Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

b a c k, fo ll o we d im me d ia te ly b y Pl ess inger, Smith, Haw kins and And r ew s, who had climb ed fro m a lowl y 12th on the fir st lap. When the lead pack reached th e halfw ay point at th e end of the third lap, Plessinger w as th e leader for th e fir st time in th e ' 96 se ries, followed at arm ' s le n g th b y Smith, Hatch, Summers and Hawkin s. Andrews' mom entu m from th e last lap was gon e and the Yamaha pilot w a s more than a m in ute and a half behind the lead ing group, a gap he would ne ver breach. Hatch was back in the lead with two laps to go while teammate Smith rode sh otgun, six ticks down. Plessinger was an o th er 25 seconds back, th en came Hawkins. Summers had slipped behind th e leading quartet and was in danger of losing con tact. His fate was sealed w hen he dropped more than three' minutes off the lead pace. The suspense now wasn't w h eth er Summers could win again ; it was a ma tter of which of the four leaders would get the win and all the credit. "Me and Steve were riding real good until 1 go t stuck on one of the hi lls back th ere and let St e ve g et a way, " s a id Smith, who m ig h t ha v e been able to make a p lay for the win had he not los t sig ht of the stea d y Hatch . " It w asn't a real tough hi ll but it was slippery wi th a lot of rocks. Butif yo u had a lapper in front of you or some thing it caused some real probl ems." Wh en the wh ite flag fell Ha tch wa s a full m inute ahead of H awkins, w ho was vyi ng for his first GNCC po dium finish in qu ite some tim e. (H awkins h as never com peted regularly on th e GNCC tour, rath er concentrating on enduro an d reliab ili ty ev en ts .) Sm ith and Ples singer were closel y fo llowing the multi-time N at ion al Enduro Ch a m p io n in that order. "1 w as second until the last lap when Ro dn ey a n d 1 b oth go t s tu ck a n d Ple ssi n ge r caught up to us, " s a id Haw ki n s. " It would have been nice to ha ve a Su zuki sw eep because th e team has been working so hard, but Plessinger was riding reall y w ell. Aft er Plessin ger we nt by me 1 ju st hooked on to he and Rodney and let them pull m e alo ng. 1 was wait ing for on e of the m to make a mistak e but the se guys are pro fession als and th ey just don't make mistak es very often ." "At one po int 1 saw the pit board tha t sa id + 40 and 1 w as thinking, ' H ey, mayb e it' s go ing to be m y day.:" sai d Hat ch . 'T hen 1 got stuc k in a hol e and they s ta rte d to ca tc h b a ck u p to m e aga in. Sud de nly 1 w asn 't so su re ab out whether o r not it was goi ng to be m y da y." Turns out it was his day. Hatch took th e checkered flag w ith exactly 19 seco n ds to spare o n the s till- ch ar gi n g Plessi n ger, who is a n otori ousl y late bloomer every sea son but now appears to be th e u sual fo rce-to-be-reckonedwith wi th eight races to go. Smi th 'and H aw k ins ca me ac ro s s the lin e r ig h t behind him , Hawkins th e odd man ou t for the podium. A ndrew s cruised in later. . "About ha lfway through the last lap th e fans ou t th er e told m e to look ou t because Plessinger was co m in g," sai d Hatch. "I kne w 1 had to get it back going again and then 1 cam e out of the w ood s and th ere was the checkered flag." "1 finall y got the bike the way 1 want - it and it ' s w ork in g re al w ell ," s a id Plessinger after