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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127752
.HARE SCRAM.BLE ...' - •... AMA ~atjOi1al ChampiQl1ship H~re~cnimble SeriQS . Round 7: Sun~ay Creek Honda's Scott Summers won the Sunday Creek National Hare Scrambles, putting himself In a good position to win yet another hare scrambles title. ~ ~ Summers .g H 0\ 0\ rl If)~ C"l l-< Q) ..... u o 30 MILLFIELD, OH, OCT. 8 onda's Scott Summers made a ~ig nificant play towards clin.ching the AMA National Hare Scrambles Championship when he captured the seventh round of the series at Sunday Creek Raceway in Millfield.. The victory marked Summers' second win of the series and allowed him to overtake runner-up Scott Plessinger in the net point standings. inches close r "1 just had a perfect day," said Summers after the race. "For the first time in a long time there was nothing that went wrong. 1 didn't make any stupid mistakes and the bike worked perfectly. It was just one of those days when you feel like you can do no wrong." Behind Summers and Plessinger was Ohio's own Fred Andrews, who is in another battle with Summers and Plessinger for the Grand National Cross Country Series Championship. Sport Cycles Racing teammates Doug .Blackwell and Duane Conner rounded. out the top five overall. The National Hare Scrambles contingent was greeted by a beautiful autumn afternoon imd perfect racing conditions at the Jeff Russell-run Sunday Creek facility. Unfortunately, a less-than-expected turnout of about 120 riders attended the event. The small crowd meant that the 11.4-miles per lap track would be relati vely traffic-free throughout the day. The long course contained the usual Sunday Creek woods sections, plus a few long creekbed sections and a short trip around the regular motocross track each lap. "1 got a pretty-good start, but [ guess things were happening behind me," said Summers, referring to title rival Rodney Smith's early fall on the motocross track. "1 kept my eyes open for what was going on behind me but it wasn't too long before 1 was by myself." What happened behind Summers was this: Plessinger got sideways off one of the motocross jumps with Suzuki's Rodney Smith right behind him; Andrews was just to the righ't of both of them; Smith cut his path hard to the right in anticipation of Plessinger's going down and, in the process, clipped Andrews' front end and cartwheeled end over end along with his bike. Smith remounted to continue the race but a bystander found a piece of Smith's bike laying on the ground. The piece was taken to Suzuki advisor Mark Hyde who recognized immediately that the piece was part of Smith's steering a,pparatus. As a matter of safety Hyde was forced to flag Smith off the track aJ;Id out of the race the next lap around. Plessinger crashed at the end of the first lap going through a creek section. . "1 had a good start and was up front with Summers and Andrews when 1 crashe~ halfway through the first lap," said Plessinger. "1 had to ride two laps without a fender until the guys in the pits got everything ready for me to corne in. It was real hard because they had a few miles of creek sections, and 1 was getting water flung up in my face. Then 1 couldn't judge the front wheel very well and 1 caught a tree with the shifter and wrapped it around the peg." The mishap required an extended pit stop to replace the part and get new . goggles. Plessinger dropped back to fifth place during the stop and spent, the rest of the afternoon in recovery. "1 was in the lead early but 1 didn't walk the track, so 1 didn't really know where to go," admitted Andrews. "Brian Keegan got the lead but he didn't walk the track, either. Plessinger got the lead next and he walked the track, but he still didn't know where he . was going! Summers was next in the lead, and I don't think he even knew where to go. It was funny because we were all rubber-necking it, looking around for the best lines and stuff. Then the pace picked up and both Scotts got away from everyone." "Plessinger should've won today," admitted Andrews, who was zapped by the KTM rider on the last lap. "Plessinger had some problems ancllet Scott get away from him, but once he got it together he took off like a madman. 1 was going to try to take him to the finish line but he busted through some brush to pass me. He looked like a geek without a fender and all but he still beat me!" "Summers was gone," said Plessinger matter-of-factly. "1 could tell by the way he was riding at the beginning of the race that there was no catching him." Plessinger settled for seoond, just less than two minutes behind his rival Summers.