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.C Grand SCOUNTRYSeries Roun B nsville GNCC R S Cross Country O National d5: row AMA ,-------..,----,--,.......--'---------,'" • • '" 8 ~ o > ~ > '" 8 o 11: By Davey Coombs BROWNS VILLE, PA, MAY 11 t w as only fitt in g that in one of th e wettest, muddiest , nastiest Grand National Cross Country events of all time, Tea m Honda' s Scott Summers beat KTM rival Scott Plessinger by less than a wheel length as the two crashed across the finish line in Brownsville, Penn s ylv ania . The two multi-tim e GNCC heroes, along with Yamaha ' s Fred Andrews, en gaged in what could on ly be described as a submarine fight on the pond that the Brownsville cou rse becam e after a torr ential, flash floo dcau sing cloudburst d rowned th e are a. Summers man aged to win the abbreviated race by the narrowest of margins. "That was one nasty race!" exclaime d Summers after the slop-fest. " It reminded me of on e of the early Blackwaters, wh ere the main objective was not to necessarily to try to go fast, but rather jus t not fall d own or ge t stuck. It was all about momentum and survival tod ay." All day long Summers and Plessinger p layed a grow n-u p game of "to rto ise and th e hare," as th e faster Plessinger would splash by time and again, only to make a mistake and slip on the goo or get stuck in th e ruts. Then Summers would roll pa st on hi s big Honda and lead until Plessin ger went past again. "Tha t's the way it went all day long, because 1 wa s rid ing down in the ruts where there was a little traction underneath, while Scott stayed on the edges," explained Summers. "The ruts would slow me down, but Scott was on top where it wa s fa ster but slicker and unpredictable." "It was the worst mud I have ever seen," said Plessinger after the run. "I've seen real muddy but never that bad. I kn ow I was going faster than Scott. I , had a three -minute lead when I broke my shifter abou t a mile out on the sece n d- to- la s t lap a nd h ad to rid e th e whole lap in fir st ge a r." Ple ssinger 's problems were compounded by the fact that his pit crew was abse nt when he made it back to the trucks, having taken a spa re shifter and tools out on the trail in search of him. But the section wh ere the y awa ite d him w as cut o u t and Plessinger lost mo re than tw o minutes changing shifters himself. Summers and Plessinger were listed on the same second in the final results, wh ile Team SCR Yamaha's Doug Blackwell managed his best finish in a long time with a solid third overall. Finishing fourth o vera ll w as Ohio's Fr ed Andrews, a contender for the win until a miscue late in the race cost him a shot a spot on the podium. Fifth overall in the field of more than 260 riders was Pennsylvania's own Duane Conner. The Brownsville win marked Summers' fourth victory in five rounds of the AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/Dunlop / Acerbis / Answer GNCC Series and pushed hi m back ahead of Suzuki's Steve Hatch - seven th overa ll at Brownsville - in the points standings. Summers is going after his fourth career GNCC overall title, his most recent one coming in 1992. The Brownsville event is held in the Luzerne City Park in southwestern Pennsylvania. The trail is often popular with the cross country crowd, but this I time around, it was a monster. The race was held on a Satu rda y rather than Sund ay, and a Friday evening storm saturated the deep top soil. It appear ed on Sat u rday morning that th e org anize rs wou ld be able to get the race in before th e skies opened up ag ain, but as th e riders were on the starting line the rain started falling again . Conditions were so bad after a couple of hours that Racer Production s decided to cut the two- and a-half-hour-long race 30 minutes earlier becau se scoring and cour se-cutting had be cam e major problems in th e d eep mud . There were also concerns for the condi tions of the city par k itself, as riders, officials, sup port vehicles and spectators were slidi ng around everywhe re. Conner and H atch bl ast ed into the slick, g rassy first tu rn togeth er a t the head of th e Pro pack, wh ile Summers was at other end. "1 had a bad sta rt, p robably one of