Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ HARE SCRAMBLE AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 2 S e Finishing three minutes behind Pl essinger for seco nd was Jeff Russell. Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Scotl Plessinger powered hi s factory KTM 300 EIXC to the overall victory at the Moonshiner National. \ Plessinger motorsto Moonshiner National win By Jesse Thomas File photos by Tom T ysl and Tom Mueller cxmz, K , MAR. 25 Y fter a th ree-hour, see-sa w d ice fo r th e lead th rough out the four-loop Kentucky Moonshiner Nati onal , defending National Ha re Scrambles Champi on Sco tt Plessin g er , from H amilt on, Ohio, emerged victorio us in the second round 01 th e Na tio na l Ch ampion sh ip Series. After scori ng zero points in the series opener a t T exas, in February, P lessinger pulled out to a three-minute lead in th e lat e stages of th e race to win th e Kentucky Moonshiner over Team A 20 Yama ha 's Jeff Russell. R ussell , who won th e Sa nd Flea 100 Grand Na tiona l Cro ss Country tw o week s before, pow ered h is YZ250WR into seco nd p la ce o ve r teamm ate a nd form er Nationa l H ar e Scra mb les Ch ampion Ed Loj ak , Rounding o ut th e to p five were H onda ' s Sco tt Su m mers a n d AT K's G reg Zitterko pf. " I had so me p roblems two laps from th e fin ish , which cost me a bou t a minute a nd a half o n th e leaders," said Pl essinger. " I just went for it and co uldn' t beli eve 1 ca ugh t up to th em . It was a good ra ce a nd I'm real happy." .T he Moonshiner Natio na l was th e sixth Nationa l har e scra mbles hosted by the West Kentucky Trail Riders, wh ich was held within th e Lake' Barkley Sta te Resort Park. " I was p ra ying for ra in the ni ght before th e race," sai d Pl essin ger. " I go t my wish ." Rain pelted th e ar ea Saturday night, making for ideal racing cond itio ns on Su nday . Race da y dawned clear and su n ny. T he fir st wave was the AA class, followed o ne minute lat er by th e rest of th e field. At II :15 a. rn., th e AA class charged ou t a grassy field, up a long hill a nd on to th e 13.5-mile loop. The four-l ap co u rse wa s m ostl y woods trail s, with two fast fire road sections , m ixed in ~ith creek beds. " I was in third pl ace a t the sta rt," said Plessin ger. " Ro n Naylor was o u t in front leading th e wa y, while Mark H yde was just in front o f me." T he front-runners stayed pretty close for th e first few miles. " Du ring th e fir st lap, Naylor cra shed a nd H yde took th e lead," said Plessinger. " I was in seco nd th en , so 1 sta rted pr essuring Mark really hard. H e event ually pulled over a nd let me by. " As the rid ers emerged o u t of th e woods, do wn the creek bed a nd imo the scor ing ba rrels a t th e end o f lap o ne, it was Pl essin ger ou t in front lead in g H onda-m ounted St ev e McSwain , Summers, Du ane Co n ne r a nd T im She p ha rd - a ll a bo u t one minute apa rt - wh ile H yde dropped o ff th e pace. Back in ninth was Loj ak . Du rin g la p two Su m mers passed McSwain , while Co n ne r held down fourth . Co nner, ho wever , sta rted to fade, as Loj ak moved in a nd passed Shephard for fifth . As the end of the second la p neared , McSwain settled ba ck into seco nd a nd was closing in o n th e lead er , Pl essinger. " Whe n 1 took th e lead 1began riding co nse rva tively," sa id Pl essinger . " By th e halfway point, McSwain pulled up a nd passed me, a nd Su m me rs was right o n my rear fender. " At th e same tim e, Russell moved into the p ictu re a fter a medio cre start . Russell sta rted pressuring Loj ak , wh o , had just passed Conner. Russell soo n slipped by Lojak, making th e top order McSw ain , Pl essin ger, Summers, Loj ak , Russell a nd Conner. "McSwain and Su m mers were riding real fast ," said Pl essinger. But after refueling