Lucerne National Hare & Hound

After the first few miles, the Desert Motorcycle Club's 38th annual Winter Classic was essentially decided, though that doesn't mean it wasn't exciting at round one of the AMA/FMF Racing National Hare & Hound Series.

Montclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racing YZ450F rider Russell Pearson jumped out to the lead at the bomb in the Lucerne Valley, California, event so he never ran in anyone's dust the rest of the day—and a very long day it was at a reported 96 miles. Unlike most Nationals in recent memory, this one harkened back to the "good ol' days" when they were an honest 100 miles of all the desert had to offer: high-speed valleys, wicked cross-grain, boulder fields and eye-popping up- and downhills that would do an enduro proud.

"The race course was awesome; I felt like I was at a National enduro on my 500," runner-up Destry Abbott exclaimed. The defending National champ chased Pearson, the 2003 champ, all day; he'd close then lose ground, close then lose ground. When he fell late in the race, that ended any hope of catching Pearson.

"I looked back every once in a while—you can't look back much—but they said I only had a little bit on him right at the [main] pits," Pearson said. "I just did everything I could do out there. I rode a good race, and my bike worked awesome." The Lucerne Valley victory was a good start to reclaiming the championship he won in 2003 and lost last year.

Somewhat amazingly, Pearson used the same bike he'd used the week before at the WORCS opener. All he did was switch number plates, put on new tires (using the same type he ran in Phoenix), change gearing, threw in a new spark plug and give it a good once-over.

Pearson's teammate, Ty Davis, took third overall on his YZ250, and first in the 250 class. Honda's Steve Hengeveld ran his XR650R to fourth with former series champ Brian Brown rounding out the top five on his Team Green KX500. It marked the first race for Brown since he broke his leg and suffered other injuries while practicing for last season's finale.

1. Russell Pearson (Yam)
2. Destry Abbott (Kaw)
3. Ty Davis (Yam)
4. Steve Hengeveld (Hon)
5. Brian Brown (Kaw)
6. Quinn Cody (KTM)
7. Joey Lanza (KTM)
8. David Pearson (Kaw)
9. Kellon Walch (KTM)
10. Matt Gosnell (KTM)