guys in front of me. You could see when they would make a mistake and I felt like I might be making up some time. Then before I knew it, I could see Russ and that gave me the spark I needed.

Russ and I have been close in points all year and I knew I needed to give it everything I had if I wanted to have a shot at winning this championship back. I was able to get right on him and it helped me relax. Then not too much further, he blew a corner and I slipped by. Yes, now I'm in second and I knew I had to stay on it and not let him back by. I still couldn't see David, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to catch him. I was riding really aggressive and made a couple of mistakes, but I knew my pass was still pretty good. I would look over my shoulder every now and then and could still see Russ behind me. I know I'm not supposed to look back, but I always like to know what's going on around me.

Then about the 30-mile marker of the second loop I could see David. At this point, I figured we still had 10 miles to go and I felt like I had a good shot at this thing. I was about 20 to 25 seconds back and I think I was closing a little. Then I came to the 34-mile marker and before I knew it, we were right by the pit heading towards it. That's when I realized that we we're actually finishing the race! Yep, the second loop was 35-miles long and I ended up about 15 seconds back from David.

I was really hoping to win today, but I rode well and can't take anything away from David. He's really a great guy and I was happy to see his bad luck streak end. Russ didn't finish that far behind me. The course was really good considering they had to cut a lot of the miles out. It's one of the first times I wish it could've been a lot longer!

Results Overall (Unofficial):
1st David Pearson
2nd Destry Abbott
3rd Russell Pearson
4th Kendall Norman
5th Matt Gosnell
6th on ?

Other Notes:

I think this was the first time KTM has overalled a National H&H since the great Danny Hamel did it back in the early 90's. Congrats to David!
Editor's Note: KTM's last win in a H&H was courtesy of another Pearson, David's cousin Nick, in September 1998 on a KTM 380 MXC.

The club really did a great job with this year's H&H. The two Utah races seem to be my favorite in this series. We have another Utah H&H in May, and I'm hoping to finish one spot better there.

It looks like David broke my streak, but that's ok. I just want to make sure I can win the H&H championship.

My next race will be this weekend in Victorville, California for the WORCS race. It's a bummer the race is on Easter weekend, but the good news is that my wife and kids will be there. I think my son is going to be racing his first WORCS race. My daughter said she wants to wait and race the one here in Arizona (October).

Brian Brown was going to be racing this weekend but he called me on Friday and said his van broke down. He didn't even make it out of California before his bad luck struck. I know he was really bummed since he's always done well here. Sorry Brian, you missed a good one!

Best Wishes,

Destry

www.DestryAbbott.com

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