Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

next com er was a right-hander with one big rut and he was going slow in front of me . I gave him a nudge to get him going but tha t was it. "The next one was a left-hander and I go t beside him on the inside where it was slick while he stayed ou tside in the rut," continued Andrews. "We came to the corner toge the r. Tha t' s w here I would h a v e leveled hi m if I hadn't slowed down." That collision, along with the one that followed in the next comer, may have caused Summers to lose his rear braking capability. At the end of the second lap Plessinger was back out front with Black w ell a close second and An drews two minutes back in third. Duane Conner managed to join th e lead battle as w ell and soon held fourth in front of Hrehor and Russell . Summers was in the pits. "I wa s in a hurry to get back to the pits, bu t Fred just stayed in front of me, go ing real slow," said Summers. "He wasn't tr ying to w in the rac e or an ything, just holding me up. There wa s a rock stuck in my brakes but the brakes d idn't come back w he n m y mechanic removed it. I circled back into the p its and we tr ied p utting flu id in but that wouldn't bring the brakes ba ck either . We end ed up putt ing a w h ole n ew asse mbly on. I lost more than 10 minutes and that was it." " If you look at my times you will see that I was trying to ca tch Plessing er, no t ju st w a iti n g a round for Sc ott," sa id Andrews. "It wa s a muddy track and Scott Plessinger is the Na tional Hare Scrambles Champ ion. I just co u ldn't keep up with him in the mud. I wasn 't taking any chances, eithe r. Things were reall y slip pe ry and I w as just happy to make it around ." Andrews eventually caught Blackwell , who was having a fine ride on his home track, and passed him for second just before the whi te flag. At that p oint he was within one minute, 10 seconds of Plessinger but would not get an y closer before the checkered fla g. Blackwell cruised home in third with Hrehor, Russell, Vet A clas s winner TimShephard and a Summers following. "I made an effort to s tay completely away from Andrews," sai d a disappointed Summers. "I d idn't p rovoke an y of this ramming stuff. I thought it would be unprofessional to confront him in fron t of a crowd of p eople . W e ex ch anged wo rds in the woods but nothing I want to repeat. "He wan ted me to sto p in the woods so he coul d 'beat my ass' bu t I just kept on ridi ng," sa id Andrew s. "Everybody th in ks h e's Mr . N ice Guy and I'm th e goon but that's not the way it is. He rid es just as hard and aggressive in the woods as I do ; I just don't take it lying down." When questioned as to why Summers did n ot pro test Andrew s following the race, Summers' mechanic Fred Bramblett said, "It would have appeared to'be sour grapes. This kind of thing should be left up to the promoter or the AMA. In my opinion it was a blatant effort b y An drews to disable Scott but if people weren't there to see it they wouldn't understand. There 's a fine line that Fred knowingly crossed. There will always be bar-banging and paint-trading at this level of competition, but it was obvious to me wha t Fred 's intentions were." " He h ad to win all three races, not just that one," responded Andrews. "It wasn 't do or die for me. He lost the title and he 's blaming me. Summers can say all he wants about me trying to take him out' but the fact of the ma tter is that I didn't ha ve to take h im ou t. I've won three races and finished in the top three ... ~ l-I Q) ~ Q) . :> o Z • In h is first race back fro m an inj ury, Scott Plessi nger negotiated the mu ddy terrain better than anyone else an d came away with the ove rall win. n in e out of 11 times. They only co unt