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-eD R AMA WisecolYamahalDunloe Grand National Cross Coun!!! Series: Round 4 FF DAD e M 0\ 0\ ~ Scott Plessinger (5), here leading Duane Conner, recorded his first win of the series and, as a result, climbed from 11th to fourth in the series point standings, Plessinger breaks Yamaha win streak at Boyers By Davey Coombs Photos by Jay Chittenden and c.J. Coombs BOYERS, PA, MAY 1 efending National Hare Scrambles Champion Scott Plessinger stopped a three-race win streak by Yamaha riders Jan Hrehor and Fred Andrews at Boyers. Plessinger pushed his KTM 250SX hard throughout the 25 hour-long run, and the 25-year-old Ohio resident accepted the checkered flag with a lead of almost two minutes over Czech Hrehor and three minutes ahead of Ohioan Andrews, who finished third overall. Team Green's Doug Blackwell was fourth overall at the finish while Craig Jones scored a career-high fifth overall on his way to another 200cc A class win. "Coming into today's race 1 didn't feel like 1 had a chance of even finishing in the top five," said KTM America/Boyesen/MSR/DuraLube/ Arai/Metzeler /Smith/Power Bar / EBC/Tsubaki/FMF/Ceet/KK Supply/ WP / Acerbis/Renthal/Sprockets Plus/ Twin-Air /Flambeau /KRW Cyclesbacked Plessinger. "1 didn't get a lot of D 24 sleep last night and 1 haven't been riding or feeling too well lately. But it all just came together out there today. 1 feel like my cross country slump is over." Plessinger's win allowed him to jump from 11th to fourth in the GNCC standings after four rounds. Hrehor moved into the points after three-time series champion Scott Summers could not attend due to a neck injury suffered at the previous round. Summers dropped to third in the points behind Hrehor and part-time pro motocrosser Andrews, who trails Hrehor by just two points. Team Mirage pilot Tom Norton is presently fifth in total points; a flat tire slowed his progress on Sunday and the Kawasaki KX125 pilot slipped to seventh overall. The cross country event attracted 280 riders to the small northwestern Pennsylvania town of Boyers. Among the class winners were Tommy Harris in Open A, Dwain Miller in 250cc A, Gary Roach in 4-Stroke A, and'Tim Shephard in the Vet A class. The Boyers event, which is sponsored by the Marion Township V.F.D., was making its third-straight appearance on the GNCC schedule. The fire department held a pre-race parade in which the racers rode down the main street of the small community. Local off-lOader Ken Speer assisted series organizers, Racer Productions, in the design of the 10.2 mile per-lap trail. With permission, the circuit passed through the properties of numerous local landowners and some old coal mine areas. The loamy surface became rough and choppy as the race went on. Sunny and mild conditions lasted from start to finish. At noon, the first row of Pro class riders fired their engines and sprinted across a grassy field before entering the woods. Plessinger took control of the lead position right away with Duane Conner, Andrews, Blackwell, and Steve McSwain, Jr. comprising the first wave of pursuit. After some initial flip-flopping amongst the top naIf-dozen riders, Blackwell led at the completion of the first 28-minute-Iong lap, with Andrews, Plessinger, Conner, and Hrehor in tow. Conner possessed the speed to stay with the leaders, but the Husky pilot suffered frOIl! dehydration in the middle stages of the race and was forced to exit the competition after four laps. But the swapping at the top of the heap continued. "1 jumped into the lead when 1 didn't really want to be," said Andrews. "Scott Plessinger just waved me by and instead .of following and looking for lines 1 was out front showing everybody what 1 had. Nobody wanted to lead; everybody wanted to follow." Blackwell and the rest stayed dose to Andrews for one lap before Blackwell made yet another pass for first and led for two more laps, Hrehor, meanwhile, was playing the waiting game that has become his trademark. "It is better for me to wait for the end to go fast than to try to go fast from the start to the finish," said Hrehor, a native of what is now known as the Czech Republic. "Today it was the same: 1 wait and watch and then go faster when the race is ending." Plessinger was playing a waiting game of his own just ahead of Hrehor. "1 was following Fred and Doug for much of the race waiting until· the end so that 1 could use the best lines to make a break. Then 1 was going to try to kick it into overdrive and get away from them." Plessinger's plan almost went sour when he and Blackwell collided together with two laps to go. "Me and Doug tangled with two laps to go and 1 bent my bars up pretty bad. It took some time to get used to but once 1 settled back down 1 felt like 1 was putting in my best laps," said Plessinger. Andrews also made a mistake that hampered any late charge that he may have had in mind. "We were all in a group and Scott got the lucky break," said Andrews. "We were all together in a pack with two laps