Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

30 seconds trying to ig ni te his Yamaha WR 500. Third place at the finish was Loj ak s-backed Ron Palermo. T here were no significant changes a t the top of th e leaderboard until Plessin ger 's third lap spill. By that time Cunningham had ea ked out a lead of abou t 30 seconds. " Te rry was riding r eall y well throughout th e first half o f the ra ce," said Summers. "I kn ew he would be a force to be reckoned with, but the fact that he started so fast kind of caught me off guard. " Regard less, Summers kicked it into overdrive aft er Pl essinger 's spill a nd was read y to capitaliz e wh en Cun ningham stopped for his ill -fa ted pit stop. "Our stops were un even because I ma de o ne more la p before stoppi ng than Terry did," said Summers. " I passed him whi le he was in the pits and th en I tried to go rea lly fas t tha t entire lap and bu ild a lead. My sto p was perfect a nd I sti ll had the lead whe n I got bac k in to th e race. " . Summers raced back into the wood s wi th a lead 'o f 12 seconds after his pi t stop. Hawki ns was making som e progress through the fie ld a litt le further ba ck and m anaged to occupy th e sixth position behind McSwain just after the halfway points. Loja k held seventh p lace bu t was soo n out of the running with a thrown chain aft er an adjuster had loosened on his swingarm and ca used the chain to be come badly misalign ed. H e struggled with the problem for th e rest o f the da y but was able to com plete th e race in 13th o vera ll. The las t two laps saw Summers cruise comfortab ly out front. He eventuall y crossed the line with a lead of 54 seconds on Cunningham, w ho him self enjoyed a 30-second margin o n a hard-ch ar ging Pl essinger. " I feel reall y good abo ut how I ro de today," sai d Summers in th e winner 's circle. " I was thinkin g a lot out th ere, co nce nt ra ting o n going fast without making any m istak es. It worked great beca use I don't think I fell or even stalled once tod ay." ''I' m rea lly p leased to finish seco nd today," said runner-up Cunningham . "I started well last year but then had some p roblems in th e su m me r. I th ink I'll be stro nger thi s year all th e wa y to th e fin ish ." " I ende d mu ch st ronger than I started," said Pl essinger, wh o put in his best laps o f th e da y in th e last stages. "Everyth ing starte d to click after th e Iifth la p a nd I nearl y ca ught T C (Cu n ningham ). If we would have gon e th at extra 30 m inutes I mi ght ha ve caugh t hi m. " H ou gh fin ished m ore than six m inutes beh ind Summers after cru isin g th rough th e last two laps. H awkins follow ed in fifth p lace, two more m inutes back. " I'm sure th at if I could have started up front wi th th ose g uys I co uld ha ve raced with th em ," said th e 25-year-old South Carolin ia n . "They were only ma ki ng abo ut 10 seco nds a la p on me . T he track was m ore o pe n th an I thought it wo ul d be. I have a lot o f respect for th e guys who ride th e series; I just hope they co me o ut and ride some endu ros with m e." Ona il, th e 250cc A class wi n