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HARE SCRAMBLES AMA Mid-South Winter Hare Scramble Series Round 6:DaveyCrockett HS Robert Patterson (2) grabs the ear ly lead at the Davey Crockett Hare Scrambles In Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Grand National Cross Country Champion Scott Pless inger (1) scored the win, but not wlthoU1 a fight by Patterson, who ended up second. ~ tSSln tr t W ron ltr l ~ By Paul Michels LAWRENCEBURG, TN, jAN. 14 TM' S Sport Mot orcycl es and tw o-time GNCC Ch ampion Scott Plessinger ventu red from hi s h om e in s now -covere d sou th west Ohio to warm and sunny so u th west Tennessee, and came away with top honor s in round six of the Mid -South Winter Ha re Scrambles Series . And he wasn' t the only one seeking suns hine, as a 290-plus rider turnout was no doubt fueled by the near-record snowfa ll that stretched from Kentucky all the wa y to the East Coast the weekend before the Davey Crockett H are Scrambles. This sent many riders stricken with cabin fever heading south in search of dirt, sun, wa rm weather and a good race. One such rider was Robert Patterson who made his bid for the top spo t, as he shot into the early lead . Sport Cycle Racing's Doug Blackwell, on a Yamaha, follo wed , as Mike Sampson, also o n a Yama ha, kep t close tab s on the lead er. Plessinger and Ind iana's John Maschino, on a KTM, rou nde d ou t the top five at the end of the first lap . Patterson con tin ued ou t front as the res t of the Pro class gave chase. Blackwell checke d in a close second at the end of lap two. Plessinger displace d Sa m pson af te r Sam pso n had a close encounter w ith a huge tr ee. Sampson said, "I was go ing alo ng fo llowi ng Blackwell an d mad e a stab at a turn, an d the fro n t end washed ou t. As I wen t K 44 ~ down, I hit a huge tree with my head. I tried to continue, but just kep t screwing up , so I called it a d ay." As a resu lt of Sampson pulling out, Morris mo ved into fourth and Maschino to fifth. Lap three saw the trio of Plessinger, Patterson and Blackwell pull ou t a slight lead ove r th e rest of th e pack . Th ey came throu gh in that order after Patterson and Blackwell hit toget her and went down in a heap . Plessinger said, "I figu red afte r th at happen ed, it was my chance to pull awa y, but oh. how wrong I was." Plessinger started lap fou r in the lead bu t wa s soo n passed by a determ ined Patterson, who shot pas t Plessinger wh en the factory KTM pilot bobbled in a turn. By lap 's end, the three were still within a couple of bike lengths of each other. Morris conti nued in fourth about 15 seconds off the pace of the leaders. Maschino still hung tough in filth. Patterson started lap five of the sixlap race wi t h a sligh t lead over Plessinger, as Blackwell stayed right on his rear wheel. Plessinger made a pass on Patte rson about halfway through the lap and mad e it stick, as he checke d in with the lead at the end of the lap. Patte r son s tayed close in secon d w ith Blackw ell in tow. Morris con tinue d in fourth, though at a d ist ance, as he was riding a 125 and gave up just too much horsepower on the oth ers who were on 250s. Marris sai d he had trouble with his other bike the da y before and opted to ride his 125. He is currently the series points lead er, bu t on a course that started ou t okay for a 125 bu t later benefi ted Mike Sampson was running near the front of the pack before crash ing and smack ing his head on a tree. He kept going but later withdrew from the race. the 250s, he just couldn't keep up . KTMmounted Maschino continued to hold onto fifth. Plessinger started the sixth and final lap with a slight lead on Patterson and Blackwell, in that order. Patterson hung back until about a mile from the finish when he made his bid for the lead . He closed the gap and almost slammed the door on the champ. . Plessinger said, "I didn 't think he had anything left in him, until abou t a mile from the finish, and all of a sudde n here he comes aga in. We were both go ing wide open for the same turn and neither of us was going to let off. Luckily, I had the inside line and pu shed him out. " Plessinger came in to the finish about five seconds up on Patt erson, as Blackwell was just about 10 seconds back in thir d. Morris kep t his 125 screaming and managed a respectable fourth. Maschino wasn't so lucky as he held fift h u n til about tw o miles from the finish, when he tangled with a lapped rider just long enough for Mike Cornett , on a KTM, who was keeping pace all da y, to get by an d sprint to the finish for fifth overall. Maschi no said, "It was just one of th ose thin gs, I rode my butt off all d ay and then on the last lap lost it." "I have to give Pa tterson cre di t, he gave m e a ll I wa n ted tod a y," said Plessinger. "He rode a really good race." Plessinger was also sho w ing signs of fatigue since he hasn 't ra ced since the last Nation al in Wa shington las t yea r. Plessinger said he has been staying close to home waiting for the birth of his second child, w hich is due any da y, and doing some remod eling on the house. In O pen A ac tion, r e ignin g cl ass cham p ion H ar vey Whitaker po wered his Andy's Honda XR600 to a win over r unner-u p To dd Boone, also on a Honda. ;I.