Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OFF·ROAD AMA WisecolYamaha Grand National Cross Country Series: Round 1 a More than 350 off-road riders turned out for the opening round of the GNCC Series at the Ocala Motorsports Park. Andrews scores bi at Ocala By Davey Coombs Photos by Jim Talkington OCALA, FL, MAR 2 otocrosser Fred Andrews upset a talent-packed field of 350 off-road riders at the opening round of the National Cross County Series at Ocala Motorsports Park. Andrews, a 27-yearold Yamaha rider from Salem, Ohio, and an AMA pro MXer, opened up an early lead over defending series champ Scott Summers and West Coast interlopers Larry Roeseler, Ty Davis and Rodney Smith to win the first off-road National of his career. "I grew up riding hare scrambles," said Andrews, who is backed by Andrews Honda-Yamaha, Pro-Circuit, Shoo, Wiseco, Smith, Pit Stop, Maxima, Dunlop, Acerbis and Answer. "I didn't even start motocross until my brother Joel started into it and kind of brought me along. Today 1 just tried to go as hard as 1could for as long as 1could and then just take it from there." Summers, the defending champ, lost second overall in the waning moments of the three hour-long event when his Honda XR600 four-stroke ran out of gas. That allowed Kawasaki teammates Roeseler and Davis an opportunity to secure the second and third overall positions, respectively. Summers was able to get some fuel from spectators out on the trail and was able to garner fourth overall in front of Suzuki's ISDE star Rodney Smith. The Ocala course, laid out by series organizer Dave Coombs, may have been one of the toughest courses the series reguIars have seen in some time. Cutting through the remains of an old limestone quarry and the surrounding fields and forest, the six mile-long circuit became a whooped-out maze. With so many riders participating in the run the trail was transformed into a square-edged washboard in the hard-pack sections; the sandy stuff was even rougher. Overall winner Andrews said, "It was like riding up and down a bunch of stairsteps." Besides Andrews, two other MXers Scott Sheak and Joel Dengler - scored class victories in the day's proceedings. All three of the riders mentioned were taking part in the race as training for the next weekend's Daytona Supercross. Aaron Hough secured the early lead from the ·first crowded row of Pro class riders. "1 got a good start, then when we got into the woods, 1 looked back and M 34 nobody was there;" said Hough. "I didn't know where they all went!" Hough stayed at the front for a lap and a half before Andrews went past him. "1 think 1 just wore myself out leading that first lap. 1 tried to peak and hold on, but those guys went past me all together - Summers, Plessinger, all those guys - they were all really clicking together. They went past me so fast that 1 couldn't get my pace back up." Suzuki's Smith also had a good start but said afterward that he never saw Hough, who may have inadvertently taken the "Novice" path around a steep downhill/uphPl section at the 2.5-mile marker. "I had the holeshot and led the entire first lap," said Smith. "Then Andrews (who started eighth) was right behind me on the second lap as we got up with a bunch of lapped traffic. We got to a bog where there was five or six riders stopped together. 1 stopped and Fred stopped, then 1 went in first. 1 thought that 1 could drop down into the mud and get by but it didn't work. 1 sunk the bike and that was it. 1 must have lost positions digging myself out." "I made my way up through and when the trail went left two guys went to the right; 1 guess that was the Novice trail," said Andrews of the early mix-up on the trail. "I thought they might miss a check but they weren't punching cards on the first lap. After a while Ty Davis let me by and then Rodney and 1 got to the mudhole together. He got stuck and 1didn't." Andrews would never be headed again in the race. "I had a pretty good start, maybe fifth or sixth," said Roeseler. "Everyone was banging around pretty good. The pace was real good at the beginning, but it was sort of 'follow the leader.' My arms started to tighten up right away." "I got another really bad start," said Summers, who has had problems starting his big Honda with just one kick. "I had a three- or four-kick start; everyone else was already in the first turn. 1 caught up pretty good but Andrews was already way out front." Doug Blackwell, series runner-up in '92, was an early casualty of the sandy course. "I twisted my back in one of those whoop-de-do sections," said Blackwell. "My upper body went one way and my lower body went another. It doesn't hurt too bad now but it sure did when I was riding. I had to pull out. It was very physically demanding out there; I wish there had been more trees or something." Yamaha's Jan Hrehor was thought to be an early favorit! to win the event but a chest virus kept him from even finishing. "I had trouble with my fluids all day long," said National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins. "I got pretty dehydrated, so 1 was never really in the race. 1 had a bad start, my arms pumped up, and then 1 had something happen to me that's never happened in my entire career: 1 had to stop and use the bathroom! I just started getting sick because 1 had to urinate so bad. 1 think it was all of the bumps out there. 