ner, didn't h av e a s easy a ti me. Th e longtim e Yamaha pil ot m ade his G NCC debut aboard a 1991 Kawasak i KX250 purchased from Cunningham. The Cla ssics Cycle-supported Onail topped Yamaha-mounted Stan Loj ak by tw o and a half m inutes wh il e Virginia 's Dwain Miller placed th ird on his Bare Brothers-backed Kawasaki. Rob ert Tomi ne llo's 200cc A class victory came at th e expe nse of Bentley's Cycle- bac ked jeff La ut h. T he 23-yea rold Pen nsylvanian led much o f the first six la ps before he suffered a flat rea r tire . Tom inello, who suffered wha t he called "severe for earm p ump" in th e early stages, settled down to take th e lead wi th two laps to go. H e eventually fin is hed 15th · overall wh il e La u th eased th ro ugh th e late sta ges to m ain tain second place. Third p la ce in the class went to Todd Mo rain , the defending 200cc B clas s cha m pio n. T ommy H arris emerg ed victorious in th e Vet A (+30) clas s as well as 20th overa ll. H e was cha llenged a ll day long b y Bentley's Cycle-supported j eff Murgel , wh o finished just 22 seconds back. Virginia's Ro la nd Kin g was third in th e class. The to p Four-Stroke A rid er was Honda-mounted jarod Green of Lynnville, Ind iana. Green held a steady pace throug hout the ra ce while o ther class co nte nders - Gar y Roa ch a nd H a rvey Wh i taker among th em suffered w ith a variety o f setbacks. Hyde somehow managed to finish second in the class after h is two injury stops. Misso uri 's Tim Surdyke gu ided his H usaberg 10 third in th e divisio n. T he fastest Senior A (+40) rid er turned out to be All eri Brutto , the manager of Loretta Lynn 's Ran ch a nd th e son-in- law o f the fa med co u n try & western singer. Brutto bettered Larry Bolligner by j ust over two m inutes while Terry Mea ler cro ssed th e line in th ird. The fastest of the II -rider Sen io r (+45) gro u p was j oe Loj a k, who was th e o n ly rid er in th e cla ss to co m p lete seven laps. Local co m petitor Ronnie H a le p laced third. North Carolina's H ar ry Greenlee, a multi -time GNCC class cham p io n , turned in another winning performa nce in the Super Sen ior (+50) class. Dave Coom bs, Sr. ran second, finishing a bo u t o ne minute ah ead of thirdplace Dona ld H ou gh . Sha wn Busch , th e new est me mber to T eam Green 's ta len ted off-road stable, pi cked up th e 250cc B class wi n as well as the unofficial top B cla ss perf ormance. T he 23-yea r-o ld West Virg inian topped North Caro lina 's j ody Main by just less tha n a mi n u te after seven la ps o f co m pet ition. Fas test in th e Open B cla ss was Lojaks-backed Sh awn Brell. Virgi n ia's Mich ael Roman ran second a t th e chec kered flag. In th e 200cc Brace Rob ert Stoc k put in a flu id ride to win by exact!y 60 seco nds. Anthony G lasso edg ed Ohi o ' s Ro d n ey judson for seco nd . New Lexin gt on Ho nda rid er Mike T rea dway led the Four-Stro ke B class wit h BT Racing /Po wer Line Cycles up port ed Ma r k Martin second. Ya mah a of Sh elby's Vance Earl won the Vet B class aboa rd a WR250 wh ile former ATV champ Mik e Holbert p laced seco nd . t: :\; r Fo