Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127692
Round 8: Sunday Creek hovered right around the 27-minute mark , and the race totaled seven laps. It appeared that none of the 15 AA class riders wanted to lead through the early stages due to the thick layer of fallen leaves that covered the trail. But after some in itial scrambling for positions, California n Smith em erged at the front of the pack, with Plessinger and Ohio off-road icon Terry Cunningham right behind him. "I had a poor start," said No rt on . "Maybe a third-kick start. But everyone messed up on the mot ocross track and missed the trail. When we did get into (Left) The title may have eluded him, but two- time National Hare Scrambles Champ ion Scott ~Iesslnger continued his win streak with a victory at Millfield. (Below) Newly crowned champ Rodney Smith motors through a scen ic section on his way to a ru nner-up fi nish. By Davey Coombs Photos by Jim Talkington '<:t' 0'\ ~ 0\ l-< OJ S OJ :> o Z 6 MILLFIELD, OH, OCT. 23 earn KTM 's Scott Plessinger, currently the hottest rider on the Eastern off-road circuit, won the penultimate round of the se ries after a fran tic fina l-lap battle with newly crowned series cham pion Rodney Smith . The two collided together abo ut four miles from the checkered flag and Plessinger, on his fee t first, won the scramb le to the finish. "Th is time 1came ou t on top because my bike didn't quit running!" exclaimed Plessinger, in reference to the crash with Smith. Back in March th e two came together in the last comer of the Loretta Lynn 's roun d of the series. On that da y it was Smit h who .had remounted firs t and claimed the day's overall win. This time Plessinger got the nod. "I made a mistake about four miles from the finish line and Plessinger go t around me," said Smith, who took a low line to Plessinger's high line through a tree section. When the lines came back together, the two collided and fell in the dirt together. Plessinger ended up reaching the checkered flag first, while Smith was a short distance back in second. Rounding out the top five overall we re Tea m Mira ge' s ·To m No rton, . Kawasaki Team Green's Doug Blackwell and Sportcycle Yamaha's Terry Cu nnin gham. The trail was d esigned by for me r Natio na l Enduro Champion Jeff Russell and his father Howard. It measured 10 miles per lap and included parts of the Sunday Creek motocross track - perfect for spectators. The trail itself was tight er than the cross country eve nt held last August, partly due to the fact that it was not preceded by an ATV race. Alm ost half of the course was virgin trail. Mild, su nny weather made fo r a perf ect , autumn da y of racing through the so uthe as tern Ohio woods. Lap times the woods some guys got stuck on an embankment and someone tagged me, so I fell down and.was almost dead-last again." Four miles lat er, Norton was back into the lead, having hit the afterburners very early in the race, but his time out front would not last. "I thought 1 had a hot line jumping through a creek, but I landed in some barbed wire instead," sai d Nor ton. "I was there for three minutes trying to get free." A surprise early con tender was Daryl Conner, the younger brother of longtime cross country star Duane Conner. "Daryl was putting the ride of his life in today," said Norton of the imp ressive performance of the younger Conner brother. "He was definitely in the hunt for a while." "I'm used to riding the 200cc A class where you've got to start out fast and stay fast," said Conner, who was competing in the AA class this weekend. "Those AA guys ride totally different.