Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OF ODAMA National Championship Cross Country/Hare Scrambles Series: Rounds 2/2 F·R A e • • Winner Jeff Russell (2) and Tony Hendon (right) shower each other with water at the start of the Loretta Lynn's National. Russell's (right) constant dogging of race leader Ron Naylor (5) paid off when Naylor looked back and waved Russell by. Russellw Lortta Lnn's ins e y By Davey Coombs Photos by C.]. Coombs 12 HURRICANEMILLS, TN, MAR. 24 T M'S Jeff Russell says he never looks a gi ft hor se in the mouth. . He was tru e to hi s word when he accep ted the lead o n the last la p from K ATK's Ron Naylor , who waved h im past. Ru ssell promptl y sped away fro m Nay lo r and scored the win at the Lor et ta Lynn's Nationa l on his Scot t! MS Racing/EK Chain /Dura lube/ Dunlop/Power-Mist!Alumilite/Watkins Racing/ Ara i/McGrath Gra phicsbacked KTM 250 DXC. " I cou ldn 't understand why he did that, " said Russ ell of Nayl or's late-race stra tegy. " Maybe he thought I had better lines and he just wanted to follow me, At any rate I kn ew that it wou ld make it even harder for him to bea t me to th e chec kered flag." Naylor, ridi ng an ATK 350 fourstroke, said, " I was ju st pl aying with hi m (Russell ). I figu red it would be easier to foll ow him for th e rest of the tim e and let him listen to my bike for awhi le." His p la n bac kfired, ho wever, as Nay lor wo uld never reta ke th e lead a ben t shi fter hampered h is pl ans o f a last-mi nute takeover and - Russell recorded t he overa ll win with 36 seconds to spare. Defending National Cross Country and Hare Scrambles Ch ampion Scott Sum mers fin ished third overa ll in the three-hou r race after holding an ear ly lead of 30-p lus seconds. Naylor's ATK teammate T ony H endon pl aced fourth overa ll, wh ile T eam Green 's Duane Conn er overca me ea r ly handling difficulties and nabbed fifth . This year's race was a combined even t, as it acte d as round two for both th e AMA Na tio na l Championship Wiseco /Y am aha /Yo ko h a ma G N C Cro ss Country, and Hare Scrambles Series, and it also marked the 10th year of off-roa d racing at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurri cane Mills. The facility, managed by veteran woods racer Alle n Brutto, also ho sts the AMAI H onda Ama teur Nat ional MX Championships, T he woods course for the :91 event measured exactly nine milesper-lap a nd was fill ed with steep, treelined rises and falls and several long cree k bed sec tions. And with 371 competitors on hand, th e tra il becam extremely ro ug h as th e da y wore o n; braking bumps and rolling whoops form ed everywhere alo ng the rock y trail. Ohio's Scott Pl essin ger o pened the race by taki ng the AA class holeshot aboard h is KTM 300. H owever, by th e end of the first lap 23-year-old Plessinger was back in 15th overa ll after tang ling with Husaberg rider Gerald .Hemann o n the tra il and bending his shifter and losing several pos itio ns. T he n, j us t after th e scori ng barrel s, Pl essin ger th rew it away on a tram road and cu t hi s wrist on his bark busters as he tumbled down, ending hi s da y. Kawasaki 's Aaron Hough took over th e lead befor e the end of the firs t lap with Ca nada's Guy Perrett, Honda XR 600 ·m oun ted Su m me rs, North Carolina's Steve McSwain and Team G reen's Terry Cunningham following. Ohio's Russell was back in eighth, one pl ace ahea d of H end on. Naylor , who had a bad start, moved up to 11th at th e end of the first 25-mi nute lap. Hou gh surre ndered th e lead o n the second lap to the adva nci ng Summers, who was searching for his second straight Loretta Lynn 's win, However, Summers' time at th e front would be limi ted to j ust more than a lap before he cras hed. " I was leadi ng on the third lap but I had some probl ems wit h some lapped riders," said Su mmers. "T hen I hit my shoul der pretty good leaning in on a tree. It rea lly h urt to p ush or p ull on the bars, and I had to slow do wn beca use I was in so much pain. I put .it in cruise control and sat o n the seat for the rest of the day." Russell mad e his move righ t away and jumped u p into the lead ahea d of Naylor, Cunn ingham , Hough an d Perr ett. Sum mers dr opped all the way back to sixth . Perr ett also fell from co n tention with mec han ical difficulties. Wh en the overa ll leaders came into view of the barrels after four laps, fourtime National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham was the surprise leader ab oard his Kawasaki KX250. Russell wa s just th ree seconds back while Nayl or rod e another 20 ticks off th e pa ce. But the fourth lap proved fatal to T eam Green 's victory plans as both Cunningham and Hough dropped o ut of the run. Cunningham crashed hard and suffered a pos sible fracture of hi s right femur, and Hough,

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