ur-time National Endu ro ch amp Terry Cunningham finish ed th ird 0 / A. Robert T ominell o (14) scored h is firs tever GNCC win in the 200cc A class. David Black muscled hi s way to fourth in the Four-Strok e A class. Mu rgel ( Ka w): 3. Rol an d Kin g ( Ka w): 4. Tim She p ha rd (Yam ); 5. Davi d Molna r (Yam ). SR 40+: I. Ala n Bru no ( Kaw): 2. Larry Holli nger (Ya m ); 3. Terry Meal er (Ya rn); 1. Shelb y Mu rray ( Ya m ); 5. Kenn et h Et tinger (Ya m ). SR 45+: l. j osep h L ojak (Yam ): 2. J ohn Ga lla g her (KT M ); 3. Ron ni e Hale (Suz): 4. Robert Co x ( KT M); • ). Wi lliam Mill er [ Hon }. 1 S/S R 50+: l. Har ry G reen lee (Ya m ); 2: Dave Coombs (Ya rn); 3. Don Hough (Ka w): 4. Don Harless (Ya m) : 5. T ed Shortr idge (H o n ). MSTR 55+: I. Earnest Huffman (KT M); 2. Bill Ha r tsell (Yam ). O PEN R: l. Shawn Brell (Yam) ; 2. Michael Roman ( Ho n ): 3. Allen Nelson (Ya m ); 4. Menne Orr (Ho n) ; 5. jimmy Pr att ( Ya m). 2!iDB: I. Sh aw n Bu sch (Ka w): 2. Iod y Main {Ya m ): 3. Rilly Will ia ms (Ho n ); 4. Barry Co mbs (Kaw): 5. Dan Pa lermo (Yam]. 200 B: l. Ro bert Stock (Kaw): 2. An thony Glasso (Yam ); 3. Rod ney J ud so n (Ho n); 4. Rick Wil es (Kaw ): 5. Rob T hompson (Ka w). 4-ST RK B: l. Mike T readway (H a n ); 2. Mar k Mart in ( Ha n ); 3. Perr y Peters (He n) : -l. Ted Haddi x (S ue): 5. j o seph Yemaux (Hon ). V ET 30+ B: I. Van ce Earl (Yam) ; 2. Michael Holbert ( Ya m ); 3. Ra ndy Fink (Hen ): 1. Roger Arn old (KT M): 5. A.J . Spi cer (AT K). 250/ 0 PES P I. R ick y Roman (H on ): 2. J a<,on Pa n ther { Kawj: 3. T edd y Dover (Ho n ): 4. Michael Harl an ( Ka w): 5. David Sells (Han ). 125/200 C: I. Pa u l Ro M'(KT :\.) ; 2. T . Roose j on es l ( Ka w j : 3. Carson Picken s; 4. Gr egor y Sta llard (Ca g): 5. n an Bigley (Ya m). Results 0 / A: 1. Sco u Summers (Hon): 2. Te rry Cu n ni ng ha m ( Ka w); 3. Sco tt Pl essin ger (KT M): 4. Kur t H OUKh ( Ka w) ; 5. Randy H awkins (SUl ); 6. T om Norto n {H o n ): 7. Ch ris Smith (H us) ; 8. J imm y Erikson (Hs b ): 9. Frank Keegan (AT K); 10. Duane Co n ner (K.1W); I I. Cene Onail (Ka w]: 12. J ohnn y Robbin> ( KT M): 13. Ed Lc jak (AT K): 14. Sta n Lojak (Ya m ); 15. Cra ig J ones ( Ka w ): 16. Rob T o mi uel lo (Ka w ): 17.11wa in Mill er (Kaw]: 18. J efl La uth (Ya rn); 19. Todd Mor ain (Hen) : 2Q T om Harris (Ya m ). . PRO: 0 / A: Scott S u m mers (Ho n); I. T erry Cu n n ing ham ( Kaw ): 2. Sccu Plessin ger (KT M); 3. Kurt Ho ug-h (Ka w): 4. Ra ndy Hawk in s (5 Ul ); 5. Torn Norton (H o n) . O PEN A: I. Chris Smith (H us ); 2. Joh n Vincent (Yam); 3. Ro n Palermo (AT K); .1. RIChard Mo yer (AT K): 5. Ji m Millet (lion). 2,5,0 A: I. Ge ne O nai l ( Ka w ): 2. Stan Loj ak (Ya m) ; 3. Dwai n Mi ller (Ka w): 4. Michael Bur k (Yam ); 5. Brian Hess ( Ka w) . 200 A: I. Ro b Tominel lo ( Ka w): 2. j eff Lauth ( Ka w ): 3. Todd Mor ain (Ha n ); -4. Davey Coombs (SUI) ; 5. Chad Froman (Kaw) . 4-ST R K A: I. j ared Gr een (Han ); 2. Mar k H yde (S UI ): 3. T imothy Surdyke (Hsb): 4. David Black (Hon); 5. Do n Bohm ( S UI). vET A 3D+: I. T ommy Harr is (Yam); 2. Jell 11

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