Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: Fire TowerH areScrambles By Paul Mich els SUMMERTOWN, TN, FEB. 18 M Sport Motorcycle's Scott Plessinger, the re igni ng Grand Nati onal Cross Country Champion, made his second appearance in the Mid-South Winter HS Series a winning one, as he took top honors in th e Fire Tower H are Scramble o n a coo l but su nny da y in sout hern Tennessee. With th e Fire Tower H are Scramble reschedu led from the previou s date becau se of an ice storm that hit the East Coast, promoters were a little anx ious wh en the are a was hammered again on Friday morn in g with three in ches of snow. The warmer temperatures on Saturday quickly melted the snow and , by Sunda y's sta rt, th e track was at nearperfect conditions. Despite the pre-race snow, 260 riders signed up for a day of racing , Doug Blackwell, on his Sport Cycle Racing Yamaha, led the Pro class off the start ahea d of Plessinger, Mike Sampson on his Thompson Motorsport Yamaha, Kentucky's Mike Morris on his Duke's Performance Yamaha, and Team Green rider and former National End uro Champion Terry Cunningham. Sampson wasted no time making his intentions known as he put his Yamaha out in front of Plessinger and Blackwell about a mile into the eight-mile and, in places, tigh t a nd te chnical woods course. Sampson' checked in at the end of lap one with Blackw ell and Plessinger in close company, followed by a hardcharging Robert Patterson on his Sarge 's Cycle RMX. - Sampson con ti n ued to lead going into the secon d lap with Blackwell and Plessinger swapping positions back and forth, each capitalizing on each other's mistakes. Patterson continued in fourth just a few ticks back , as Morris moved u p to take over fifth spot, as Cunningham fell off the pace. Sampson kept his Yamaha ou t front an d continued to lead head ing out for lap three, as Plessinger pull ed in ahead o f Blackwell, w ith Patte r son hot on Blackwell's rear wheel. Morris s tayed consisten t as he hung on to fifth . Th e order rem ained the same th ro u ghou t the third lap . Sampson was cru ising and looked to have gotten a leg up on the gremlins that plagued him earlier in the series he was head ed to a sure win . But ha lfwa y throu gh the fourth lap th e gremlins struck back. Sampson said, " The ruts were getting pretty bad, and 1 must have hit a root or something that cleaned my chain guide completely off. After tha t, my chain just kept co ming off, which ultimately ended my day. Other than tha t, I think I proved to myself after the last race that I can run with the best of them ." In that "last" race, Sampson hit a tree with his head hard enough to shatter his helmet. Wit h Sampson dropping out of th e race, Plessinger took ove r the lead and came in at lap 's end to take on fuel an d mak e some stee ring and sho ck ad ju st ments. Patterson and Blackwell did likewise but go t a w ay soone r, 'lea ving Plessinger to pla y catch up. Morris continued in fourth at a di stance, as Indiana' s John Maschino, on his Cycle Sheds po ns ore d KTM, movedinto the fifth s p ot. Pl essinger pu shed it h ard and finally caug ht up to and passed Patt erso n and Black w ell abo u t h alfway' throug h the fifth lap, At th e beg innin g of the six th la p, the re wer e no mor e than five seco nds separating th e top three riders, Morris came in just a sho rt d is tance b ack as Maschino kep t pace. IC As the trio - Plessinger, Patterson an d Blackwell - took the checkered flag, they fini sh ed in th e exact same order and ne arl y as close as the last time they all went at it, with Ples singer taking the win over Patterson and Blackw ell. Morris checked in about 20 seconds off the leader s' pa ce w ith Ma schino taking a solid fifth overall. Plessinger said, "It was a good race just as it was the last round, only this time I didn't get tired. After th e pit and the adjustments I made, I hit a tree and bent m y hand sa ve r and had to d o without my front brake the last lap and a half. Every time I would pull th e lever, it would stick on, so 1 ju st quit using it: ' You could tell from the looks of Patterson's bik e he had his share of close encounters with the many trees on the course. The right side of his handlebars were bent and the left hand saver was gone. Patterson said, "We ll you know how it is, I jus t gave it all I had. We had (Ab ove ) Scott Pless in ger scored a narrow wi n at the Fire Tower Hare Scrambles in Te nnessee. (Left) Robert Patt erso n f inished a close second to Plessinger. held on to take the Senior-class win over rival Richard Lanning and series regular Paul Michels. Ricky Whitl ey has been consistent all series long but finally pu t one in the win co lumn thi s we ek in the Heavy Trail class. John Glaus improved over his pe r. form ance in the last race to take a welldeserved second. (~ Fire Tower Hare Scrambles Summ erto wn , Tennessee Resu lts: February 1B, 1996 AA PRO: 1. Sco tt Pless in ge r (KTM )..:z.. Robe rt Pa tte rson (Suz ); 3. Doug Blackwell (Yam ); 4. Mike one hell of a rac e!" Blackwell agreed, "Yeah, we were definitely all right there, it could 've went to anyone of us if the ' other had made a mistake: ' Open A reigning champ Harvey Whitaker had to wo rk to put his And y's Hon da in the winners' circle, as he and To d d Boone swapped the lead for the firs t few laps until Wh itaker finally pulled away. The Vet A class saw an upset, as Bryan Ada ms on his Performance Cyclebacked Kawasaki ended former National Hare Scramble Cha mpion Tony Hend on 's tw o-year-Iong winni ng streak. H endon said, "It wa s ju st one of those days. I had a coup le get-offs and let him get awa y, and Ada ms also rode a good race:' Sarge' s Cycle-sponsored Ch ris Beard . pu t his big-bore Hon d a ou t in fron t in the Open B class off the start and never looked back, Series rival, Robert Lich, on a Kawasaki took second-place honors. The 250cc A class held plenty of lead sw apping until the four th la p when Steve Ezell took over on his Mid-South Mo toplex-backed Yamaha an d he ld on to the finish. Todd Wilson made it close at the finish to take second, In Lite Trail action, Geor gia's Rand y H icks, on hi s Performance Kawasaki, bounced back from a so-so start for his first class win . John Broughton con tinued his winning ways as he put his Honda in the win column with his closest competition being series-long rival Kawasaki-mounted Robert Adkins. . Super Senior champ John Giles powered his Yamaha to yet another win over John Frie d li, while Greg Gilliam powered his Yamaha to first place in 250cc B action. In 12Scc B ac tion, KTM rider Paul Allen and Yamaha-mounted Kip Hayn ie fought tooth an d nail w ith Allen corning out on top . Clint Robinson conti nue d to do minate the 200cc B class on his Kawasaki, w hile Thomas Cam pbell kept him in sight for second for place, John Lena rd set a blister ing pace in the 200cc A class, topping Darin Phillip s for the class win . Gallie Ward moved to the front and Morris (Yam); 5. John Maschino (KTM ). OPEN A, 1. H ervev Whi taker (Han); 2. Todd Boone (H on ); 3. Mar k Thurman (H on ); 4. Jason Jennings (Hon); 5. John Bingham (KThI). 250 A: 1. Steve Ezell (Yam ); 2. Todd Wilson (Yam ); 3. Lance Smith (Yam); 4. Ja re d Sm ith (KTM) ; 5. Steve Gordon (Kaw). 200 A: 1. John Le nard (Kaw); 2. Darin Phi lli p s - (Kaw); 3. Tim Hemstreet (Hu.'~); 4. Eddie Denfip (l

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