Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eCROSS COUNTRY AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/Yokohama Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 3 ~ .-. ....... . 0. -< Steve Ho lbert (149) fini shed seco nd to . Mark H yde in the Four-Stroke A class. T im Shephard emerged victorious in the highly co mpe titive Vet A division. Runner-u p Scott Plessinger crossed the fin ish line three minutes behind Sum mers. 20 woods. After th at I j us t tried to avoi d the traffi c and tie-ups on the creek banks and keep a fast pa ce." Summers' quick pit proved fatal for Plessinger's hopes of winning as the KTM /MS R I Ar a il Me tzeler- ba cke d rider never go t the big Honda in hi s sigh ts again . After a couple more fruitl ess laps, Plessin ger put his 250cc D/XC on cruise and coas ted across the fin ish line more than three minutes shy of Summers ' winning pace. Norton, the event ua l third-p lace fin ish er, lost too much time findin g the right gear ea rly and wa s not a ble to a ttack Plessinger' s runner-up pos ition o nce he overtoo k Hrehor and Blackwell in the latter stage s of the race. ' 'I'm real happy with th ird beca use the two guys up front are beating everybody every weekend," sai d No rton. ' 'I'm getting th e feel of th is new bike and I thi n k that pretty soo n I'll be able to ride with anyo ne." Hrehor fini shed fourth at a deficit of abou t two mi nu tes behind No rton. Eriksson was another 20 seconds back in fifth but his career-best GNCC pe rfor mance saw him improve hi s series ranking from eigh th to fourth, six points shy of third-place orton. Eriksson 's effort, along with that of Summers, marked the first time in series histo ry that two four-stroke motorcycles have finished in the top five overall. Eriksson, a Swede currently residi ng in Missouri, rides a H usaberg 501 wi th support from Husaberg America. Roundi ng o ut the top 10 o verall were Blackwell , who seemed to tire in the la te stages, Roach , wh o was on yet another four-ba nger, Ro bbins, an d 200cc A class leaders Froman and Bran don . Onail' s 250cc A class victor y came a t the expe nse of New J ersey's Kevin Bennett. Onail held a lead of more tha n two and a half minutes at th e end of th e run . West Virgi nia n Du a n e Spro use placed th ird, trail ing O nail by a further three minutes. For th e seco nd race in a row , Robert T om in ello appeared to have things in cont rol in the 200cc A class, on ly to have mechanical diff iculties knock him from conte n tion. Indiana 's From an was agai n there to take advantage and, after battli ng with fellow Kawasaki rider Kevin Brandon for mor e than two hours, he was able to claim his second series win in a row. Brandon slipped 45 seco nds back in th e late stages but still scored the runner-up trophy ah ead of H onda rider T odd Mor ain. Y ok o l Arai / S m i t h l Alpin eSt ar backed Chris Smith piloted his Husq varn a 360 to hi s second Open A win in three races. The 20-year-o ld New J ersey resident bettered Pen nsylvan ian Rop Palermo and Richard Moyer by three minu tes. The class points leader, Li neman Cycle's J ohn Vincent, could on ly man age a fourth in the Carolina heal. KK / Sm ith/ PS II Ath ens and La ncaster Sportcycles-backed Tim Shephard pi cked up the first Vet A class wi n of hi s career whe n he o u tran fell ow Yamaha a n d se ries fr ont-runn er Tom my Harris fo r the victo ry. Kawasak i-mounted J eff Murgel placed third o n the da y with Virgin ian Roland King holding fourth. Each of th e first four