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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127370
Ed Loja k m ade h is debu t as a factory ATK rider and finished third overall.
Team Green's Aaron Hough finished fourth overall aboard a 125.
efending champ took over the lead.
or good when he passed both Cuningham and Plessinger. .
Cunningham, who was running
third at the time, watched as Summers
ade the pass o n Plessinger for th e
lead. " Plessinger was ou t in front and
Summers was right behind him," said
unrringharn, " Plessi nger fell o ver
and sta lled his bike and just as he was '
falling, Summers sn uck through on
the left. A lapped rider hit P lessinger
and rolled back down the hill. I had
to get off and ba ck my bike back down
this little ravine to get around them.
By that time Scott (Summers) had
made a good break, he was probab ly
15-20 seconds ahead of me by the time
I got going."
Pl essi n ger' s problems o n ly got
worse as he was fo rced to retire with
rear brake problems on the seventh lap.
" It felt real good to run hard after
getti ng hurt last year. It would've been
great to fin ish , bu t it 's a lo ng seaso n
and I'm glad to be back. KT M and I
will be up there before th is is all
through."
With Plessinger side lined and with
o ne lap remaining, Summers was th e
leader with Cunningham running in
seco nd and Lojak in third.
The last lap was ' uneventful , as
Summers kept his coo l and steadily
increased his lead over Cunn in gham
for the overall victory.
-
" I didn 't worry abo ut (no t) leading
early in the race. Everything felt real
good wh ere I was, so I was happy to
keep the leaders i n sig h t," sa id
Summers. " I ha d a blastllt was a little
tougher than I expected and I'm pretty
tired, but everything went real wel l.
The bike was fla wless. The suspension
worked super and th e course wa s neat.
I'm happy to get the season off to a
start with a big win."
Even though he won the season
opener, Summers knows he 's facing a
tough year. "T he o ther gu ys are going
to be going faster and faster as the
season progresses," said Summers .
" Everybody's going to be hitting their
peak around October."
Summers thanked Amercian Honda,
Sprocket Specialists, Camelbak, T su baki, Hondaline, PJ-l, Bridgestone,
Arai , Oakley, White Brothers , Mai er
Mfg., Fredette Racing Products and
Sportstown USA for making hi s win
possible.
Runner-up Cunningham said , " T he
course was fine , although the third
hour was tough. I was a little tired
toward th e end, but I feel like second
place is a pretty good way to open th e
season. I'll be in better shape as th e
seaso n gets going."
Lojak finished third, I minute, 17
seconds behind Cunningham, in hi s
AT K debut. Lojak said, " With my
moving to ATK this season, I figured
it would take a little time to adj us t
to th e bike. The bike was terr ific. I
came o ut here hoping to get a top 10
finish , so th ird's not too bad ."
Throughout the race Hough kept
hi s Kawa saki KXI25 close to th e front
befor e bei ng slowed by a flat rear tir e
and finishing fourth overa ll. H ough
trailed L ojak by j u st under three
minu tes and best ed Conner by 42
seconds.
" T he tire went fla t in the wor st
p o ssibl e pl a ce," H ou gh sa id. " I
noticed it right after I went past the
pi ts, so I had to ride a lap with it tha t probabl y cos t me a co u p le
m inutes."
Hough ad mitted that he was, "at
somewhat of a disadvantage," ridin g
a 125 in the AA class but added , " I
go faster o n the 125; I' m a lot lighter
th an mos t everybody else, I o nly weigh
140 pounds. I'm real excited abo u t
ri di ng the (Nationa l H are Scra mbles
Cha m pions hip ) series. Las t year I o nly
ro de th e qualifier (AMA National
Ch ampion sh ip Reliability Enduro)
series. I'm broad en ing my hor izons."
In A class racing, Harvey Whitaker,
Dwight Rudder and Michael Cornett
battled back and forth in the FourStroke cla ss, with Whitaker hanging
o n for the class win over Rudder.
Cornett was event ually sidelined with
engine problems, which moved Tom
Webb into third position.
Another close bat tle was waged in
the 250cc A class between Texa n Todd
Harri s and Canadian Bla ir Sh arpless.
H arris led th e class for the first four
laps, before Sh arpless moved up after
a midpa ck sta rt and passed Harr is on
the fift h lap for th e win.
ex
Resu lts
0 / A: 1. Scou Summers:
AA: J. Terry Cunn ingha m; 2. Ed Loj ak : 3. Aaro n
Hough; 4. Duan e Conner: 5. Dean Lan e; 6. T on y
Hen do n; 7. Steve Silv est ri ; 8. Steve McSw a in ; 9. Gu y
Perre tt: 10. Chris Caplinger .
4-STJU( A: l. H~ Whi tak