Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

there toward the end of the th ird and fourth laps, but Scott was riding great," H atch sa id of th e la te charge that got him close to Summers. "He was riding an ou tstanding race and on the last lap I guess I just didn't have as much left as h e had. The la st I heard he wa s a minute ahead, so I just kind of backed it off an d rode sm ooth to the finis h." "I ca ugh t Frank about a quarter of the w ay through the last lap, but then he reall y turned it up and w as rid in g really goo d:' sa id Conner, wh o is back ed by Yamah a, SCR, An sw er, Dunlo p an d Arai. "I didn't know if I w as goi ng to ge t a ro u n d h im because hi s lines wer e really good, but fortu nately for me he fell go ing up one of the big ro ck hills an d I got h im right th ere. I guess everyone has so me ba d luck, but today I fina lly had some good luck. " " My goa l to day was to g e t b a ck be fore a ll of th e h ot w a ter was go ne from t h e s howers:' joked a happ y Frank Keegan, who hasn't made the top five at a n ational event in several seasons. "I had a great ride and I d id n 't ma ke a ny m ista kes u nt il the last lap when I started ge tting tired . I n eve r thought in a milli on years I woul d be up here (in the to p five winner's ci rcle)." Keegan is b acked by AYR, Gear, Stea hly Of f-Roa d, Pro Circu it, Ace rb is and Dunlop . "Steve and I ro de together for a lap and a ha lf, maybe two laps. We had a g oo d pa ce go in g but h e s t ill pulled away toward the end, and then I w as in m y own little zone. The last lap Du ane caugh t up to me and I fell for the only time all day." "Th ese gu y s were s li ng ing r o ck s eve ryw h ere a n d I cau ght o n e in the face:' Hawkin s said of the bruised and bloodied nose he su ffe re d during the run. "O ther than that things went pretty good. My arms pumped up early and I had to wait for them to go down, which has been a problem for me ever since I start ed racing. Once I took off I caught Tommy Norton, and I w as way faster than h im but he wouldn't ge t out of the way. He just came over and cu t into me and knocked m y footpeg off. I h ad to go back in the pits to ge t that fixed . With all of those fas t guys here, you can ' t give up anything, not even a pit stop for a footpeg . I give those guys a lot of credit." "I knew I was making a litt le bit of time on Steve bu t m y dad was giving me signals and helping me to jus t think about the next guys in fron t of me, and I was picking those goals first," said Conner, who overcame a terrible start to record his first podium finish of the season . "! wasn't reall y getting tir ed at all but once I got up to third the race was over. I'm s till re a lly happy to fin ish third here. I felt re all y g ood toda y, which was surprising because I ne ver seem to be ready for Lorett a Lynn's. A lot o f th in gs jus t cam e into p lace, and thanks to Fact ory Connection thi s is the best -w orking bike I've ever had, and it let me rid e out ther e wi thou t using too m uch energy." The fenderless Summers finished 70 secon ds ahead of H atch, who in tu rn was 66 se conds ahead of a so mew ha t satisfied Co n ner. Keegan h eld on for fourth w h ile H aw k in s sneaked p ast Smith on the final motocro ss secti on when Smith's Suzuki ra n out of gas. "My motorcycle is working so good that it feels like it's just floating through the bumps," sai d Summer s of his Fred Brambl ett-tuned XR600 . " I' m ha ving more fun rid in g m y bike than I pro babl y ever h a ve a n d I' m stayi ng r e a l . relaxed, too . That's how you ride well when you' re having fun. " "I d id n't think when the day started • Senior A (Ove r 40) class and North Ca rolina ' s Wayn e Beatty top ped the 11rider Su pe r Senior ( Over SO) division.n Nat ional Hare Scrambles; GNCC Hurricane Mill s, Tennessee Results: Ap ri l 14, 1996 (Round 3 of 12 and 3 of 9) (Above) Yamahamounted Duane Con ner wo rk methodica lly throu gh the pac k to card a so lid third . (Above right) Kawasak i Team Green 's Larry Roeseler aced the Four-Stroke divis ion . (Right) TIm Shephard f inished 18th overall to top the Vet A division. Shephard leads the series In that class. out that I was