Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Hare Scrambles Series: Round 2 OFF·ROAD e Plessinger bounces back with Moonshine win ~ By Davey Coombs Photos by Ron Harlow and Fred Bramblett CADlZ, KY, MAR 21 her starting the 1993 season with a disappointing DNF at the series opener in Texas, defending National Champion Scott Plessinger got back on track with a solid ride and a win in the rocks and ruts of the Moonshine Hare Scrambles. The KTM factory pilot secured the lead near the halfway point of the three-hour long race, and never let up until he crossed the ~eckered flag. Finishing approximately five minutes behind Plessinger was Team Suzuki's Rodney Smith, whose result, combined with a runner-up finish to Scott Summers at round one, was good enough to wrest the series points lead from Summers, fifth at Kentuclcy. KRW Cycles/MSR/Arai/Tsubaki/ Duralube/Metzeler/Smith/FMF/Power Bar/EBC/Sprockets Plus/Ceet/KK Cycle/WP/ Acerbis/Renthal/Boyesen/ Twin-Air/Flambeau-backed Plessinger rode a Kirk Batielle-prepped KTM 250SX to the victory. "This one sure feels good," said the 25-year-old Plessinger, who also won the Moonshine National in 1990. '1 really messed up at the first round of the series in Texas and didn't know how things would go today. I haven't ridden for three solid hours since November, but I've been training real hard so that I would be ready if it came down to the last lap." Team Green/Scott/Dunlop/ProCircuit/ Answer/Kawasaki of Nashville/Sarges Cycles-~acked Robert Patterson placed third overall behind Plessinger and Smith, with Yamaha's Jan Hrehor and Summers, each of whom suffered through bike problems on the difficult Moonshine course, completing the top five overalL The Moonshine National was held at a brand-new location at Golden Pond, an area that is within the boundaries of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Land Between The Lakes, a 170,000-squareacre National Recreation Area. (One section of the course ran along the beach of Kentucky Lake). The course was designed by Bobby Thomas and the West Kentucky Trail Riders, and measured approximately 10 miles in length; the leaders would put in seven laps. This is the ninth-straight year that the club has held a National, and the Trail Riders have been putting on off-road events since 1970. Showers on the eve of the race meant that the 283 competitors would be constantly challenged by ruts and hills, which grew more difficult as the race progressed. "When I went out on Friday and walked the course, I was thinking that it was going to be really fast," said Smith, who was formerly a top competitor on the World Championship 250cc MX Series. "But the rain really slowed things down. It made for a fun race, because riders were competing with the track more than we were with other riders. It was all about picking the right lines and n~t getting stuck out there:' Doug Blackwell captured the early lead ahead of Plessinger, Shad Ricketts, Duane Conner, Patterson, Hrehor, Tony Hendon and Summers. Smith was the last man to leave from the dead-imgine AA-class start when his Suzuki failed to fire until the fourth kick. A "I got by 10 guys pretty fast, but then I got hung up behind two guys for the longest time," said the American Suzuki/Thor/Bieffe/Alpinestars/Smith /Power Bars-sponsored Smith, who is contesting the hare scrambles circuit for the first time this year. "I crashed twice qying to get around them, but then I finally went by on the second lap and got away for good. I'm not sure who they were; I still don't know my way around very well:' "I crashed in the first tum and started out dead last," said the Kawasakimounted Patterson, who was picking himself up off the ground when Smith made it to tum one. "It was pretty slick in the corner because it's just a grass field. I hit third gear and the bike just went out from under me. I passed seven or eight people right away, but then I hit a root and went over the bars. Then had to pass them all again." '1 crashed really hard on the first lap down by the lake," admitted Plessinger. HI was following Scott (Summers) and Duane (Conner), but when we got to the rocks I took a bad line and got off pretty good. Nobody was close enough to pass me, but it really shook me up for a moment:' Team Husqvama's Conner also crashed in the notorious section and would retire from the run. While Smith and Patterson were forced to fight through from the back, Ricketts and 21-year-old Blackwell led throughout the first lap, though Summers was making' strides behind them. The Honda XR600 hero worked his way past both of the early contenders on the second loop, and was able to complete that lap with an ll-second advantage on Team Green's Blackwell, who in tum held a lead of 40 seconds on Plessinger and Ricketts. At the scoring barrels one lap later, Summers' lead measured 28 seconds on new runner-up Plessinger and Blackwell. Summers has won the Cadiz National three times in his career ('89, '91 and '92), and seemed well on his way to win number four when disaster struck. "l was about two minutes ahead when I wrapped my shifter back under the frame on the fourth lap," said American Honda/Answer/Oakley / Bridgestone/ Arai/White Bros-backed Summers. HI had to lay the bike down, take out all my tools, and· work on the thing for four or five minutes. I had to snip the cable that usually keeps it from bending, which was a big mistake. After that I must have pretzeled the shifter a dozen times. Well, at least I won the first three laps!" Plessinger moved into the lead as Summers worked frantically by the trail, and the KTM pilot immediately hit the afterburners. At the end of the fourth lap Plessinger was two minutes and 40 seconds clear of Smith, who had finally made his way into second after a miserable start. Plessinger doubled his lead on the next lap after Smith banged his bike up in the ruts. "Starting the lap, I smashed my pipe in two when I dropped into one of the ruts," said Smith. "1 thought I hit my brakes at first, but it was the pipe Scott Plessinger (1) scored a come-from-behind win and jumped to third in the points. dragging on the ruts. Then I stalled my bike in a rut and couldn't get my kickstarter out. I couldn't believe that nobody else passed me." As it turned out, most of the other riders - with the exception of the longgone Plessinger - were having problems of their own. Summers continued to struggle with his malleable shifter, while Patterson was still climbing through the ranks after his two early spills. Hrehor ran out of gas when he and his pit crew had a communications breakdown. The Czech rider experienced problems with a clogged breather hose on the second lap, and felt that he was running out of gas, so he added some fuel that he was carrying in his fanny pack. When Hrehor made it back to the pits his crew, seeing a quartertank of gas, felt that he could go three laps before stopping again. Instead, Hrehor ran dry one mile outside the pits. Ironically, Blackwell, who was having a fine outing, also ran out of gas. "1 just never let up, even after my pit crew told me to ease off a little," said Plessinger. "With all the ruts and mud out there you could get yourself in trouble real fast. I just stayed focused and kept up the pace the whole time. I really felt like I could do no wrong today. It felt so good to ride like that an day long:' Plessinger crossed the finish line with· a massive lead of more than five minutes on Smith, who lost his visor late in the race when he crashed between two trees near the lake. Fortuna tely for Smith, Summers was not there to capitalize on the late miscue. HTowards the end I worked into third, right behind Rodney, but I kicked up a rock and derailed my chain along the lake," said Summers. Hit wadded it up on the back sprocket. That got Jan (Hrehor) and Patterson past me. We had a great race those last two laps, probably because we were all having problems." Summers' late bid to overtake the upstart Patterson and Hrehor failed by just a few bike lengths. The three of them raced across the checkered flag in a quick, single-file parade with Patterson at the point. "1 guess this is a career-best, certainly the best I've ever done in the AA class," said Patterson, who was the 250cc A class runner-up in the '92 series. "Cadiz is just a couple of hours from where we live in Tennessee and we race a lot in Kentuclcy. In fact, I won the Mid-South race here in November at this track:' Hendon secured fifth overall while early leader Ricketts nabbed seventh. Bare Bros. Racing/MSR-sponsored Duane Miller topped the 250cc A class and finished eighth overall ahead of Canadian Suzuki rider Blair Sharpless and 21-year-old Steve Leivan. The Open A class winner at Cadiz was Yamaha WR5OO-mounted Tommy Harris, who also climbed up to 16th in the overall tally. Class runner-up Jack Bailey figured into the overall tally as the 19th place rider. Longtime trail master Jeff Fredette guided his Kawasaki KDX200 to the 200cc A class victory, with fellow Kawasaki rider Kevin Brandon scoring second-place honors. Defending series class champion Jared Greene bettered fellow Honda riders Curt Wilcox and Joseph Lawson to win the Four-Stroke A battle and Honda-mounted Ron Ribolzi proved himself fastest in the Vet A race. Among the amateur and support classes offered at the Cadiz National was a two-man team class in which duos share one bike and take turns riding laps. There were 34 riders entered in the unique division and the team of Alan Randt and Martin Kehlmeier emerged victorious. (lO/ Results P._ O/A: 1. Scott P1essinF (KTM); 2. Rodney Smith (Suz); 3. Robort (Kaw); 4. Jan Hrohor (y.m); 5. Scott Summers (Hon); 6. Tony Hondon (Suz); 7. Shad Ricketts (Hus); 8. DWAine Miller (Kaw); 9. Bla.ir Sharpless (Suz); 10. Steve Levan (y.m); 11. Jeff Frodetto (!uane Conner (18); 10. Kolby Pepper (16). 21

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