1 guess it was just an extra pit stop." "I got within about 15 seconds of Andrews at one point but then I started making mistakes and having problems," said Summers. "My hands were really blistered by then and 1 was having trouble even holding on. Then I had problems with gas leaking on to my legs." The leakage would later prove costly for Summers; he ran out of gas with about one mile to go. "I broke a reed or maybe had too much dust in my air filtl:T because the bike was acting like it was running out of gas," said Andrews. "I slowed down to get back to the pits and Summers started to really catch me. I gassed up, so I knew 1 was going to run out. I just tried to ride the bike to the finish as best as 1could. One thing I did was nurse the bike through the woods and then pin it on the motocross track when Summers could see me. I was hoping that he would think that I was going a lot faster than he was but had stopped for gas or something. I figured it was worth a try." Team Green's Scott Sheak, a Pro-Am motocrosser from New York who was competing in his first-ever "woods" National, earned the 250cc A class victory on his way to a solid sixth overall. At one point the 19-year-old racer was within a minute of the overall lead after having started on the second row. However, the length of the race proved to be too much. "I had a lot of fun out there but 1 got really tired," said Sheak. "The last two laps 1 really slowed down because 1 started losing teeth on my back sprocket and the chain was jumping around, so I had to ta'ke it easy. But the race was cool; I had a lot of fun. It was weird because I never knew where anyone was, so I just went all out for as long as 1 could." Roeseler felt that the growing roughness of the course had a lot to do with his advancement. "The track was getting really difficult and I knew that everyone was getting tired. I just kept pushing and pushing because 1 knew that the pace was slowing down. 1 guess 1 had a little reserve left." Smith also had some muscle left and he overtook the surprised Sheak with two laps fo go. "I had been riding real hard all day without a water bottle," said Smith. "It broke early and I lost all of my fluids. I was really dehydrated and after a while I hit the wall. I fmally stopped to get something to drink." Roeseler was able to draw within 40 seconds of Andrews at the finish after overtaking Summers. "I really started to push hard the last three or four laps," said Roeseler, who turned 36 the week prior to the event. "I passed Rodney and Ty and started to catch Scott in that last hour. Some people out there were cheering me on and they gave me a chalkboard that said he (Summers) was nine seconds ahead," said Roeseler. "I could hear him through the trees and at one point I saw his helmet, so I knew that I was getting dose. But 1 was also running out of time. Then 1 came around to the last check and he was just sitting there. 1 guess that's where he ran out of gas. 1 wasn't about to ask any questions because I didn't know how in front Fred was, so I just took off for the finish." "I just ran out gas with about a mile to go," said Summers. "I was lucky that we were at a check point because the guys working the check had four-wheelers. They found a bottle in the woods right there and they gave me eno.ugh gas to get to the finish. It cost me two spots. I guess I can say I was the fastest four-stroke on the track today." "It was tough, definitely tough," said Davis of his first-ever GNCC series event. "I got a good start but then I crashed and had to play catch-up. 1 hit Summers so hard on a uphill. I was using a line to the left while he was going straight up the middle and then cutting over into my line. 1 really nailed him! 1 went back to the left and he went right, then when we slammed again. Wham!" "When I reached Larry 1 just 'stayed with him to watch. his lines and try to keep his pace," said Davis. "We swapped places a few times; we were never really that far apart. A pin came out of my brakes towards the end and it really slowed my drive towards the end." "I'm going to do all of the Nationals (motocross) this year, but 1 am going to do as many of the cross country races as I can, just to see how 1can do and take it from there," said Andrews. "I've done the motocross thing and 1 can still do well at it but the factories are starting to put money into. cross country, too, and 1 like doing this." "It feels really good to win because last year my brother (Joel) rode these but he was never able to win because of bad luck," added Andrews. "He even ran out of gas once right at the very end while winning. I won today but 1 feel like giving the trophy to him." When Andrews was given a bottle of champagne in the winner's circle he told race announcer John Ayers, "1 did this on my own as a privateer; I'd like all of the factory guys to sit in front so that I can spray them all." . Joel Dengler, another moonlighting

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