Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

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 takper; 2. Terry Bain bridge; 3. Broo k Ma tthews; 4. Oms Oraben 5. Bob Mari on . 200 A: l. Ra y Ra m irez; 2. Norm Oll ey; 3. Ken neth Lingha m J r. 125 k l. Mar k Mill er; 2. Shawn Lollin; 3. Ro n Rosb ury : 4. Ridn c:Caviness: 5. Marek Sa neka, 250 A: I. Blair Sharpless: 2. Todd Mar ris; 5. Cli nt Wood s; 4. SIeve Lewan; 5. J efl Sled ge. VET A: I. T rey J orski; 2. Ga ry Ada ms; S. Mike West; 4. Mik e McCa rren; .s. Scou Pulsifer. S/SR A: l. Harry Greenlee; 2. Dona ld Hou gh ; 3. Charles Gabraith ; 4. Willard ROaL; .s. Lewi s Beaule. SR A: I. J oe Lojak; 2. Ro bert Cadl inger: ~ . Ga ry Doer r; 4. Ben Bryant; 5. Mike Lambert . WMN : I. Kalh y N ielsen. O PEN B: J. T err y G illi land; 2. Ala n McEntire; 3. Joey Har din; 1. J.R. Rakes; 5. Rogdi o 5a da . 250 B: I. Erik Nelson ; 2. David Ga mer: 3. 5laCY H om; 4. Stuart Edwar ds; 5, Tommy Fabr egas. 125 B: l. James Harmon ; 2. Ja mes Moo re; 3. Dean Eversole; 1. Paul McDonald; 5. Sha wn O'Leary. 4·STRK I\: I. Mike Decherd: 2. Sanee T a lassi; ~. Donny O ' Nea l; 4. Rich ad Bakke; 5. Edd ie H anison . 200 B: I. Gary Windham ; 2. Ala n Kissee; 3. Ron ald Holman; 4. AJex Kozlow ski; 5. David Smi th. VET B: I. Mark Ch iJdrc; 2. Peanut Baird ; 3. John Moore: 4. Byron Ca nn on : 5. Michael Kincaid. Sll. B: l. Jim Little: 2. Michael Bradshaw ; ~ . U o yd Mor gan ; 4. J erry Boren ; 5. Andrew T rot t. S/S II. I\: I. Will Sn dd , 15

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