Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eHARE SCRAMBLES e AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 5 Plessinger nips Russell at Hookstown National By Larry Bell noossrows. PA. MAY6 trn 's defending Nati on al H ar e Scrambl es Champion Scott P lessin ger cap ture d hi s seco nd win of th e seaso n wi th a nar ro w victory over Yam aha 's ] err R ussell at the H oo kstown National 100. Rid in g a bra nd new KT M 300 E/XC, Plessinger held off the challenges by R ussell th ro ugh o u t the muddy, seven- la p race, crossing th e fin ish line j ust seven seco nds a head o f th e factory Yam ah a YZ250WR pi lot. '" love th e m ud - , wis h a ll the races were this muddy," said a remarkab ly fresh looking Pl essinger after th e 100-mil e race. '" just wa nted to stay o n tw o whe els , beca us e , haven 't ridden in a co up le of weeks and ' jus t got th e bike Thursday (before Sunday's National )." Plessin ger 's usu al 250cc mount was mi spl aced during ship p ing from the Ca liforn ia round two weeks ea rlier. T he California ro u nd winner Ron Na ylor grabbed th e hol esh ot a nd led for a cou ple o f laps, but su ffered chai n problems o n his AT K a nd event ua lly dropped o ut o f to p co ntent io n. T h is ga ve Plessin ger a nd hi s KRW Cyclebac ked KTi\ 1 the lead positi on . wh ich he occupied for three laps. Despite cras hi ng a cou p le of times, P lessinger enjoyed abo u t a 35-second lead head in g into th e fourth la p , but th e factory KTi\1 pil ot lost a ll th at wh en he got stu ck in on e o f the man y mudh ol es. Russell a nd Ho nda XR600-mounted Sco tt Sum mers shot past Pl essin ger a nd too k over firs t and seco nd. Plessinger eventua lly un stu ck himself a nd reeled in both Summers a nd Ru ssel l. " Sco tt (P lessinger) go t stu ck in th e ravi ne a nd , got past h im ," said R ussel l. '" was trying to do thi ngs smart a nd rig ht , and save my ene rgy a nd not get stuc k. " Pl essin ger 's KT M was soo n hound ing Summers' H o nda a nd q ui ck ly mad e a pass, as Su mme r's pace slowed. Next o n P lessi ng er ' s hit li st wa s R ussell , wh o wasn 't go ing to give in so easi ly a nd held him back for awhile. But with just over one lap rem aining, Pl essinger dove to th e in sid e o f R ussell in th e trees a nd retook th e lead. " Plessinger and ' were together 'a nd he was ge tting past th e lappers just a sp lit-seco nd faster th an , was," said Ru ssell. "T ha t's whe n he go t th e lead back." But R ussell had no intentions o f Jetting up for th e last remaini ng lap . The two rid ers pl ayed ca t a nd mouse down to th e chec kered flag, how ever , Plessinger held o n for a seven-second victory over Ru ssell aft er p itting for gas less th an a half mi le from the fin ish. '" was hopin g we had one more la p," sa id Ru ssel l. " Bu t Scott rode rea l good a ll da y." Despite cras hing o n th e first la p whe n a rider cras hed in front of him . in th e whoops a nd gett ing o ff to a bo u t a last- pl ace sta rt. the current series points lead er Su m mers landed third overall a nd first p lace in th e FourStroke class . '" ha d a dece nt day , co nsidering my bike weighs a bou t 500 po u nds with a ll K KTM 's Scott Pl essinger cap tu red hi s second victory of th e seaso n at the H ookst own Natio nal 100 in Pennsylvania. The defending cha mp is cu rre n tly fifth in points. Yam aha's J err R ussell batt led with Plessinger late in the rac e but came up seven seconds sho rt at the checkered fla g for second overa ll; Russell is third in points. the m ud stuc k o n it," sa id Su m mers . " I spent all o f my ene rgy trying to ca tch u p . a nd o n th e last lap ' was totall y sp ent." Four-time Nati on a l End uro Champion T erry Cu nni ng ham la nd ed fourth overa ll , aboa rd a Team G reen backed KDX200 Kawasa ki. '" was j ust down o n th e ground mo re than ' was u p o n two wh eels," sa id Cu n ni ngham . " Mos t of th e crashes tha t ' had were fro m the front tire going awa y. , bumped R ussell at the start, a nd then o n the hills we bumped into each o the r , agai n, and Su mmers hit me, too. It just wasn 't a very go od rid e. I'd pass Mark Hyde a nd th en fall a nd he'd pa ss me back , and so o n . , just co u ld n ' t get it toge ther." KTM 's H yde hung o n for fifth overa ll. " It was m y o wn fault th at' lost to Cunnin gh am ." sa id H yde. " T he re was a hill where you ca me back up on th e mo tocro ss tr ack , a nd , was go ing around a lapped rider a nd went down. , th en had to go back down th e hill a nd reclimb it. , lost a lot o f time there a nd that 's wh ere he (Cu n ningham) caught m e. , waved him around a nd followed him , figuring o n th e last lap we would go at it. But about halfway a ro u nd, , go t o n th e downside of a hill a nd he go t aw ay." Tim Sh ep hard, who recently won hi s first-ever Nationa l cro ss cou nt ry race, reinjured his kn ee on th e first lap a nd did no t finish th e race. Ano ther no n-fi n is her wa s fo rm er Natio nal H a re Scramb les C ha m pion Tony H endon after ta ngl in g handlebar s wi th Yamaha 's Ed Loj a k, Hen don ca lled it quits, whi le Lojak continued despi te ba ngi ng his head in the fa ll. Loj ak lab ored to sixth overa ll. CN Results AA: I. Scot t Pl essin ger (KT M); 2. Jen Russell (Yam): 3. ScOIt Summers (Ho n ); 4. Te rry Cun- ningham ( Ka w]: 5. Mar k H yd e (KT M). O PE.~ A: l. Ken net h j o hn son (AT K); 2. Rod Thur ley (Han) ; 3. Gr

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