Vet A riders finished in th e top 20 overa ll. H yde's Four-Stroke A class win came a t the expense of Bob Sloan, th e defending Open B class cha m p. Sloan was the ear ly class leader bu t on the second lap the Indian a Honda pilo t suffered a complete electrica l failure and dr opped out of th e event. Hyde was left to battle with Pennsylvanian Steve Holben , but the Suzuki pilot was not to be denied of his first class win of the season. H is lead on Holbert and th ird-p lace Gallie Ward measured more than eight m inutes at th e ch eckered flag . . Loj aks -backed J oseph H ull scored a narrow Senior (40) class victo ry over South Carolinian Jimmy Lynch. H u ll led by 14 seconds a t the checkered flag after three hours of racing. Ten nessee's Alle n Brutto was four mi n utes beh ind in third. T he top Senior (45) class rider was o nce agai n J oe Lojak , but Dirt Wor ksl Tem p -Guard/ KT M-su pported John Ga llagher was with in a dozen seconds of the Yam ah a rider at the fin ish. D avid Dehner was th ird o n the day. Fastest of the Su per Senior riders was North Caroli nia n H arry Green lee, whi le O hio's Ernest Huffman o ut- . laste d West Virginia 's Bill Hartsell for the top Masters (55) trophy. Shawn Brell raced his Lojaks/WD40 / P J l /Side WinderI R K-sp o n so red Yamaha 500 to the Open B class win wi th a large lead o n Honda-mounted Richard Lukaesko . North Carolinian J oseph Lawson finished th ird. In the 250cc B class a pair of local favorites, David Kiser and Jody Main, led everyo ne to the ch eckered flag with Kiser picking up the win. Ohio's Joe Han or proved to be th ird fastest. Rodney J udso n narrowly edged Ant ho ny Gl asso in the 200cc B class wh ile West Virginian Kelvin Hull ran th ird. Pen nsylvanian Perry' Peters won the Four-Stroke B class with a sizeable lead over ru nner-up Chris Walton. Vance Earl scored the Vet B win over Donald Bigley. CN Resu lts 0 1A; I. Sco tt Summers (Ho n); 2. Sco u Plessenger (KTM); 3. T o m Nor to n (H o n); 4. J an H rehor (Suz); S. Jim Erik son (H sb); 6. Doug Blackwel l (Kaw);7. Gi g Roach (H a n ); 8. Joh n ny Rob bins (KT M); 9. Chad From a n (Ka w); 10. Kevin Brandon (K.:J.w ); 11. Ti m Shephard (Yam) ; 12. Gene On a il ( Ka w): 13. T o m Harris (Ya m) ; 14. Mark H yde (Suz]: IS. Chris Sm ith (H us); 16. Jdl Mu rgrl {Ka w ): 17. Kevin Benn ett {Suz); 18. T od d Mor a in (Hen ) 19. Ro n Palerm o (Yam); 20. Roland King { Kaw). PRO: 0 / A Summers; 1. Pl essinger: 2. Norton : 3. Hr eho r: 4. Eriksson : 5. Blackwell. O PEN A: I. Smith; 2. Pa lermo; 3. Richa rd M oy~ (AT K); 4. Davi d Sarni (Ya m); 5. j o hn Vincen t (Yam). ~ A: l. Onai l; 2. Benn et t: 3. Dua ne Sprouse (S Ul) ; 4. Dary l Co nner ( Kaw); S. j aso n Mood)' (SUl). 200 A: l. Froman; 2. Kevin Brando n (K.aw,; 3. Tod d Mora in (Hon); 4. David Fal las (Ya m ); 5. Josh Lojak (Kaw). 4·STR K A: I. H yde; 2. Steve Hol bert (He n); 3. Ga lle Ward (Ha n ); 4. David Black (H an); S. Jar ed G reen (Ho n ). VET A (30+): 1. Sh... had; 2. Ha rri s; 3. Mur gel; p .1. King; 5. J o hn Tho mpson (H e n]. . SR (40+): I. Joseph H ull (Ya m) : 2. Ji mmy Lynch {Hus): 3. Ala n Bru no ( Ka w );" t. R ichard Soon (Ya m); S. She lby Mu rra y (Ya m). SR (45+): I. j osep h l.oja k (Yam ); 2.John Ga lla gber (KT M); 3. David Dehner ( Ka w ): 4. Dean Bud r (Ya m ); S. Ji m my w e lters (KT:lI ). S/S R (SO+ ): I. Ha rry Green lee (Yam ); 2. Dave Goo mbs (Yam). MST R (55+): I. Earn est Huffman (KT M); 2. Bill Hart sell (Yam) . OI'L'I B: I. Shawn 8r

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