the last few guys," said Summers. "1 got roosted so bad it wa s like going fro m daylight to d arkness, like I was in a cave or something . You couldn't avo id getting roosted so bad." By the end of the first lap, Plessinger was in th e lead w ith a freight tr ain of top woods pi lots behind him . Ha tch, Su zu ki teammate Rodney Smith , Conne r, And rews , Summers and Suzuki' s Randy Haw kins filled out the rest of the lead par ade as the rain grew heavier. A lap lat e r P le s singer , Sum mers and Andrews were way out front. "All of the Suzuk i guys were in front of m e, plus Conn er , Andrew s and Plessinger, but then we got to a hill that hardly anyone could climb," said Summ ers. "And rew s and Plessinger we re the on ly ones who made it over, whil e everyone else must have lost about three minutes. It wasn't long, just steep, and so many people were stuck on it that it was almost impossible to get a clean shot at it. 1 made it, too, and I never saw any of those othe r guys after that." At the end of the third lap Plessinger sp las hed ar ound the motocross track before the scoring barrels all by himself, havin g left ch all en ger s Andrew s and Sum mers in hi s wake. Andrew s surfaced exa ctly two minutes later, while Summers was a further 50 seconds back. Then Plessinger lost his shifter, crossed up signa ls with his pit crew and lost his lead all at once. "He made up 45 seconds before 1 got to the pits, but then 1 missed my p it crew ," said Plessinger, who has had a tough start in his defense of the GNCC title. "When I got back to the pits I had to find another shifter and tool s by myself. Summers made up the rest of the time and wa s 10 seconds ahe ad of me. I passed him back about a mile out and figured I was okay." Summers himself stopped to g e t fresh goggles. "1had to stop on the third lap because I couldn't see a thing, and I kept ge tting more mu d in my eyes," said Summers. "1 heard Plessinger rode the whole race without goggles. I just do n't see how that' s possible without gogg les." As for Andrews, the Yamaha pilot was also going fast but was not having the luck in traffic or ruts that Summers was having. "Fred was going faster than I wa s for sure, but he was making too many mistakes," said Summers. " He would pass me bu t then make a mis- w ~ ii: Hon da' s Scott Summers scored a narrow win at th e Brownsville GNCC in Pennsylvania. take, and I would pass him right back - 1 was jus t w orrying about g etting around th e tr a ck . But then Fred got s tu ck reall y bad, and this time there was onl y on e lap to go . There was no way he could catch back up at that point." The officia ls decid ed to wave the race off ra ther tha n give a white flag t he ne xt time aro und, and Summers did not find ou t until there was about a mi le to go. Pless inger, who got s tuck aga in and lost the lea d h e had recovered, d id not find out until he was on the motocross track for the last time. I h ad go tten s tuck on o ne of th e up hills and Summers got by me and 30 seconds to go wi th it," said Plessinger of the last lap. "1 cau ght back up aga in and I could see him a mile before the barrel s. I was n' t righ t on him, but I had him in sigh t. Then 1 saw an official, and he was screaming that it was the last lap . I went berserk and rod e the motocr oss track as fast as I could. I made up maybe eight or 10 seconds, but that just wasn't enough. I even gave him a shove at the end, but he still beat me by about 12 inches . Five more feet and I would've had him . I gu es s th e fi nis h line wa s just in th e wrong place for me." "I've ne ver won a race by going so slow in my life," said Summers. "The conditions allowed that to ha ppen. I had passed Scott with a mile to go wh en he mad e another mistake. I knew it was the fina l lap, and I th in k he sa w m y pit board whe n m y guy sho we d it to me. That last qua rter mile was un believable! I was rea lly going fast, but he was still faster . I ha d the insi de goi ng in to that last tum, and the rut jus t gr abb ed me an d shot me past the finish line. It actually slowe d me d own, but I still beat h im by a w heel. Th en right a fte r we passed the referee, we hit together and he flippe d