Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~. HARE SCRAMBLES AMA National Championship_HS_Se_rie_s:R 4 _ou_nd_ _ e H undreds turned ou t for the Shasta Dam Nationa l Hare Scrambles but only a few of ,the series regulars made an appearance. Local favorite Ron Nayl or scored the win. Naylor still unbeatable at Shasta Dam Grand Prix By David Benda/Redding Record Searchlight Photos by Brad Garrison/Redding Record Searchlight REDDING, CA, A 5 PR. he fans at the Shasta Dam Grand Prix National Hare Scrambles might not have rea lized they were witnessing what co uld be th e end o f an era. Si nce its inception, no other rider has dominated the Shasta Dam event like Ron Naylor. The Redding resident has made the race his own. And this year was no diffe rent, as for an unprecedented seventh time, the 29year-old too k the checkered flag going away. Bu t a lot has changed for Naylor since last season, when he was second to Scott Summers in the final National Championship Hare Scrambles Series point standings. After years of riding for ATK, Naylor was dropped by the co m p a ny in November. Only recently did Nayl or sign a limited deal with Husqvarna. And with Naylor's racing schedule curtailed severel y, he was forced to get a full-time job this year. So he entered this year 's 11th Annual Shasta Da m GP with the thought of possibly retiring in the near future. " I really savored that last lap," said Naylor, who fini shed the 100-mile course in three hours, 25 minutes and 29 seconds. Summers, who was riding a Honda . XR600 four-s tro ke, was second overall a t 3:37:40 and Team Green's Duane Co nner was third with a time of 3:38:10. Rounding out the top five were Suzuki riders Eric Mashbir and Jon King, respectively. Canadian Guy Perrett was sixth. More than 280 racers competed in the event, which was held at the off - T 20 road vehicle area at the base of Shasta Dam. " I don't really look around that much while I'm ri ding, but on that last lap , I was j ust thinking about all the times I' ve ridden here, thinking this could be my last," said Nay lor. Nay lor says he doesn't know when or if he will make the decision to retire. H e wants to wait and ta lk it over with his family and Husqvarna. "Ma ybe they (Husq va rn a) will appreciate the effort I put forth here and put together something for me," he said. Naylor battled back after a horrendous start to overtake Summers and KTM 's Scott Plessinger about six m iles into the race. He was never really serio usly challenged after that, " I just rode conservatively. The co u rse fits my riding style, so I didn't want to push it," Na ylor said. Kentucky's Summers is lead in g th e '9 2 Nat ion al Champion shi p H are Scramble Seri es point standings with two wins already to hi s credi t; Co n ner is cu rre n tly second. Su mmers has 110 points to Conner 's 75. Pl essin ger was second going into th e .Shasta Dam event, but fai led to score any points a nd dropped to third. H e has 55 points. Summers and Conner were th e only two series regular s to score points at th e California event . Some o f th e top series contenders, suc h as Sweden 's Jimmie Eriksson , Rob ert Pa tt erson a nd Shad Ricketts, elected to use up one of their aloued two " th ro w-away " rounds and sta y home in th e Eastern half of the country; where most of the events are hel d. Kurt Hough, who is currently fifth in the series, chose to co mpete in th e National Enduro round in Illinois that too k place on the same day as the G P. Despite finishing runner-up to Naylor for the second year in a row at the Shasta Dam National , Summers felt good abou t the race . " Fo r Ron (Naylor), it's like racing in his back yard," Summers said. "So finishing second here is really like winning the race ." Summers was also pleased that he p icked up valuable seri es points on' Pl essinger , wh o crashed during th e first lap and was unabl e to fin ish . " I hit a rock a nd went abo u t 30 feet down th e side o f a cl iff," sai d Pl essinger, who won.the ser ies ti tle in 1989. " My bike was banged up and abo u t 90 percent of the field had passed me by." Initially, th e race was sche d u led for th ree laps. But ra ce o ffici a ls mad e th e decision to extend it from th ree to four laps o n Su nday morning. Because th e course la yout was more wide open this year a nd not as technica l than in th e past, o fficials believed th e riders would cover four la ps in about th e tim e it took th em to do three. Bu t after seeing how lo ng it took riders to complete the first lap, offi cia ls decided to go back to th e th ree-lap format . " When we es tima ted th e . time it would tak e, we th ought th ey would do it in a lot less time," said Brent Davis, presid ent o f th e ho sting Redding Dirt Riders Club. " Bu t wh en we got th e first lap times, we felt that th ey (the racers) would go over the legal (AMA) limit (for the race) ." Off icials were worried that some of the stragglers would exceed that time limit. Despi te the confusion, the racers didn 't seem to mind the cha nge. "It just would've meant that I would've had to come in for gas instead of going the whole way without having to fill up," Summers said. Summers, though, was disappointed that the course wasn 't as technical this year. " When it's wide open like this, you end up just driving you r bike instead of riding it ," Summers said . " It's harder for me to conce n trate on a course like th is." For the second year in a row, Greg Herbold of Durango , Col orado , won th e ironman port io n o f th e race . H e co m pe ted in Sa turda y's Sh asta Lernurian Cl assic m ountain bike race a nd th e GP on Sunday. I:N Results 0 / A: 1. Ron Naylor {H us]: 2. Scott Summers (Hon); 3. Duan e Conner (Ka w); 1. Eric Mashbi r (SUl); 5. J on Kin g (SUl) ; 6. Guy Perre ll; 7. Cun Wilcox (Hon); 8. Dan Richardson ; 9. Dave Bertram (SUl); 10. Dan Nielson (H us); II. Scan Ll ar; 12. Sam Surroco; 13. Johnny Robin s; 14. John Cha ndler; 15. ' Don Griew e; 16. Dave Port er; 17. Gl en Mar tinson : 18. Shawn Doddin gton: 19. Bill Maxim; 20. Chad EcheIberger. AMA N ATIONAL CH AMPIONSH IP HA RE SCRAM BUS SERIES PO INT STAN DINGS : J . Scott Summers (110) 2 wins ; 2. Duane Ca nna (75); 3. Scott Plessin ger ( 5~) I win : 4. Jimmie Eriksson (44); 5. Kurt Hough (34); 6. Robert Pa tterson (31); 7. Ron Naylor (30); 8. Shad Ricketts (26); 9. (TIE) Frank Keegan/Terry Cu n ni ngham/Do ug Blackwell (25); 12. Scot t Manin (24); 13. (TI E) La rry Roese ier v SIeve McSwain (21): 15. (TI E) Chr is Caplinger/ Eric Mashb ir ( 18); 17. (T IE) Tony Hendon / Ch ad Froman/jan Hrehor /jon King ( 16~

• Cover