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CROSS'COUNTRY Round 7: GNCC . Grand National Cross Country Series (Top) Fred Andrews gave Plessinger'a run for his money late in the race but . cam8upafew pennies short. By Davey Coombs ELIZABETH, WV, JUNE 18 eam KTM's Scott Plessinger picked up his se~ond win of the 1995 AMA Grand National Cross Country Series in central West Virginia:The 27year-old Ohio native narrowly edged Yamaha's Fred Andrews after a fierce three-hour duel that at times included Suzuki's Guy Cooper ~d Steve Hatch and four-stroke demigod Scott Summers. Cooper ended up third overall with a trouble-plagued Summers fourth and SCR Yamaha rider Duane Conner rounding out the top five. Hatch slipped back to ninth after experiencing some late race hassles. "After the Elkins race 1 got real mad and 1 started training real hard," said Plessinger of the race in which he dropped out. "Usually I don't get into training real hard until the season starts to wind down but 1know this year that 1 can't afford to wait." Especially not for a race like the Starvation Point GNCC. Super hot weather, a tough track and a competitive pace all day long turned the race into a starstudded session of survival of the fittest. The 12-mile-per-lap track featured a wide variety of difficulty and terrain, though the course mostly snaked through the Elizabeth-area forests. Two river crossings were appropriately added this year "to commemorate the old Blackwater 100," said race organizer Dave Coombs. For 19 years the Blackwater 100 took place on Father's Day Weekend until environmental politics ended the infamous round. The Starvation Point round has taken the place of the Blackwater, and the spectatorpacked river crossing gave it the old flavor of "America's Toughest Race." Beer- show Fred that I could ride with him on the motocross track. I was going to do a nac-nac and look back at him but I figured he would get mad at me." "On the third lap 1 was climbing a hill and there was a rider coming backwards down the line I was taking," said Cooper. "I jumped out of my groove and tried,a different line to the right and (Above) Defending champ Scott Plessinger recorded his second win of the series at the Starvation Point GNCC National in West Virginia. Here he leads Guy Cooper through a river crossing. (Right) Steve Hatch (256) grabbed the holeshot ahead of Gene Onall (4), Tom Norton (3), Tom Carson (8) and Plessinger (1). Hatch ended up ninth. inspired race fans pulling bikes up the banks was thought to be a lost art. Suzuki's Hatch, the defending AMA National Enduro Champion, grabbed the early lead but by the end of the first 29-minute-long lap Plessinger was out in front in the number-one KTM. The Suzuki's of Cooper and Hatch were next, followed by Honda of Troy's Tom Carson, Summers, Andrews and local hero Doug Blackwell. The first lap lasted 30 and a half minutes, which would be the average for the rest of the afternoon. "I started off good but I didn't want to be up front too early," said Plessinger. "Guy got out there early and I have to say that's the best I've seen him ride all year. 1 just followed those guys and then 1 saw Fred endo big-time on a downhill. I figured he was done for the day but he came back and caught us, just like he did at the Boyers round." At the end of the third of six laps, Andrews was in the lead with a la-second gap on Plessinger, Hatch, Cooper and Summers, who was having problems with the brakes heating up on his Honda. 'Tm lucky that I'm here to talk to everybody after the crash I had," said Andrews later from the podium. "I endoed down the hill and I went down through a bunch of trees. Luckily, I hit the little ones while my bike took most of the big ones. 1 was way back at that point and 1 never thought I would be able to catch back up." "I tried to pass Fred back o'n the motocross track in a tum and then I hit the next jump as hard as I could," laughed Plessinger, who possesses a fraction of the motocross skills that former pros Andrews and Cooper have. '1 wasn't going to give up. I just wanted to 1 couldn't make the hill. 1 paddled with the bike up the hill but 1 still couldn't make it. I finally had to go all the way back down to the bottom of the hill and start over." For the next hour, Cooper would make a relentless comeback, charging back into the shadow of Plessinger and Andrews. "I stopped in ·the pits and got the information 1 needed about where those guys were," said Cooper. "I tried as hard as 1 could to catch them on the last lap but I couldn't do it. It was a good ride and a good time; 1 just wish 1 hadn't messed up on that hill." With one lap to go Plessinger led Andrews into the scoring barrels. Rather than start an immedia te charge to the checkered flag, the defending GNCC Champion stopped in his pit for fresh goggles. '1 felt real confident that I would get