Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127181
Ya maha rider Ed Lojak arrived at the finish check in third place after dic ing with Kevin Brown most of t he race . , Scott Plessinger displays his first place trophy following the National Hare Scrambles in Louisiana. It was his first-ever National w in . AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 2 Plessinger pulls off Louisiana victory By June Pafford Photos by Jeff Albright SALINE, LA, FEB. 26 Twen ty-one year old Scott Plessin ger, from Cincinnati, O h io, didn't let the constant attack by former m ulti -time Natio nal Enduro Ch am p ion Terry Cunn in gh am get th e best of him at the Louisiana National. After Pl essin. ger and Cunningham swap ped the lead back and forth several ' 22 times during th e 78-mile race, Plessinger even tuall y motored ah ead and pulled off his first-ever Nationa l Championship H are Scrarnb les victory. " I'm really happy," said Pl essinger. "I won one of th e Grand National Cros s Country races last year, but this- is my first National Hare Scrambles win - this is th e biggest win of my career. " .But it didn't come easily. " T erry and I rode together mos t of the race , it was close," said Plessinger. It was so close , in fact, th at the two riders actually ran into each other late in the race as the y diced for the lead, but when it was all over , the Team Green-backed Plessinger bore down a nd pulled away fro m Cunni ngham and finished approxi- , mately one minute and 20 seco nds ahead of his long-time rival and friend, Cun~ingham . ..It reall y was fun ," said Cunnin gh am , "an? th at ,?osen' t al ways happen at National s. Third overa ll went to the defending Nation al Cro ss Country cham p Ed Lojak , piloting a Yamaha YZ250WR, while Honda-mounted Kevin Brown and Yam ah a rid er J oe Zierman fill ed o u t the top fiv e positions. Tim Newell fini shed sixth rounding out th e first six 250cc riders, while Aaron H ough, riding a l25cc Kawasaki finished seventh overall, taking th e I 25cc class win. Team Green's Larry Roesel er finished eighth overall on a 250cc Kawasaki , whi le ninth went to th e first Open class rider, Ed Keen riding a 350cc KTM. T he Hi-Point B rider was Suzukimounted John McLemore. The event was hosted by the Dusty Wheels Motorcycle Club , who wanted to thank Mr. Thrasher and Randy Thrasher for allowing them to hold the National event on their private land. " Witho u t their help, this race wou ldn't have happened.t' .said club member Denn is Willingham. Nearl y 218 riders filled th e start ing areai n separate class waves with 36 250cc Experts in th e first row . At o ne minute intervals, the next row of Open Experts took off and were foll owed by the 0-200cc Expe rts. Rain during the pr eviou s cou ple of weeks left the course wet and soft in many areas, but th e sun peaked in and out of th e clouds throughout th e day. The da y's racing form at included six 12 mil e laps, whi ch took th e lead ers a little over three hours to co mplete. The B riders went four laps. . Wh en th e g ree n fl ag dropped signa ling th e com mencement of th e dead -engine start 250cc Expe rt wave, Cunn ingha m nailed th e holeshot o n hi s T eam Green Kaw asaki a n d jum ped o ut in front across a rou gh , 100 yard, freshly p lowed waterm elon field. Newell and Plessin ger cha sed in close pursuit. "It was a real fast start," said Pl essinger. " It , wa s ro ug h wi th everybody going wide open o ver th e wh oops." Once o ut on th e track po siti on s quickl y cha nged. " I was third and Newell was in second o n th e start," said Pl essinger. " Bu t a bo ut two miles into the race, Tim crashed and I passed him for second." ' When the riders headed into the first checkpoint, it was Cunningham leading the way closely followed by th e Hi -Point/Smith Goggl es/Tsubaki /Maier Plastics/PJ-I /Dunlopspo nso red Plessinger. Behind the lead duo chased some heavy hitters, includ ing Kurt Hough , Brown , Roeseler and Mark Hyde. While Cunni ngham and Pless inger weaved 'in and out through the trees in close succession, Plessinger began experiencing an annoying problem. "On the first la p , my handlebar grip came loo se," said Plessi nger. "After the firs t lap, I pulled into the pi ts and they did n 't have anything read y for me, so I just ended up taking off and wai ting until the third lap before getting ' it fixed," said Plessinger. Despite the loos e grip, Plessinger tailed, and a t one point passed Cunningham during the next three laps. "Terry and I were all a lo ne for the first three laps and I just let Terry lead the first lap. During the second la p, I passed T err y - he just let me by." said Pl essinger. " I wanted to let him lead so I could follow and wait for mistakes," said Cunningham, " bu t he didn't really want the , lead . I had to really slow down. It wa s like he was saying, ' No, I don't want it , yo u take it. " , However , by th e end of th e lap Cunningh am repassed Plessinger. Durin g th e third lap, Cunningham held about a five second lead over Plessinger with Hough in third. Whil e Cunningham an d Pl essinger were leading th e way , H ough, Roeseler and Hyde ran into problems of their o wn. , J amming down a logging road sectio n of the co urse , Roeseler reportedly cam e across one of th e bi g mudhol es on the co urse and go t stuck, and about th e same tim e, H yde came along and wh eelied through th e. mudhole sending a wave of muddy water over Roeseler and his ' Kawasaki, causing Roeseler's bike to drown out. This cost Roeseler valuable time as he broke free from the mudhole. Shortly a fter both Hough and Hyde ran out of gas . Meanwhi le, up front , Cun ningham and Plessi nger completed the third lap and headed into the pits just a few bi ke lengths apart. Not only did Plessinger need to 'refuel, but he also ha d to secure the loose gri p he was deal ing with for the last thr ee la ps. . " Terry and I came into the pits together and I was there for a minu te and he was in the re for 30 seconds, " said Plessinger. Cunningham headed out into lap four in the lead. But Cunningham tho ugh t that Plessinger had already left the p its in front of h im and was leading the race. when, in fact, Pl essinger was act ua lly 30 seconds beh ind Cunningham .