Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ fa ~ Yamaha YZ250-mounted Duane Conner scored his first-ever overall"win of t he year at the Hookstown 100. AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles/ Wiseco/Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 12/9 . Conner cooks Hookstown 100 National By Davey Coombs H OOKSTOWN , PA, OCT. 16 Yamaha-mounted Duane Conner scored his firs t m ajor win of his career with the overall victory a t ,the final round of the Na tional Championship Hare Scrambles Series in H ookst o wn, Conner m o ved past ea rly front-runners Kevin B d S tt PI ' rown an ,co essmger . a nd was never headed for th e 8 next three hours as he ro lled to a three-minute win over Brown, Team Husqv arna 's Ed Loj ak, professiona l m ot ocrosser T om Ca rso n, and Open A class winner Steve McSwa in . Con ner's win a lso catapu lte d him into third overa ll in th e fin al points sta n d ings for th e h are scra m b les cha mpio ns h ip. The. n ewl y crowne d T ony H endon did not show a t th e fin al rou nd , while seri es runner-up Lojak rode to third. Cagiva North Ameri~an / Metzeler/SpectroISmith / Ace r b is -b a ck ed Ma r k H yd e was disp laced by Conner for third in the ra n ki ngs, while Kentucky's Scott Su m mers ended th e seaso n in fift h o vera ll. -s, Other class win ners a t the Hook stown event, which ac ted as th e n inth ro u n d o f the Nation al Cross Country Series, in cluded A class leaders Crai g J ones (125cc class), Ohio 's David S he lly (200cc), Hu sk y- m ounted David Rhod es (Fo ur-Stro ke), and J oe Lojak (Sen ior). The H ookstown 100 was held a t Beaver Valley Raceway in western Penns ylva nia. T he eight-mile long co urse, laid o ut by tra ck opera tor Tom Meyers, was tight a nd challe nging, incorporating severa l steep cli mbs and th e faci lity's mo tocross track in its design .' Although th e a rea 's dry a u tu m n m ade th e goi ng dus ty in places, most riders seeme d quite pl ea sed with th e co urse itself. Approx im at el y 200 ride rs were on hand for th e th ree-h our run. ' \ After a short del ay on th e sta rti ng lin e to fit in a ll of th e riders according to class rows, Ma ier/Dunlo p / Smith / MJ USA -bac ke d Br o wn p laced h is O 'N a il-Lancaster Sports Cycle-sponsored Yama ha into th e lea d once th e green flag waved. Ka wasa ki-m o un ted SCOll Pl ess i n ~er and Loja k swe p t in from th e o utside wi th Co n ner, Carson, Sh ephard an d G&G Cycle's Rick Cl ax ton jamming 'to the insi de of the firs t co rner. Bro wn wo u ld lead the pack for th e firs t mile until Conner went past , though a short time lat er Bro wn was back in fro nt. Another change befo re the co m p letion of th e first 21 m inute la p wo u ld see Conner, back in th e ' lead. Bo th J ones an d Joe Loja k pi lo ted their Yamahas to domi na ting class wins. J o nes betterd Ohio YZI 25 rider J oe Krivest i and BT Raci ng/ G ear Racewea r's David Fall as by more tha n fi ve mi n u tes in win ning th e quarter-litre A class, whi le Lo jak top ped Suzu ki- mou nted Bill Moro z a nd Michi gan 's Clair Parl in by m ore th an 10 minutes. ' By virtue o f h is hi gh sco re Loj ak a ll bu t cli nch ed th e cro ss co u n try Senior A title. In th e 200cc A class, O h io 's David She lly pushed hi s Honda to a one minute win over Pen n sylva n ia .rider Donald Bigl ey and Ca giv a-rnounted Buddy West , wh ile Wa shingt on's ' David R hodes made hi s trip worthwh ile with a co nvinci ng Four-Stroke A wi n o ver Kentucky's PBI/Oury/ Su perTrapp/ Honda o f Prestonburgba cked Carey St u m p a nd Ohio 