ed their trophies, they spoke of their
relationship as being like that of brothers. "Rodney and Randy are like brothers to me so this is like a dream come
true," Hatch said. "We've done this
before, but it's a lot of fun to have all
IN
three of us up here."
rounds are still an improvement on seasons which have seen him claim the
GNCC title ('94 and '95).
The battle for the top spot was up for
grabs entering the sixth and final. lap
(the fastest lap of the day) after two
hours and 18 minutes of racing. Hatch
passed the white flag still in the lead
with Smith just two seconds behind and
looking to make a move.
"Me, Steve (Hatch) and Ty (Davis)
were having a good battle the first couple of laps and 1 was just eating a lot of
dirt - Ty was getting me pretty muddy,"
Smith said of his rise to the runner-up
slot. "1 made a couple of mistakes on the
Road Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Results: March 9,1997 (Round 2 of 13)
Olk 1. Rodney Smith (Suz); 2. Steve Hatch (Suz); 3.
Randy Hawkins (Yam); 4. Scott Summers (Hon); 5.
Doug BlackweU (Yam); 6. Scott Plessinger (KTM); 7. Iy
Davis (Kaw); 8. Jason Dahners (KTM); 9. Brian Keegan
(Yam); 10, Chris Smith; 11. Gene OnaiJ (}