a t th e end of th e third lap, Pl essinger repassed McSwa in for th e lead . "Shortly after 1 go t by McSwa in m y throttle bega n to stick," said Pl essin ger. " I had to sto p a nd 1 sa w th a t th e th rottle cable was co m ing ou t o f its housing o n th e handl ebar. 1 fixed it, bu t it cos t me about one and a ha lf minutes. After th at , 1 began riding real hard - I th ou gh I th ey were long-gone. But a t the en d of the lap, 1 ca ugh t Summers a nd pa ssed h im. 1 cou ldn't bel ieve 1 ca ught them. 1 just couldn't believe it!" . H ead in g o ut o n th e seco nd-to-last lap, Pl essin ger had j ust o ne rider a head of him - McSwain. • " I was righ t beh ind Steve and a ll of a sudden he sta rted looking do wn at his bike," said Pl essinger. "As 1wen t by him , he just looked u p a t me, as if he was tellin g me th at some th ing had brok en . H is rea r brake brok e a nd he had to doubl e-pump it to ma ke it wo rk. " H ead ing out o n th e fo u rt h a nd fi na l lap, Pl essinger enjoyed abo u t a two a nd -a-half m inute lead o n Russell. McSwain , wh o had losi his rear brak es entirely, enco u n tered more problems when he got a flat tire. Then, Summer s had a minor setbac k when he clipped so meth ing with hi s rear brak e pedal a nd had to stop to be nd it bac k into posi tio n . Pl essinger crossed th e fin ish line close to three minutes a hea d o f Russell, who finished just a head o f Lojak, Summers finished fourth while Zitterkopf, who won th e opening round of th e seri es in Tex a s, took fifth. McSwain ended up sixth . " It was a really good ra ce for me," sai d Pl essinger . " Bu t since 1 didn 't finish in Texas, I' ve got to stay real co ns is tent for th e rest o f th e series. For today, th ough , I'm happy. 1 wa nt to tha nk my sponsors: KTM Am erica , HiPoint Racin g , Sm ith Goggl es , Ipone Oils, Pro-Circuit, KRW Cycl es, Arai and Renthal. " KTM rider Martin Kehlrneter ca ptured th e 250cc A class win ahead of G ary Roach a nd Eldon Keen. Zitterkopf topped th e Open A division over teammat e Matt Sta vish a nd KTMmounted Kent Wagner. The 200cc class was th e largest B class of the day, a nd it was won by another KTM rid er , Greg Weddle. Rounding out the top three were Kawasaki riders Bryan Wesson a nd Steve Crews. 01 Results O /A: I. Scott P less inger ( KT M). AA: I. Jdl R ussell (Ya m); 2. F.dward Lojak (Ya m); 3. Scott Sum mers (Hon ). OPEN A: I. Grq: Ziller kopl (AT K); 2. Mall Stavish (AT K); 5. Kem Wagn er (KT M). 250 A: I. Ma rti n Keh l mci~ (KTM ) ; 2. Gary Roa ch (KT M); 5. Eldo n Keen (KTM). 200 A: I. Ge ne O 'N ail (Ya m); 2. Craig Jones (Ka w): 3. Je ll Fredette ( Kaw). VET A: I. Wall y wil son (KT M); 2. Mike Frazee (Yam): 3. Da vid Nol nar (Ya m). 4-STRK A: I. H arvey Whitak er (H o n); 2. Joseph Lawson (Hon); : Craig Hayes (H us). t SR A: I. Joe: Lojak (Yam); 2. Bob Bean (H u e): 5. Ro nal d Rose (Yam). S/SR A: I. Harry G reen lee (Ya m ); 2. Charles Ga lbraith (H us]: 5. Emmell Cox J r. (Ka w). 2·MAN TEAM: I. Pa ul AllenlJ esse Gree r (ATK); 2. Kenn et h Cou lta'/Jack Barnett (KT M); 5. J oe: Ragon / Phi l Broyles ( Ho n) . OPEN II: I. Lee William ha m (AT K); 2. Mar k Edwa rds (Yam): 3. Mike Sa nders (SUl ). 250 B: I. Rob ert Pa tter son (Ho n) ; 2. Daniel R ickeu s (Ya m): 3. Ri ck Sims (AT K). 200 II: I. Greg Weddl e (KT M); 2. Bryan Wesson { Ka w) : 3. Sieve Crews ( Ka w) . VET B: I . Ken n eth Joyce ( Ya m) : 2. Jerry Cas tlema n {Hon ): 3. Mi ke' Tay lor (Hon ). SR. B: I. Ro ber t Ha rris (H a n): 2. J a nson Duk es (Ka w); 5. J oe:Bu rn ha m (Ka w ). SlSR II: I. Carl Donelson (ATK ); 2. Bob Gr ider (AT K); 5. Ron Throckmonon (H us]. H ITR: I. Ph il Sta nfill (Yam ); 2. Ha rvey Ca n non (Ho n );!. Terry Denny (KT M). LlTR: I. 5<011 T aylor (Yam) ; 2. J ason Felk er (Kaw).

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