going to do this good," adm it ted Co nner, a notoriously lateblooming contender every season. " I just didn' t think it was going to b e a good day, but my bike was working so good that I just kept charging all day long. The closer to the top five I got, the more confiden ce I got. Ma ybe if the race had gone another lap I might ha ve gone up even further than third." "I felt pretty good toward the middle and I think I was fou rth when I sto pped for gas on the las t lap:' sai d Johnson , a New Englander in his firs t full year of off-road racing. "Go ing d own one o f those fire roads I was going a little fast and I went a little wi de passing a lapper and clipped a tree. I got into a big tanks la p per an d w en t over th e b a rs and knocked m yself stupid. Hawk in s and Sm ith w ent by and th en I ju st ki nd of cruised from there because I was seeing stars." "I bent the fron t rotor with a lap left t o go, " ex p lai n e d A n d rew s o f hi s dem ise. "I couldn't stop going down a' hill after th at and h it so me logs, wen t over the bars and it w as ove r. All day long I was rid ing a little bit too excited. I w a s up a n d d own a ll day . I guess that's racing." Wit h 8 of 12 races counting tow ard th e fina l point standings, GNCC conten ders Andrews and Plessinge r alrea dy h a v e their backs against the wall in the '96 series. With Summers showing th ree wins to their inconsistent finis hes, the duo must pick up the pace immediately o r th ey will lose sigh t of Summers for the rest of the series. Rounding out th e top 10 overa ll in Tennes se e were Smith in sixth, th en Johnso n, Dahners, N orton and Leigh Lete llier. The top non-Pro-class rid er at Loret ta Lynn's was 11th overall Gene Onail, who. is backed by Gea r, Pr o-A ct ion, Sunstar, Du nlop and Maier . Onai! won the 25-rid er 250 A class an d finished just more th an a minute ahead of second- in-class, 14th-overall Mi ke Sam pson. Fou r-w hee ler hero Barry Hawk Jr. was the best of the 17-rid er Four-Stro ke A class , w inn ing by over three minutes from Kentuc ky's Harvey Whitaker. Missouri' s Chris Caplinger topped the Open A class in Tennessee with just n ine seconds to spare on Ohio's Rodney Judson. Andrews Yamaha Racin g's Jim Jarrett topped th e 200 A cla ss, beatin g He ath Bennett b y 55 secon ds for th e win. SCR team boss Tim Sheph ard wo n the Vet A class and earned 18th overall for his effort; Vance Ear l was second in the 16-rider class. West Virginia's Gallie Wa rd won the OIA:. 1. Scott Su mme rs (Hon); 2. Steve Hatch (Suz); 3. Duane Conner (Ya m); 4. Fran k Keegan (Yam) ; 5. Randy Hawkins (Suz); 6. Rodney Sm ith (suz); 7. Keith Johnson (Ka w); 8. Iaso u Dahne rs (KTM); 9. Thomas N orton (Yam) ; 10. Le igh Let el lier (KTM ); 11. Gene Onail (Ka w); 12. Scott Ph elps (Ya m); 13. Chris Thiele (Ka w); 14. Mike Sa m pso n (Kaw); 15. Larry Roe se le r (Kaw); 16. Daryl Co nne r (Ya m ); 17. Brian Keega n (Yam); 18. Scott Mclaughlin (Yarn); 20. Steve Leiven (yam) . PRO: 1. Scott Summers (Ho n); 2. Steve Ha tch (Suz); 3. Duane Conner (Y am); 4. Fr ank Kee gan (Yjl m ); 5. Rand y H aw kins (Suz), OPEN A: 1. Ch ri s Ca plinge r (A TK ); 2 . Rodney Judson (Hon); 3. Kenneth Johnson (A TK ); 4. Daniel Reed (Han); S. Scott Loh r (KlM). 250 A: 1. Gene Onai l (Ka w) ; 2. Mike Sampson " (Ka w ): 3. Daryl Conner (Yam ); 4. Ja red Sm ith (KTM); 5. Todd Morain (yam ). 200 A.:1. Jim Jarrett (Yam) ; 2. He ath Bennett (Ho n ); 3. Corey Parlin (Ya m ); 4. Ryan Mos s (Kaw); 5. Jeremy Berwanger (Yam) . 4·STRK A: 1. Barry Hawk (S u z); 2. H a r v e y . Whitak er (H on) ; 3. Curt Wilcox (Hon); 4. John Sha ffer (Suz ); S. Carey Stu m p (Han ). VET A:) . Tim Shep hard (Ya m) ; 2. Va n ce Ea rl (Yam); 3. Tom Carson (Suz) ; 4. Tim Coomb s (Yam) ; 5. Rodney Benjamin (Hon). S R A: 1. Ca llie Ward (Yam ); 2. Terry Meal er (Yam); 3. Cha rles Thi el e (Yam ); 4. Paul Miche ls (A TK) ; 5. Michael Schwartz (Suz). SlS R A, 1. Wayne Bea tty (KTM); 2. Albe rt C1iu p pa (Yam ); 3. Joseph Lojak (yam); 4. Jo hn Giles (Yam) ; 5. • Wad e Summers (H en ). O PEN B: 1. Rich ard Burb ick (KTM); 2. Robert Lich (Kaw ); 3. Lance Ma rtin (ATK); 4. Jerry H ar din (KTM); 5. Brett M

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