Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 00 ........ ..... v ..0 a v ;> o Z Scott Summers took third overall and the Four-Stroke class win , Ohio's Gary Roach piloted his Kawasaki KX250 to the overall victory at the Fireball National. AMA/Wiseco/Suzuki National Cross Country Chamllionshills: Round 11 Roach scores upset at Fireball By Davey Coombs TARENTUM , PA, NOV. I Kawasaki-mounted Gary Roach pulled off an upset win at the 'Fall Fireball round of the National Cross Country Championsh ip s, his first win of the 12 race series, after 14 earl y contenders Scott Pl essin ger-and Eddie Lojak fell out of the chase with mechan ical troubl es. ' T h a t lef t Oh io 's Roach alone out front and a llo wed th e reigning B class Cross Country Champion to take hom e th e 250cc A w in a n d th e ov erall troph y. Rounding O U I th e top five .overa ll spots were local Yamah a hero Sta n ley Loj ak, th e Open A cla ss victor, Fou r- Strok e A c h a m p Scott Su m me rs, Pittsburgh 's ~Iik e T oole. a n d part-tim e m or ocrosser Dav id Sa n ti. In o ther cla ss chases Brett Slander took the 200cc A win in hi s debut seri es a p pea ra nce. whil e ve teran woods aces J oseph Hull and Harry Greenlee ca p tu red th e Senior and Su per Senior A wins respectively. In Am ateur a ction T om March es e pi lot ed hi s KT M to th e Junior class trophy , while Paul Michels . Buren Hamrick . and j eff Lauth ran down (in order) Open B, 250cc B, a nd 200cc B wi ns: Mik e Di nger (Fo u r-Stro ke B), Joh n Kubl i (Sen ior B). Johny Lee (Su pe r Senior B). and Charles Hawk (Masters) al so found themselves in the winner's circle. With nearl y 250 riders in attendan ce. th e Fireball course was both cha lleng ing and entertaining. Situ ated throughout th e su rro u n d in g hill s of Tarent u m, th e even t W;I S backed by th e Fa wn Towns h ip Fire Dep artment a nd assis ted by Loj ak's Cycle, home o f severa l of th e fastest LTO SS cou ntry riders in th e co un try , i nc l u di n g 1987 N a t ion al H a re Scrambles C ha mpion Eddie Lojak , T he riders began th e ru n in rows accordi ng to class wi th each div isio n lea vin g t he lin e at one m in ut e in u-rval s, Wh en the lead pack o f Experts hit th e firs t turn a fter th e dea d-e ngine start it was J ohn Ayers leadi ng th e wa y a board a KDX200. Sta n Loj ak a lso ra n h is YZ490 10 the fro m, bu t a seco nd corner spi ll left Lo jak , 200cc A co n te nd er Da ve Fu lla s, a n d Open A co nte nder Tom my Harris a t th e back o f th e pa ck . By th e end o f th e first 28 m inute lap it wa s T eam Husq varna 's Edd ie Lojuk holdin g a 30 seco n d lead on Honda-m oun ted Ri ch Kresi c a nd Oh io Kaw asaki pil ot Sco tt Pl essin ge r. Loj ak 's a ppeara nce in th e race itself ca me as so mew ha t of a su rp rise as a recent accid ent had left him with a severely sprained knee, But th e thought of co n tin u ing the eight- year Loja k Fireball win ning streak was eno ug h to bring him orr th e inj uredreserve for th e even t. I The fourth rid er into th e chec k a t th e end of lap o ne wa s Kentucky H o nd a rid er Sco tt Su m me rs. The four- stroke rid er had wrapped up a National hare scra m bles lit le two weeks ea rl ier a nd was in Ta ren tum to vic fo r a cross co u n try ti tle. Fellow Kentu ck y thumper p ilo t Ca rey Stu m p has battled Su m mers th roughou t the ser ies. a nd a t Fireball th e two occ u p ied first a nd second in that A class. Ohio's J ohn Ga llagher a nd Charles Dailey ran th ird and fourth . meaning th at th e four front runner s in tha t division pl aced just th e wa y th ey are cu rre nt ly ra ted in th e series sta ndi ngs, In th e 200cc A cla ss seri es, point leader Ben Hamrick moved a step closer to the titl e. but it was loca l MX hero Brett Salander that captured th e da y. Salander .started out beh ind wood s regu lars Hamrick and Yamaha-mounted Mike McCarren a nd several cross country specialists. but aft er finding the right gear and adj usting hi s wide open style for the trai l Sa la n der was ab le to beg in m oving th rough th e pack. Two laps from th e en d Sa lander fina lly ran dow n the leading duo and too k over the top spot. Ha m rick and McCarren cam e through next a t the finish with Suzu ki-mounted R ussell Cherrv a nd New J ersey's Sco tt Wolfersberger trai ling . Closer to the front P lessinger was

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