his best effort of 1996. "1 think that from here on out things are goin g to go m y way. 1 need to th an k Jason Dahners (from Wa shingt on sta te) for helping m e get going, because it' s his susp ensi on we decided to u se on m y (Above) Randy Hawkins finis hed third the n won the National Enduro round In Wellston, Ohio, the next day. (Below) The Clarksburg race was held on Saturday so that many of the competitors could compete In the National Enduro round the next day. (Right) Former GNCC ch amp Fred Andrews rounde d out the top five. Wilderness 100 Clarksb urg, West Virginia Results: April 27 , 1996 (Round 4 of 12) bi ke . H e's back h ome, so h e probably d oesn't ev en know that 1 ripped all of the parts off his b ike that he left in m y g arage!" A s fo r not ca tc h in g H atch , Plessinger said, "Maybe if 1 wo u ld have h ad more of a br ake pedal I cou ld ha ve giv en him more of a run, but he cer tainly rode a good race today." " It was a goo d ride for me an d all, but if 1 coul d get thi s bike sort ed out 1w ould be a lo t happier ," Suzu ki's Smi th sold after the run. "I felt strong, I rode goo d, an d it turned ou t to be a real goo d da y for m y teammate, so th at's a pretty good day overall. 1 wa sn't really committe d to thi s series this yea r, and 1 jus t came out to ride th e tracks and m aybe get m yself rea d y for a full effo rt next year. I'm pretty happy with how th ings turned out." Rounding out the top 10 overa ll w ere Yam aha/SCR's Du ane Conner, best-in West Virgini a woods rider Dou g Blackw ell, Summer s, Chris Smi th an d Fra nk Keegan. Twelfth ove rall o n th e da y an d top n on-Pro w as former Pro m otocr osser Tom Ca rs o n , w ho carr ie s the GNCC number-13 plate this year and is competin g in the Vet A class for th e firs t tim e. Carson finally kn ock ed off Ohio' s Tim Sh ephard by just 17 seco nds to get h is fir st class win of th e se ries. S~ e ph ard was 13th overall in the entire field . ' Dary l Conn er (Du an e 's y o u n ge r brother) was the fast est in th e 16-rider 250cc A field in West Virgini a, winning th e class by th ree m inutes and occu pying 15th overall. A close battle for second 250cc A was wo n by Kawasak i-m ounted Darius Lattea over Tod d Morain and Jeff M urg el. O hio ' s Jim Jar rett topped fell ow Yamaha rider John Bennett to score th e 200cc A class win, while you ng up-andcom er Jerem y Berwanger put in his best A-class rid e to date for third. North Carolina's Steve McSwain put 'in a w inn ing performance in the Open A div is ion ab oa r d h is H o nd a, le adin g Ohio' s Rodney Judson and 13 other ope n bikers by about th ree minutes at th e finish . The Four-Stroke A class w as w on by Team Brom ley 's Barry Hawk [ r., w ho is a lso this co u n t ry ' s fa stest qu a d cy cl e off -roader . Big Carey Stump, b ac k o n the GN CC to u r this y ea r a fte r a few seaso ns at home, was a respectable secon d . Ce rnic' s Suz uki rider Ri ck Kr es ic t o p p e d th e Se nio r A (40+) class in Cla rksb urg, whil e No rth C arolina ' s Wayne Beaty d irect ed hi s KTM to th e top Super Senior (50+) spo t, lead ing offroad legend Joe Lojak by three m inutes Di at th e final flag. . • O/A: 1. Steve Hatch (Suz) ; 2. Scott Plessinger (KTM); 3. Rodney Smi th (Su z); 4. Randy H awkins (Suzu 5. Fred Andrews (Ya m ); 6. Duane Co nner {Ya m }: 7. Dou g Blackwell (Yam); 8. Scott Summers (Hon); 