eigh t scores. I think that shows that I deserve this title." "It's been a long road - I'm glad it's over," added Andrews after clinch ing the championship with two rounds yet to be run. "Not too many people thought I could do it my first year bu t here I am." Conner's aft ernoon ended worse off th an it started as the Husq varna rid er had trouble on the last lap and slipped to n inth overall . Renowned mu d riders Thomas Norton and Terry Cunningham also had their share of trouble on the difficul t Starvation Point track as each failed to finish in the to p 20 overall, though Cunningham, a Vet A class ride r in the GNCC Series, wa s up to third . overall a t one po int on adjust ed time. Pro motocrosser Dan iel [annette compe ted on a Suzuki RMl25 bu t d ropped ou t at the halfway point. Lancaster Sport Cycles team boss Tim Sheph ard was the fas test non- Pro rid er in the field, finishing sixth overall on his way to the Vet A class victory. Georgia's Darry l Kuenzer ran second in the Vet A class and home-stater Gallie Ward third . The 250cc A class po ints leade r Gen e O'Nail also put in a ride wort hy of a top 10 overall finishing; he claimed eighth . overall en rou te to the 250cc A class victory over Virginia's Dwain Miller (10th 0/ A) and Suzuki's Mark Hyde (l2th). John Vincent powered his big Yamaha 500 to the Open A class victory, his third in as many ro unds of th e cross country seri es. Bob Ellis was second a t the finish with Lojaks/DBY/ O'Nea lbacked Ron Palermo placing third. New Lex Honda /Ohio Mobile Transp ort / Answer Racing-support ed Rodney Judson won the Four-Stroke A class wi th 30-yea r old Tracy Warrington the runner-up. MS Racing/FMF/Bentley's Kawasaki rid er Jeff Lauth won the 200cc A class for the second s tra igh t round of the series, topping fellow Pennsylvanians Anthony Glasso and Robert Bennett for the class win. Lauth occupied 13th overall a t the finish, with Gla sso 15th and Bennett 16th. John Gall agher topped the Senior A class for the first time of the year, betterin g Yamaha-mounted Jo e Lojak and series points leader Terry Mealer. North Carolina's Harry Greenlee was the Sup er Senior A winner w ith Dave Coombs, Sr. finishin g second. C\" Results O/A: 1. Sco tt Plessinger (KTM); 2. Fred Andrews (Yam); 3. Doug Btackwell (Kaw); 4. Ja n Hrebor (Yam); 5. Jell Russell (KTM); 6. Tim Shephard (Ya m); 7. Scott summer-s (Hon); 8. ~ O"NoiI (Kaw); 9. Duane Co nner (Hu s); 10. Owain Miller (Kaw); 11. John Vincent (Yam); 12. Mar k Hyd e (Suz): 13 . Jeff Lau th (Kaw); 14. Je ll Mu rge l (Ka w) ; 15. Anthony Glasso (Su z); 16. Rob e rt Bennett (Kaw ): 17. Bob Ellis (Ka w); 18. Bria n H ess (Kaw ); 19. Ron Palermo (Yam); 20. Da vid Black (Kaw) . PRO OIA: Plessinger; 1. Andrews; 2. Blackwell; 3. Hrehor; 4. RusseU; 5. Summers. OPEN A: 1. Vincent; 2. Ellis; 3. Palermo; 4. Shawn BreD (Ya m ); 5. Tommy Harris (Yam). 250 k 1. O"Na il; 2. Miller; 3. Hyde; 4. Murge~ 5. Hess. 200 A: 1. Lauth; 2. Glasso; 3. Bennett; 4. Kev tn Brandon (Kaw ); S. Daryl Conner (Kaw ). 4/STRK A: 1. Rodney Jud son (Ho n) ; 2 . Tracy Warrington (Hon). VET k I. Shephard; 2. Darryl Kuenzer (Yam); 3. C allie Ward (Yam) ; 4. Joh n Sherry (Kaw) ; 5. Terry Cunningham (Kaw ). SR A: 1. John Gallagher (Kaw ); 2. Joe l.cjak (Yam); 3. Terry Mealer (Yam). SlS R k I. Harry Greenlee (Yam); 2. Dave Coombs (Yam). OPEN B: 1. Richard Lukaesko (yam); 2. David Jones (Yam); 3. David Ga itan (Hus); 4. Adam Karlski (Ha n); S. Mike Ross (}ion). 250 B: 1. Jeff H upp (Ka w) ; 2. Cli nt Bardon ner (Ya m); 3. Darius Lattea (Yam); 4. James Rodgers (Yam); S. Milo: Munday (Kaw ). 200 B: 1. Kel vin Hu ll (Yam ); 2. Joshua McEvy (Kaw ); 3. Robin Spacht (Kaw); 4. Todd (Kaw); 5. Robert Thompson (!

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