Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OFF·ROAD AMA NationalC hampionshi HareScramblesSeries:Round 8 ~ . u mrssears Le "Be tNatio a me a n 0\ ~ ~ .; runners for a while bu t bobbled a cou. p ie of tim es, which r esu lt e d in bo th Sum mers and Plessinger ge tting out of sigh t again. , "The course was perfect," said Hrehor, " b u t I had to s to p fo r gas afte r every la p bec ause th e cou rse was so long." . Su mmers specul a te d on th e se rie s p oin t s ta n di ngs." I th in k Rodn e y Smith is o u t of t he runn in g no w . It w ill be be tween Plessi nger, Hreho r and me at the las t race in Ari zon a. If I win and Scot t is second, we'll be tied in points." Fourth ove rall and top A class rider was Converse, wh o was suffering from the stomach flu and also had the hand icap of having to stop every lap for fuel. Letellier followed him in to claim fifth overall. Sixth overall went to 250cc A class winner Rusty Reynaud wh o challenged Converse early on . Husqvarna-mounted Kelly Getz finished sev enth overall and was second place in the 250cc A class. Double-A rider Patterson sa lvaged eighth overall despite his showy get-off, (Left) Scott Summers led from the start - at the Lead Belt National and posted his second overall win of the series, (Below) Scott Plessinger's runner-up fini sh moved him into second place in the se ries po int stand ings. With throwout rid es taken int o accoun t, Plessinger sti'fstand s a very good chance of winning the title. By Arlene Hejlek FLAT RIVER, MO, ocr.24 co t t Summers kept his hopes of earning a fourth National Hare Scrambles title alive by scoring the overall win at the Lead Belt National, which was hosted by the Missouri Mudders Motorcycle Club with the cooperation of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Summers didn't waste any time moving into the lead, as . he grabbed the holeshot on his Honda XR600 fourstroke and held off second-place finisher Scott Plessinger of the KTM team , while Czech rider Jan Hrehor rode his Yamaha in third place throughout the threehour-long race. Fourth overall was 250cc A class rider Phil Converse, riding a Yamaha, and rounding out the top five was KTM-mounted Leigh Letellier. "Basically I just had a perfect da y," Summers said. "Rodney Smith was right behind me on the first lap but he fell, and I think he had to get some stitches in his arm, so that put him ou t." Summers, Plessing er, Ka w a skimounted Robert Patterson and Letellier made up the freight trai n that circulated much of the first I S-mile loop. Letellier soon fell in a corn er and lost sight of the leaders, while Patterson entertained the spect ators by taking an un expected trip S 24 over the bars a t the star t of the second lap. Th e Summer s /Pl essinge r ' s battle pulled them clea r of the p ack . Plessinger's decis ion to wait an d pit for fuel at the end of the second lap turned out to be a close call when he ran out of gas just as he was pulling into the pits. He tailed Summers for another lap, but both of them were figuring on a last-lap duel and rode conservatively, but the showdown would never materialize. "On the third lap I was passing a lapped rider when a vine grabbed the bike and flipped i t up sid e down between two trees, " said Plessinger. "1 lost about 30 seconds th ere a n d I couldn't catch Summers after that." The American Honda / H ondaline Oils & Ch emi cals /Oa kle y /P ow er Bar / Wiseco / Alpine st ar / Speci alized / Throttle Jockey / Bri d g es to ne/ Wh ite Br o s . /Ts u b a ki / Camelbak / A ra i / An swer Products-spon sored Su mmer s topped all 329 ride rs, as he comple ted the fourth lap with a total time of three hou rs, five mi n utes, and 34 seconds; fin ishing one mi nute an d 25 se cond s ahead of Plessinger. For ty - fo ur second s later, Hrehor ca m e throu g h th e scoring chute to claim third place. Hrehor had a midp ack start after a tw o-kick get-go. He w orke d his way u p among the fro nt

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