9. Chris Smith (Hon); 10. Frank Keegan (Yam); 11. To m No rton (Yam); 12. Tom Carson (Suz); 13. Tim Shephard (Yam ); 14. Scott Phelps (Yam); 15. Daryl Conner (Yam) ; 16. Vance Earl (Yam); 17. Darius Lattea (Yam) ; 18. Robert Bennet (Kaw ); 19. Todd Mo rain (Yam ); 20. Jeff M urgel (Kaw). PR O : 1. Steve H a t ch (Suz); 2. Scott Ple s s in ger (KTM); 3. Rodney Smith (Suz); 4. Randy H a wkins (Suz); 5. Fred Andrews (Yam). OP EN A: 1. Steve McSwain Jr. (Han); 2. Rodney Ju d son (Hon); 3. Michael Ho lbert (KTM); 4. Brian Sovak (H on ); 5. Wayne Perdue (KTM). 250 A: 1. Daryl Conner (Yam ); 2. Da rius Lattea (Kaw ): 3. Todd Mo rain (Yam); 4. Jeff Murgel (Kaw ); 5. Ros s Benson (Suz). 200 A: 1. Jim Jarrett (yam); 2. Joh n Bennett (Ya m); 3. Jeremy Berwa nger (Yam ); 4. H an.s Neff (KTM); 5. Ron ald Johnson (Hon). 4 ST RK A: 1. Barry Hawk (Suz ); 2. Ca rey Stu m p (Hon ); 3. Donald Bigley (Suz); 4. Ralph Thorn (Suz) ; 5. Steve Stiller (Hen). VET A: 1. Tho mas Carson (Suz ); 2. Tim Shephard (Yam ); 3. Vance Earl (yam); 4. Robert Kirchner (Suz ); 5. Ran dy Mastin (Yam) . . SR VET A /40+: 1. Richard Kresic (Suz ); 2. Callie Ward (Ya m ); 3. Ch arles Da iley (Hon ); 4. M ich ael Schwartz (502); 5. Tom Meyers (KTM). S/SR: I. Wayn e Benty (KTM); 2. Jose p h Lojak (Yam); 3. David Dehner (Kaw); 4. William Miller (8uz); 5. Wade Summers (Hen). OPEN B: 1. Robe rt Lich' (Kaw); 2. Richard Burb ick (KTM); 3. W illiam Ka u fma n (KTM); 4. Steve Lin to n (KTM); 5. Mar k Weila n d (KTM). 250 B: 1. Gregory G illian (Yam); 2. Mic key Frantz (Yam ); 3. Jim Kelly Jr. (Yam); 4. Shawn Rogers (Yam); 5. Dustin Beaty (KTM). 200 B: 1. David Vancuren (Suz); 2. Luke McNt"i1 (KTM ); 3. Isa ac Ackels (Kaw) ; 4. Dave Ash Jr. (Yam ); 5. Rick Thompson (Kaw). 4 STRK B, I. Ronnie Bumfield (Suz ); 2. Terry Meek 11 (Suz ); 3. Troy Wertz (Hon); 4. Ryan Barn ett (Yam); S. Timothy Co le (Ho n). VET 8 : 1. David Mo lnar (Su z ); 2. Ada m Cadle (Yam); 3. Clark Munger (Suz); 4. Mark Salapow (Hon ); 5. Steve Cooke (Yam). SR B: 1. Steven H ashma n (KTM); 2. Robin Mille r (Yam ); 3. Richard M ay Jr. (Yam ); 4. John Curran (KTM); 5. Jam es Johnson (Kaw). 200 C: 1. S teven G rave s (Yam); 2. Ju s ti n Conkle (Hus]: 3. Gary Smith (Hon); 4. Mike Crane (Suz ); 5. Craig Davis (Kaw). 250 C: I. Mike Denison (Suz); 2. Sean Hastino (Yam ); 3. Mar k Yu ke v ic h (Yam); 4. Ja so n Ja rv is (Yam); 5. Jon athan Wende ll (Suz). WMN: 1. Bonnie H amri ck (Yam); 2. Melissa Kelley (Suz) . • MINI JR: 1. Seth Pa tton (Yam ); 2. Drew Eggleston (Yam ); 3. DR Atwood (Kaw ); 4. Cody Mas tin (Suz ); 5. Brian Melik (Ka w ). . MINI S R: 1. Charlie Paskins (Yam ); 2. Cole Ca lkins (Kaw ); 3. Brandon Shriner (Yam); 4. Robe rt Stock (Yam ); 5. Joshua Kn ap p (Hon). M IA GNCC SERIES POINT ST AN DlN G S (After 4 of 12 rounds): 1. Steve Hat ch (75/ 1 win ); 2. Scott Summers (73 /3); 3. Randy H aw kins (62); 4. Rodney Smith (SO) S. ; D ua ne Co nner (49) ; 6. Fred An d rews (46 ); 7. Keith Johnson (42); 8. Frank Keegan (38); 9. Ty Da vis (38); 10. Scott Ple ssin ger (34); 11. To m No rto n (33); 12. Ge ne Onail (27); 13. Tim Shep h ar d (25); 14. Brian Keegan (25); I S. Scott Phel ps (23); 16. Jason Dahners (21); 17. Daryl Conner (16); 18. Vance Earl (15); 19. Doug Blackw ell (14); 15. Tom Carson (14). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Brownsville, Pennsylvania, May 11 Round6 . Boyers , P ennsyl~ania , J une 2

• Cover