pretty bad while I jus t d id a pirou ette or somethi ng . What' s fu nny was that I didn't see Scott until we were about five feet from the checkered flag. I h ea rd the cr owd ye ll ing and knew something was up. Had it not been for the crowd I would not have won th at race. They warned me he was coming." " I' m riding good, ju st getting bad breaks," said Plessinger later. "The broken shifter didn't cost me the race shortening the race is what cost me. I'm riding good and the bike is working real well. Now I need to get some wins. " Blackwell very quietly sneaked into the top three after passing the stranded Andrews on the last lap. Andrews freed himself in time to beat Conner to the line, while Smith, Hatch and Brian Keegan came across next. Rounding out the top 10 overall were Frank Keegan and 250cc A-class winner Gene Onail . I~ Brownsville GNCC Browns ville , Pennsylvania Results: May 11, 1996 (Round 5 of 12) O/A: 1. Scott Sum me rs (Hon ); 2. Scott Plessinger (KTM) ; 3. Doug Blackwell (Ya m ); 4. Fred An d rews (Yam ); 5. Duane Co nner (Yam ); 6. Rodney Smith (Suz); 7. Steve Ha tch (Suz); 8. Brian Keegan (Yam); 9. Frank Keegan (Yam ); 10. Gene Onai l (Kaw ): 11. Jeff Lauth (Ka w ), 12 Kevin Hines (CRE); 13. Jim Iarrett (Yam) ; 14. Scott McLaughlin (Ya m ); 15. Heath Bennett (Yam) ; 16. Todd Mor ain (Yam); 17. Gu y Giroux (Ha n ); 18. Mike Sampson (Kaw); 19. Barry Hawk (Suz ); 20. Ross Ben....on (Suz) . PRO O/A : Scott Summers (H a n ); 2. Scott Plessinge r (KTM ); 3. Do ug Blackwe ll (Ya m ); 4. Fred And rew s . (Yam); 5. Dua ne Conner (Yam) OPEN A: 1. Brian Sova k (Han); 2. Scott Fon taine (KTM); 3. Rus se ll Cherry (Hbg): 4.Troy Sch lereth (Hon ); 5. Micha el Holbert (KTM) 250 A: 1. Gene On ail (Kaw): 2. Jeff La ut h (Ka w); 3. Tod d Morain (y am); 4. Mike Sampson (Kaw); 5. Ross Benson (Suz) 200 A: 1. Jim Jarrett (Yam ); 2. Heath Bennett (Yam); 3.Jo hn Benne tt (Yam); 4. Jerem y Berwanger (Yam ); 5. Tro y Goetz (KTM). 41STRK A: 1. Barry Ha w k (5uz ); 2. Joh n Shaffe r (Suz); 3. Ca rey Stump (Han); 4. Steve Johnson (Hon); S. Ralph Th o rn (Suz). VET A: 1. Kev in Hines (C RE); 2. Robert Kirchner (Suz) ; 3. Thomas Carson (Suz ); 4. Tim She p h ard (y am) ; 5. Iai sson Deroche (Yam ). SR A: 1. Richard Kresic (Suz); 2. Michael Sch wartz (Suz); 3. Charles Dailey (H a n); 4. Callie Ward (Yam); S. John Frackelton (H en ). S/SR : 1. Jos eph Lo jak (Ya m ); 2. D avid Dehner (!Caw ); 3. Albert Chuppa (Yam); 4. Butch Powell (KTM~ OPEN B: 1. Brian Ka ufm an (KT M ); 2. Mark Weiland (KTM); 3. Richa rd Burbick (KTM) ; 4. Bill Fanner (KTM ); 5. James DiFonzo (KTM). 250 B: 1. Rick lukaesk o (Ya m); 2. Gr eg Gillian (Yam ); 3. Jim Kelly (Yam); 4. Paul Blaner (Suz) ; 5. Peter Sebelski (H on) . 200 B: 1. David Van Curen (Suz ); 2. Isaa c Ackel s (K aw): 3. G ary H iet ala (Kaw); 4.Dave Ash (Yam); 5. john Craig (Kaw ). 4lSTRK B, 1. Ronnie Bumlield (Suz); 2. Terry Meek (Suz); 3. Tro y Wertz (Hon); 4. Tunothy Col e (H a n); 5. Shane Munger (Suz). VET B: 1. Curtis Baldwin (Yam ); 2. Oark Mung er (Su z) ; 3. Steve Cooke (Yam); 4. Mark Adkins (KTM); 5. James Vicheck (Yam ). SR B: 1. Steven Hashman (KTM); 2. Robin Mille r (Yam ); 3. Wil liam Auer (Yam); 4. Gary Ma xwell (KTM); 5. James Johnson (Ka w) . 1251200 C: 1. Stephen Grav es (Yam ); 2. Craig Davis (Kaw); 3. Craig Jarvis (Yam); 4. [us ..tin Conkle (Hus); S. jeremy Morris (Kaw). lSO/OPEN C: 1. Jason Jarvis (Yam); 2. Cha d Iervis (Yam); 3. Mark Yukevich (Yam); 4. Gary Johnson (Hon ); 5. Sean Hastings (Yam) . AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 5 of 12 rou n ds), 1. Scott Summers (93 /4 w ins); 2. Ste ve H a tch (89/1 win ); 3. Duane Conne r (65); 4. Rodney Smith (65); S. Fred Andrew s (63); 6. Randy Ha wk in s (62 ); 7. Scott Plessinger (53); 8. Frank Kee gan (SO); 9. Kei th Johnson (42); 10. Brian Keeg an (38); 11. Gene Onail (38); 12. Ty Davis (38); 13. Tom No rto n (33); 14. Dou g Blackwell (32 ); 15. Tim She p ha rd (25); 16. Scott P he lps (23); ]7. Ja son Dah ne rs (21); 18. Todd Mo rain (17); 19. Da ryl Conner (16); 20. Vance Earl (15). Upcoming Rounds Round 6 - Boyers, Pennsylvania, June 2 Round 7 - Elizabeth, West Virginia, June 16

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