's Charl es Dailey. T h e first casua lty o f the day was th e Br id geston e/ AI Bak er/ Su p erT ra p p / H allm an-backed Su m mers , w ho lost a ll of the air out o f hi s back tir e before completing th e first goaround. Summers had p icked up h is first ma jor win on ly two weeks befo re in ro u nd eig h t of th e cro ss country series, bu t in H ook sto wn , he co dl d on ly ma n age 20t h ov erall after assorted troubles p lag u ed h im .th rou gh ou t. . After tw o la p s Conner h ad stretched h is lead to more than 20 seco nds o n Bro wn wi th Loj ak and Pl essin ger ru n ni ng almost a m inu te be hind. McSwa in was hol ding th e Open A lead o n hi s Barr 's Co m p.! Scott-backed C R500 with Carson an d H yde followi ng in short order. H yde wo u ld be forced to drop o ff of the pace on th e very next lap wh en he p la nte d hi s Ioot hard in a co rner an d su ffe red a p o ssib le fra cture. H e wou ld co n tin ue fo r a lmos t an hou r before fin all y with draw ing. KTM -m ounted Mi ckey Dorman p icked up the fi rst p lace tro p h y in th e 33-rider J u n ior class , the biggest di vision o n the line. Do rman bettered runner-u p Paul Mich els' Ca n Am by 75 seco nds, whi le th ird spot went to Honda rid er Albert Swager. Clayton Sol es' Open B class win a ll owed him to move clos er to th e ti tle in tha t class. as he beat his main rival , H usq va rn a -rno u n ted Ba rr y Gaston. by more th a n five m inu tes. Kawasaki 's J am es Chappell was third a t th e finish. Kentucky's Barron Allen, th e series fro nt-runner in th e 250cc B class. added to hi s lead with a divisio n wi n a t the H ook sto wn 100. Alle n topped CR250 rider Bria n Trem b lay by approxi ma tely two m inutes wit h third pl ace fin isher Frank Keegan 10 more back . In th e 27-rider 200cc B class H onda -m ounted J eff Lauth did th e tri ck u p fron t, p utting in eigh t laps in th e race co m pared to no more th an seven for hi s class co nte n ders . Yam ah a -m ounted S yd L ov ed a y pl aced seco nd with series con tender Ra lph Thorn 'a short ways ba ck on a Gear Ra cewear /Bl endz a ll -backed YZ125. Wh en Conner broke from th e trees to co m p lete hi s th ird lap he was st ill 20 seco nds up on th e number two rid er, but no w it was P lessin ger in th e runner-up spot on hi s Smi th / M a i er / T sub aki /O ' N ea l / G . J . Se tt les -backed KX250. Aggressive riding co m bi ned with a Co n ner pi t stop h ad a llowed Pl essinger the op portu ni ty to wipe out th e leader's margin, but before Pl essinger co u ld mak e Up th e fin al few seco nds hi s rid e ca me to an abrup t halt. " T he bike began to rev high j ust a fter the th ird lap barrels,", said a disappointed Pl essinger afterwards. " I started to thin k,' hey , th is thi n g's runnin g out o f gasl,' and the n it di d." A quick post-race chec k on Pl es- , si nger's bike showed th e problem to be a cl u mp o f dirt in the float bowl o f h is carburetor. With Pl essin ger o ut Brow n agai n took over th e n u mb er two posi tio n b e hin d Co n n er, w hil e Lo j a k , McSwai n , a nd Carson fo llowed a short tim e la ter. P en n sylv a n ia H o nda rider Keith Rodgers was in co n trol o f the second Open A position with YZ490 pilo t Stan Loj a k a nd KK S u pp ly/ An sw er/ Sm i th /Maier rid er Sh ephard following. Four-Stroke B series front-ru n ners H arvey Whitak er a nd T ra cy Warrington went o ne-on -one in th eir clas s for the full three hours before Kentucky's Whi tak er eme rged th e winner . Warrin gton was less th an a

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