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/127552
foo t a t the fourth round of the series an d did not co mp lete the first lap. For the first ho ur of the race, a fiveman pack shared the lead as Plessinger, Cunni ng ha m, Co nner, Sum mers and R ussell bega n weav in g through th e early stragglers. H owever, a conges ted creek crossi ng narrow ed th e lead battle down to two riders - Su mmers and Pless inger. " P lessinger go t stuc k on th e bank of the creek a nd i t messed everyo ne u p ," said Conner of the th ird lap incide nt . " Cu nni ng ham and Russell an d I were right beh ind h im and we all go t stuck tryin g to ge t by h im. Then he got o ut right away and they (Plessinger and Summers) left us there." A sho rt tim e la ter, Cun ningham .began to succ umb to the heat and again was for ced to relax h is pace and fall ou t of co n tention. T he co n tenders soo n paired o ff. Sum mers an d Plessinger continued to battle fo r the o u trig ht lead while Co nne r and Ru ssell raced together one mi n u te beh i n d . Bla ckwell had dropped off the early lead pa ce and was in a batt le of his o wn with Keegan . Next along was Gary Roach , wh o was co ming off a season-best fifth overa ll finis h a t th e previou s round. Robb ins . rounded o u t the to p eig h t a t th e ha lfwa y po int. For the next two laps, Summers and P lessinger exchanged lines and positions and appeared to be head ed for a photo fini sh. But just befor e the whi te flag came o u t, Plessinger su ffered a hi gh -speed crash o n an access road an d was for ced to drop ou t of the race wi th a rib injury. It was the first mistake o f the series by Plessin ger, who finished in the to p th ree at each of th e fir st five rou nds and is the on ly rid er to have beat en Su m mers to date. The co nclusio n o f the event did no t lea ve mu ch fo r th e i ma g in at ion . Su m me rs retai ned a lead o f th ree minutes o n Conner, who was able to stem a lat e-race charge by R ussell for th e runner-u p position. Keega n was also on the move in th e late stages; he ove rtook Blackw ell a nd moved away to cl ai m fourth. Bla ckw ell, Roach, and Robbi ns ro unded o u t the top P ro class overa ll posit io ns. " After a ll the prob lem s I had at the start and then havin g to eat so much du st in th e early stages I didn 't kn ow if I had eno ug h energy left to o u tru n . Plessinger at the end," sai d Summers. " I hate to see a g uy cras h o ut of a race like that but I gu ess those are th e breaks." " I felt a little better o n th e bik e toda y bu t [ still didn 't have th e speed to stay with Su mmers," said Co nn er after hi s series-high second pl ace finis h. ''I' m getting stro nger every race and I'm reall y loo king forw ard to the rest o f the ser ies. Scott's been getti ng a ll the breaks; maybe my turn o ut fro nt is com i ng up ." " It felt good to ride with these guys aga in but at the end I ju st didn 't have th e drive to go after Duan e," said Russel l. .''The end uro series is off until October, so I p lan o n riding more of these and getting in so me more battles fo r the lead. " Gene Onail' s 2S0cc A class victory was his fifth in six series event s and wa s good for sevent h overa ll at Boyers. T h e 23-year -old Ohio resident bettered Sta n Lojak by mor e th an four minutes . Duane Sp ro use p laced thi rd in the di visio n . Tops in the:O pen A catego ry was 28year-old AT K rider Richard Moyer. It was Moyer's first win of the series and good for 12th overall in the fina l overall tally at Boyers. Round five winn er Dave Santi raced to second aboard a SOOcc - - - -- - ContirlUed on page 19 17