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eHARE SCRAMBLES e AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round I Duane Conner (6) grabbed the holeshot ahead of Ron Naylor (11), Ed Lojak (behind Conner) and winner Scott Summers (I) . Conner dropped back to fourth at the finish. Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Su.mmers came from behind to win the opening race of the season. Summers too tough in Texas By Bob Hough and T om Tysl Photos by Laura Babcock and Tysl ROCKNE, TX, FEB. 24 efending champ Scott Summers . scored th e overall win at the open ing round of th e National Hare Scrambles Series after pa ssing former titl e-holder Scott Pl essinger ' two laps from the checkered flag . On the last lap of the eight-lap, 72-mile D race, Summers extended his advantage, riding his big-bore H onda XR600 four- stroke across the finish lin e 32 seconds ah ead of T eam Green 's Terry Cunningham (Plessinger retired on the last lap with mechanical problem s). ATK's Ed Loj ak finished third, wh ile Cunningham's Kawasaki .teammates Aaron Hough and Duane Conner rounded out the top five. In the earl y morning hours before the race, Summer s was calm and confident as he prepared to defend his titl e. Summers said, "It (own ing the cha mpionship number-one plate) feels good , but there 's a lot of pressure on me to perform. There're about 10 guys here that could win this race, it's not goi ng to be easy, no doubt about it. " Summers' con fidence was boosted by the Rockne course and terrain, whi ch were very similar to his practice area back home in Kentucky. "Sections of th e course here are very similar to the Iive -rni le course I have at my house . . . the ground here's perfect." The da y before the event, former National Champion Tony Hendon said, " Anyone can run up front for two hours but the third hour, that's the real test." Cunningham added, "I've done some two-hour races this year and have been winning them pretty much hands-down , so I'm coming into the opening round of the series pretty confident." The first wave, which consisted of 20 AA riders, saw Conner roost his Kawasaki off the line first on the warm and partly cloudy morning. ยท "It felt great to get the holeshot," said Conner. "I was real comfortable running out in front. " The Kawasaki pilot defended his early lead against ATK factory riders Lojak and Ron Naylor, KTM's Scott Plessinger, and Hough and Cunningham, as the pursuers swapped positions back and forth. Conner's bid for the win was shot down in flames after a losing battle with a log, which, in tum, gave Lojak the lead. "I made a mistake on the second lap, I hit a log in one of the ravines and that cost me some time," said Conner. 'Co nner's encounter with the log dropped him out of the top five, and, to make matters worse , he fell again shortly thereafter, costing him even more tim e. By th e third lap Lojak still had control of the race, while Cunningham sett led into second and Hough third, ahead of Summers, Plessinger and Naylor. During the third go-around, Cunningham slipped into the lead after passing Lojak, who eventually dropped back to third after also getting passed by Plessinger. , Naylor, who was running fift h; parked his ATK near the halfway point after shearing off a rear brake bolt and suffering a flat rear tire. Heading into the sixth lap, Plessinger had snuck by Cunningham for the lead , but Summers decided to tum up the boost on his big Honda XR60Q (our-stroke. During the sixth lap, the