Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HARE SCRA B E Rou 8: W g &Wheels H ML nd in s S AMA Mid-South winter HS Series helps you do all your gift shopping at one time.,Your family and friends get aweekly.reminder of your thoughtfulness each time:Cycle News 'is 'deliveredto their door. Plus, you don't have to worry about sizes, colors or styles ~ Cycle News is perfect for everyone. Subscribing is as eqsyas one phone calL ' 1·800·831·2220 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 prn P ,Sl With 50·issues, they will be thinking of you .weekafter week. Need agift? Send a'subscription of Cycle News. By Paul Michels BREMEN, GA, FEB. 25 port Cycle Racing' s Dou g Blackwell put in a consisten t and co nvi ncing p erformance aboard his Yamaha in round eight of the Mid -Sout h Winter Hare Scra mble Series on a da y that was an ything but wintry. The 265-plus rid ers who parti cipated in the Wings & Wheels Hare Scrambles were greeted by sunny skies and mid -70s temperatures. Mike Sampson, aboa rd his new Team Gr een Bloomin gt on -backed Kawasaki, sho t int o the ea rly lead from th e fifthgear st art and blasted straight into the woods. Sam pso n's lead wa s short-lived w he n, a fter about tw o m iles into the eight-mile-a-lap cou rse, he developed a rea r fl a t tire. Wh en as ked , Sa m pson sai d , " It was just one of th ose things , Everything was going good , and 1 think 1 hit some of those sharp-ed ged rocks in the creek section and that was it." With Sa m p s o n go ne, Bla ck w ell quickly shot pa st with Mike Morris, on his Dukes Performance Yam ah a, in tow . Sarges Cycle RMX-mounted Robert Patterson followed in third wit h KTM rid er John Maschin o in fou rth . Another SCR rider making his first appeara nce in the Mid-South Series, in an effort to tu ne his skills for th e upcoming AMA Gr and National Cross Country Series op ener in Florida, was Daryl Conner . Black w ell continued in the lead until the fina l half mile of th e firs t la p w he n th ey came upon the motocross section of the course and Morris outjurnped Blackwell. Heading out on the second lap of the five-lap race, Morris led with Blackwell in tow. Patter son sta ye d clo se a s di d Mas chino, w hile Co n ner conti nue d in fifth . Halfw ay th rough the la p, a t the p ower-line sectio n, Blackw ell lost his lead . ~ " ldon" t know what happened . I guess I was just hanging on too tight or someth in g, but both my hands w en t numb," said Blackwell. "I cou ldn't hold on and Pat terson got past me." Morris and Patterson continu ed ou t front until a mile from the scoring chu te w hen th ey bo th overshot a tu rn, and Bla ckwell was the re to take back his lead. By lap's end, Blackwell led with Pat terson and Morris filing in to second and thi rd , res pectively. Maschino con tinued in fourth w ith former Na tiona l End uro Cham pion and last yea r's MidSo uth cham p Terry Cunnin gham a lso making his presen ce known, as he di splaced Conner for fifth at the end of lap two. Co nne r sa id, "I go t a flat sta rting the second lap, but with no spare wheel a nd no pi t crew, I just had to call it a d ay." Blackwell continued his cha rg e ou t front. Patterson kept wit hin striking distan ce and Morris held third, wi th Cunnin gh am now hold in g on to the numbe r-fou r p osition . Ma schino a lso d eveloped a flat rear tire and had to pu ll off a t the end o f the lap a n d make rep a ir s. Du ane Conner, who fini shed fourth in the G NCC Series la st yea r, moved into fifth follo wing his not-sogood start. Blackwell continued to build a lead as the order stayed the same through ou t th e fo u rt h lap with th e exceptio n of Du ane Con ne r passi ng Cunning ham four fourth. Heading out for the fifth a nd fina l lap, Bla ckwell enjoyed ab out a o neminute lead over Patterson, w ho pulled away from third-pla ce Morris . Con ner con tinued to h old on to fo u r th with Cun ningha m keeping pace in fifth on his KDX200. At the checke re d fl ag , Bla ck w e ll came through the scoring chute in first , Doug Blackwell scored a hard-fought victory at the Wings & Wheels Hare Scrambles, rou nd eight of the Mid-South HS Series, in Bremen , Georg ia. place, follow ed by a hard-char gin g Patterson. Conner rod e an inspired race as he moved past Morris late in the race to commandeer third a t th e finish. Morris h eld on for fourth, as C un nin gham reb ounded from a la st-lap encounte r with a large tree tha t dazed him, but he continued on and collected a respectable fifth place overall. " I h ad a b ad s t a r t bu t ju st k ept cha rg ing," s ai d third -place fi n is her Conner. "I was moving up through the pack until the third lap when m y Hand Saver came out of th e end of my hand lebar, and 1 had to stop a n d m ake repa irs . Like m y brother (Daryl), 1 had no pit crew toda y, and it took a minute or so to make th e needed repairs. " Du ane Conner later ad d ed tha t he ha s been st ay in g a t fiv e -tim e National Enduro Champi on Rand y Hawkins ' house for th e past month and riding some local ra ces down south with Hawkins in preparation for the opening GNCCround . " A ft e r th e' seco n d lap, 1 s t ayed focused and enjoyed the ride with little problems," said Blackwell. "The course was a lit tle faster than w ha t we no rm ally ride, bu t it was a beau tiful d ay to ride," said Patterson. "I had a goo d time." Cu nnin g ham sa id of his fif th- p lace finish, " It wou ld 've been be tter, but I go t tired toward s the end. I've been co m m u ting b etw een Ohio a n d Tennessee with a new job all series long and haven 't had much time to r ide a n d train ." Multi-time Lore tt a Lynn MX-class

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