Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HARE-SC AMBLE " R . AMA M id-South Winter H Scramble Series are Round 9: Sugar Hill HS (Left) As us ual, a large number of riders came out for the Mid-South Winter Hare Scrambles round, this time in Bolivar, Tennessee. (Below) Robert Patterson (2) and Doug Blac kwell (9) battled all race long. Patterso n passed Blackwell two miles from the finish to take ' the win. By Paul Michels BaUVAR. TN, MAR. 3 ormer Mid-South Hare Scrambles Champi on Robert Patterson, aboard his Sarges Suzuki /MSR / FMF/ Sunstar / Oakley-spo nsored Suzuki RMX250, m oved one step clos er to regaining the championship as he took the win in round nine of the Mid-South Winter Hare Scrambles Series on a nearperfect day in southwest Tennessee. As the AA class funneled into the woods off the start, Mike Morris, the current series points leader, held th e point position until about two miles into the race when Mike Sampson, on his Team Green / Bloomington / PowerSports Kawasaki shot past. Doug Blackwell, last week' s winner, on his Sport Cycl e Racing Yamaha, followed with Patterson in tow . KTM rider John Maschino hung close in fifth. Sampson continu ed to lead until right before the scorers section when he overshot a tum and Blackwell was there to capitalize on th e mistake and tak e ove r as th ey fi n ishe d the fir st lap. Sampson, however, rebou nd ed from his mishap by qui ckly getting back up and p as sin g Bla ck w e ll m oments late r. Sampson led the entire second lap u ntil abou t a mile from the scorers area when he got stuck in a small ravine and, once again, Blackwell, as we ll as Patte rson this tim e, passed the struggling rider. This ma d e the order after tw o la ps : Blackwell, Patterson, Sampson, Morris and Maschino. A mile into the third of what would be a six-lap race, Sampson, once agai n, cha rged back to the front after passing bot h Blackwell and Patterson in short order. Sam pson continued in the lea d for m ost of th is lap, but bad luck struck once again. Sampson looked invinci ble until he tangled up w ith a lapper, and they both went down. "I couldn't believe it," said Sampson. "I thou gh t I finally go t in to a good rhythm and all of a sudden he (the lappe r) was there when I came aroun d the turn and w e co lli ded big time. After that, I felt lucky just to be able to continue and finish the race." . Sampson recovered bu t not before both Blackw ell a nd Patterson h ad motored past. Blackwell and Patt erson continued to pull away as they completed the fourth lap and pulled in for fuel. As they headed of for the pen ultimate lap, they were all a lone out in fro n t, le ading thi rdpl ace Sampso n b y approxima tel y a minute. Morris con tinue d in fou rth as F KTM-mounted Mike Cornett took control of fifth. Blackwell and Patter son continued th ere own race out front and came in after lap five just a couple bike lengths apart. . As they headed out for the sixth and fin al lap, they enjoyed a comfortable lead over the rest of the field by, now, ab out a minute and a half. Blackwell was only about two miles out from winning his second race in a row when he, too , had a run-in with a lapped rider. The slower rider reportedly moved over in front of Blackwell slowing him down just long enough for Patterson to take an . inside line betw een two trees and take the lead . New leader Patterson poured it on with Blackwell in close pursuit as they ap proa ched the second of the two difficult creek crossings. Simply put, Patterso n made it across without an y p rob lems, but Blackwell did not. The rest is h ist or y, as Patterson sprin te d th e last mile to th e fin ish line taking a hardearned win . Patterson said , "Th is one is long overd ue. I' ve been real close th e last co u p le o f races with Pl essing er and Blackwell, bu t I finally pu t it all together at the finish and pull ed it off." As expected, Blackw ell wa sn 't qu ite as elated. "I just took a bad line through that last creek crossing and d idn't make it," said a d ejected Blackwell. "I finally pe rsuade d a specta tor to help me get ou t and salvage second ." In the series po ints chase, Blackwell leads Patterson by just one point with Morris close behind in third . Sampson checked in shortly after Blackwell nursing a battered Kawasaki (from his earlier crash) to finish third in the race. A consiste nt Co rnett moved pa st Morris on the last lap, as did Jack Bailey on his big-bore Honda . Form er National Hare Scramble Ch ampion Tony Hendon, on a Suzuki of Paris RMX, followed series rival Scott Martin early in the race but passed him on the second lap and went on to finish sixth. Steve Gordo n, on his Mid-Sta te sponsored Kaw asaki. moved into th e point position on lap one and held on to the end in th e 250cc A class. Jared Smith earned a ha rd-fough t second; g ivi ng himself a nice 21st birthday present. Op en B points lead er Robert Lich pu t his Kawasaki out front off the start an d held it to the finish. Series rival and class lead er goi ng i n to tod ay' s race Ch ri s Beard was kn ocked out of contention with mechanical problems , while KTM rider Jer ry Hard in took seco nd for the d ay. Kevin C reekm ur w rapped u p the series title in the 125cc B class with another win, and Paul Allen stayed close to take second on the day and in the series. Todd Boone, on his Honda , took top hon ors in Open A class actio n, as John Bingham gave him a run for second . Yam ah a Su per Sen ior rider John Giles wr apped up yet another title with a wi n, while Greg An derson grabbed runner-up honors. Ka w asaki KD X-m ou n te d John Sheadhom was on the gas all race long and was rewarded with a first-place finish in the 200cc A class. Ken Arnol d returned to his wi nning ways on his XR to take first in the FourStroke action over second -place Kawasaki KLX rider Cod y Maxwell. Robert Atkins, aboard his Kawasaki, came ou t on top afte r a race-lon g dogfigh t with Mike Stinson in Vet B action . In the 250cc B class, Gary Hen dricks put his Yamaha ou t front early and w ou ld go on to outdistance series poin ts lead er Greg Gillion. Cli n t Robin son contin ue d h is w inning ways in th e 200cc B class, beating out series rival Tod d Campbell. Senior com petitor Gallie Wa rd and Paul Michels where never separated by more than five second all race long, and it was Ward who hung on to take th e class win. ('X Sugar Hill Hare Scrambles Bolivar, Tennessee Results: March 3, 1996 AA PR O : 1. Rbb er t Pa tte r so n (Su z ); 2. Doug Blackw e ll. (Yam ); 3', Mike Sa m pso n (Ka w ); 4. Mike Cornett. (KTM) ; 5. Jack Bailey (Han). SIC 1. Ga llie Ward (Yam); 2. Paul Michel s (ATK); 3. Mike Tay lor (Hon); 4. Ronnie Hackett (Suz ); 5. David Scott ov (KTM) . SlSIC 1. John Giles (Yam ); 2. Gu y And erson (!

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