Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

kind of a moderate pace, but when Scott and Rodney went down 1 figured I'd better take advantage of the opportunity. 1 kind of cranked it up and put as much on them as 1 could. 1 fell four times on the first lap alone, but decided 1 wanted all the spare room 1 could get, in case 1wore out toward the end. Eventually 1 built a two-minute lead, and managed to keep it right to the end." Summers and Smith tried their best to reel in Plessinger, but the Missouri heat, a rough trail, and other factors combined to keep them several minutes off the front-runner's pace. "It was a rough track, really physically demanding," said Smith. "I haven't really been ,!-ble to train for a couple of weeks, because 1 was sick, and it showed." "I knew that Plessii:tger would be tough, but 1 kind of figured this race would be between me and Summers," he continued, grinning. "I was planning to use the motocross section of the course to pass him if it was close, but Plessinger got so far ahead that it was lnevei a race for first." Steve Leivan, AA rider from Eldon, Missouri, finished fifth after a late-race battle with AA riders Leigh Letellier and Chris Thiele. After working his way through the pack after a two-kick start, Leivan forced his Surdyke Yamaha'sponsored WR250 past Letillier and 'Thiele on the very last lap. '1 was working hard all day, no letup:' said Leivan. "The ruts got bad and the creek crossings got to be a real challenge. But I like this kind of tight woods so I knew that if I stayed on it I'd do (Left) Three-time National Hare SCrambles champ SCott Summers was slowed when he crashed Into Rodney Smith during the first lap. He stili finished third overall. (Below) Another strong r.lde by Jason Dahners landed him fourth. OK." Two other top pro riders carded DNFs for the Kahoka race. Fred Andrews battled back from a multi-kick, dead-last start only to break his chain far from the pits. Pushing the bike back to civilization in the muggy Missouri heat did little to make him feel good about his trip to the Heartland. Randy Hawkins suffered several setbacks but was gaining ground fast when his Suzuki ended his race for the day by blowing its head gasket. The southern gentleman, always upbeat, had battled back from a first-lap flat tire to within one minute of the leaders when his engine began doing unpleasant things. "I was dead last after I got the flat tire fixed. All the AA riders had passed me:' Hawkins said. "I was more than three minutes down, but I really went for it, and made up two minutes in just a couple of laps. I was o'nly a minute down at the beginning of the fourth lap. Then the head gasket blew and that was all she wrote." As he walked to Plessinger's van to offer his hand in congratulations; Hawkins grinned: "Yep, that blown head gasket is the only reason Scott even had a chance today. I was really cooking" The oppressive heat and humidity took a toll on a nlimber of amateurs, until exhausted riders littered the sides of the trail. Even the pros were wearing thin by the end of the race, and Plessinger admitted that he backed off the pace during the last two laps. '1 slowed down a lot at the end:' he said. "I was getting really tired and I wanted to kind of catch my breath and save a little energy in case Scott or Rodney made a run at me. But they never did, so I just sort of kept an eye open for them and rode a medium pace those last few laps." Summers wanted to make a last-ditch effort, but couldn't put one together. "I got a little tired towards the end:' he said. ':It was a real physical track and I just kept making mistakes that eventu- ally wore me out. That first lap tangle with Rodney took a lot of energy out of me, and then 1 fell down a couple more times. Every time I started to make progress something would happen and I'd lose my momentum. I just never got rolling like I wanted to." Plessinger's win gives him muchneeded ammunition for the latter half of the Hare Scrambles Series. The' series takes a' summer break after the New York race, and Plessinger admits it will be a challenge for him to grab the championship away from points-leader Summers. "No matter how Scott or anybody else does, I have to ride absolutely perfect," he said. "No mistakes, absolutely perfect, every race. It won't be easy, but I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. Other than this little bout with the flu, I'm feeling really healthy, I'm training harder than ever, and the bike is working just great." £N Kahoka National HS Kahoka, Missouri Results: July 9, 1995 O/A: 1. Scott Plessinger (KTM); 2. Rodney Smith (Suz); 3. Jason Dahners; 4. Steve Leivan (Yam); 5. Chris Thiele; 6. Leigh Letellier; 7. Martin Kehlmeier; 8. Mike Sampson; 9. Eric Mashbur; 10. Brian Keegan. OPEN k 1. Rkhard Bryan; 2. Bill Cavanaugh; 3. Tanner England; 4. Ken Watway; 5. Mark Neff. 250 A: 1. Kenneth Yount; 2. Chris Caplinger; 3. Mike Havens; 4. Barry Hawk; 5. .Kevin Barts. 200 A: 1. Kelly Getz; 2. Harvey Whipple; 3. Ryan Moss; 4. Cory Parlin; 5. Bryan Dixon. Too 125 A: 1. Williamson; 2. Eric Hillhouse; 3. Mark Week. 30+ A: I. Scott Martin; 2. Dwayne Minch; 3. Robert Kircher; 4. Gary Hamilton; 5. Tim Anderson. 40+ A; 1. Charles Theile; 2. Roger Cerette; 3. Brad Melick; 4. Ron Less; 5. William Devore. SO+ A: 1. Everett ShiOault; 2. John Oller; 3. Wade Summers; 4. Ted Kilvington; 5. Gorman Smith. 4-STRK A: 1, Dan Bohn; 2. Bersand; 3. Chris Hutson; 4. David Campbell; 5. Mike Farley. OPEN B: 1. Todd Reed; 2. Robert Reed; 3. Todd Van Middleworth; 4. Ruford Hatsfield; 5. Nick Crawford. . 250 B: 1. Rodney Oller; 2. David Gerbes; 3. Carl Dobson; 4. Ben Haub; 5. Tom Farris. 200 B: 1. Mike Zintz; 2. Tom Hendricks; 3. David Long; 4. ScOtt McBumdy; 5. John Gibler Jr. 125 B: 1. Jamie James; 2. Shane Harmon; 3. Jeffrey Konial:; 4. Brock Busenbark; 5. Andrew Cosby, 4-STRK B: 1. Mike Windmann; 2. Doug Hugeback; 3. Alan Gross; 4. Raymond Devlin; 5. Cornel Porter. 30+ B: 1. Steve Cochran; 2. John Banes; 3. Neal . Soeksen; 4. Davi~ Vansant; 5. Russell Weeks. 40+ B: 1. Steve Zohacki; 2. Wes Kendall; 3. Jim Yount; 4. Doug Donaldson; 5. James Devereux. 50+ B: 1. David Sanders; 2. Allen Aubrecht; 3. Harold Newell; 4. Roger McKee; 5. Warren Campbell. . OPEN C: 1: M~k Voepel; 2. J.R. Hanson; 3, Brent Scrivner; 4. DaVid Hill; 5. Mark BulkJey. 2SO C: 1. Paul Short; 2. Lawrence Pirtle; 3. Duane Rambo; 4. David Stick; 5. Casey Van M;ddlesworth. 200 C: 1. Casey Michuta; 2. Hal Wright; 3. Matt Hannering; 4. Richard Brainard; 5. Robin Carson. 30+ C: 1. Robert Baumhoer; 2. Butch Taylor; 3. David Maestras; 4. David Schweitz.er; 5. Dewayne Daman. WMN: 1. Rebecca Lewis. 25

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