Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127376
eHARE SCRAMBLES e AMA National Championship Hare Scramhles Series: Round 3 The first wave of A and AA class ri ders co mmence battle at the 7th Annual Moonshine Nationa l in Kentucky. Defending Champion Scott Summers scored his second overall win of th e year. Moon shines on Summers By J esse Thomas CADIZ, KY, APR. 7 efend i ng Na tion a l Cha m p io n Sco tt Summers came back after a 10th-pl ace start to score the overall victo ry at the sevent h running of the Moonsh ine Nat ional Hare Scram- D 22 bles. In doing so, Summers beca me the first rider in the event's histo ry to win th e race mor e th an once, his first comi ng in 1989. Sum mers and his big Hon dal in e- Pennsylvania's Duane Conner came from behind and finished second overall. More th an 270 racers turned out for the third round of the championship series. ba ck ed H on da XR60 0 fou r-stro ke narrowly defeated Kawasaki KDX250mounted Duan e Conner for the win , whi le 1988 National Hare Scrambles Champion Tony Hen don a nd h is Iactorv-backed ATK rounded o ut the top th·ree. T his year marked the sevent h year o f th e AMA-sanctioned Moo ns hi ne Nati on al , as 274 riders co mpeted on the " d ual course" that was laid out amongs t the La ke Barkl ey State Par k bo un deries. The hosting club, the West Kentucky Trail Riders, used a two-trail system, whi ch a llo wed A and AA riders to run a 9. I-mile o uter loop, whil e the B and T rail Riders classes were runni ng a shorter 7.4-mile track inside the AA loo p. Th e two tra ils would come back together near the pits and scori ng barrels then .separate again as they started ano ther lap. As the first wave of AA racers blasted off the lin e and up a lon g hill o n to the "outer" race course, the leader was four-tim e Na tio na l End uro Champion T err y Cu nni ng ha m, but he was bein g pu rsued by Hendon and Team Green 's Aaron Hou gh . Back in 10th pla ce was the defending champ, Summers. Bu t by the end of th e first lap, Summers was a lready up to fourth. Scott Pies- singe r, th e 1989 National Hare Scra mbles Champion, rode through the scoring barrels in .fiEth. Cunn ing ham continued to set the pace, as he led th e pack through the scoring barrels after the second lap , but H o ugh was still . challe nging , five seconds back. Chasing the leading du o was Summers, Hendon, Plessin ger and Conner. During the th ird lap, however, Cunningham lost his gri p on the front position, as Summers forced his way past both Hou gh an d the forme r Na tio nal Enduro champ. It was at this time that rain began to fall on parts of the nine-m ile course, making a few of the uphill sectio ns rather di fficult for th e com peti tor s. Summers contin ued to reign in th e dam p condi tio ns, and led the field as they set o ut on the eighth and final lap. H ou gh had work ed past Cunnin gh am , a nd set hi s sigh ts o n Summers. Ho ugh began to reel in the Honda rider, but after failing to pit for gas, spu ttered to a halt just three mi les out. With no pressure for the lead, Summers cru ised to the overall win . Fresh off a AMA Na tio na l Hare Scrambles victory at Loretta Lynn 's Ranch , Dou g Blackwell too k con tro l of the 250cc A class and rode to a