Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

lap, act ually, and we never rea lly fig ured it out ," Ha tch said. "We sto pped and cha nged the s p a r k pl ug, we cu t some of the lines on (the carb) , cut the kill switch, cut the lines on tb e vent tubes. I knew I was riding really good an d really fast, beca use this is m y type of terrain . It was just reall y frustrating ou t there, be cau se th at kind of situ atio n is d angero u s; you go into a corne r expecting to ge t ou t of it and then you end up in th e trees. I had a few cross cc-mtry ad ven tures ou t there." ,\ ,drews and Summers we re in fifth and s, ·th at this poin t, trailed by Book, Hawki ns, Brian Keegan, McLa ughli n and Frank Keegan . Cheers rose from the crowd as rid ers came into view fro m the pits aft er the seco nd la p . Local favo r ite Blac kw ell, fro m nearby Parkersb urg, West Virginia, had passed Smith for the lead and maintained a one-seco nd advantage. Summers had a sc ended from th e sixth to the th ird spo t, and Hawkins had leapt fo u r p ositions to claim four th . Brian Keegan's Team G ree n Kawasaki w as now i n fifth . Ed mo n dso n h ad d r op ped o u t of th e to p five du e to engine problems. "Every thing was goi ng well until the star t of th e second la p whe n I ex perienced fuel pr ob lems and it kept cu tting out," Edmondson said . "I ha d the sa me proble m as Ha tch , a nd we just ke pt stopping. We cu t all the breather pipes and, by the time I go t going, I was ove r four minutes down." In an atte mpt to mak e up lost time, the Worl d Enduro Champion's pace put him ove r the edge and into an infla tab le leg cas t on lap five. "I was goi ng too quick up an uphill a nd th e back end hit a rock and s tepped out a nd high -sid ed me ," Ed mo ndso n sai d . "I felt my knee go all funn y, and I've not bee n right since." Q n th e gas hard, Blackwell pu lled 0 ,,"- more than a minute lead o n Smith by th e m id w a y point . Ridi ng at a n u nmatcha ble pace, the. Yama ha team ster was u nawa re that he was in th e lead and was expending energy while thinkir',; that Hatch was ahead of him. "I we nt out on th e seco nd lap thinking that Steve Hatch was ahead of me, by not readin g m y pit-board sig na ls good enough," Blackw ell sai d. "I kept try ing to push to catch Steve when, in rea lit y, he wa s behi nd me , a nd tha t's why I go t such a big lead." Also riding a t h is best pace of th e season was Team Green's Brian Keegan, w ho held third posi tio n at on e point - m id race be fore twis ting his knee a nd losing more than two m inutes. Th e fall tumbled him to se venth place, which he would protect to the finish . Running as a tight clus ter for the latter part of th e race, Smi th, Andrews, Su m me rs, Hatch and Hawkins began closing the ga p on the .o nce long -g on e Blackwell. The en erg y he had expended ea rly was ca tc hi ng up to Blackwell. Entering the final lap , he held just a 14second ad va ntage o n A ndrew s, wh o had quietly ascended to the second positio n, running handleba r to handlebar wit h Sm it h i n thi rd. T w o secon ds be hind th em was Su m mers in fou rth. Both Ha tch and H aw kins were within 10 seco nds of Su m mers in fi ft h and sixth. .On the last lap, suffe ring fro m dehy dr ati on and d izzy spells, Blackwell hit the wall. Somehow managing to remain on the bike for the last lap, he fell from firs t to si xth, the entire pack of fro ntrunners ge tt ing b y o n th e la s t goaro und . " If it had been a seve n -la p ra ce , I > (Left ) Despite a foul-running bike , Steve Hatch fi nished on the podium w ith a third . (Abo ve) Fred Andrews was leading late In th e race before crashing - then running out of gas - t o finish fifth. (Below) Randy Hawkins turned In ano ther strong performance in the GNCC series aft er fi ni sh in g f ourth. -- '. would ' ve had it, " th e disappoi n ted Blackwell said. "Now I'm going to take a break. I'm not really bu rned ou t, bu t I'm definitely in a ru t." Definitely not in a rut, and rid ing like the former GNCC Cha mpion that he is, Fred And rews laid claim to the top spot and, on a trac k that seemed well-sui ted to his former National Motocross style, looked confident and secure in the lead. Ju st beh i n d th e Ya maha rid e r we re Smith and Summers. Before entering the final (motocross) section, Summers lost a few seconds on the lead duo w he n he overshot a turn, and looked resigned to a third-place finish w it h o n ly a m il e to go . T ho ug h A n d rews h eld only a two- second advantage on Sm ith, it appeared to be a secure advantage - until they en tered a mudhole wh ich required choosing one of fi ve d eeply rutted lines. Clim b ing from the hole, Andrews got sideways in the rut and wa s without a doubt going down. Fallin g from the rear of the bike as Smi th went pa st, his Yamaha hit the Suz uki's rear end, leaving them both on the ground, with Summers approaching. Sm ith was su rprised by th e turn of even ts. "Freddy wa s lea di ng it and doing a g rea t job, and I really had no inten tion of really trying to pass him . Down there in the mud hole, 1 figured tha t he'd take my line, because the lap before I passed hi m right there, so I figured for su re he's going to take it this tim e an d he did n' t. He opened the door for me, and I we nt righ t on by him and he threw his bike int o me; I don 't kn ow wha t happen ed , but we bo th went d own." Smi th ma naged to ge t up and away, w it h Su m me rs a second beh ind . Not knowing what had happened, Summers was eq ua lly su rprised by what he saw at the mud hole section. "By the time I go t to that mudhol e, 1 jus t saw that Ya ma ha ; I figure d it was Fred - he m u st' ve gone d own . If I h adn't ma de tha t one mistake, I migh rve been there to capitalize on both th ose gu ys going d own, a nd th at would've been really cool. You know, a lot o f w ork goes int o a three-h our race, an d you su re as heck don ' t give up on the last lap. I learned my lesso n a t Clarksbu rg (after being narrowly defea ted by Hat ch)." A n d rews ap pear e d to have third after rising from the spill , but fuel lost on the gro und left him sputte ring witbou t gas jus t a few turns from the checkered flag. Another pit cam e to his aid in time fo r hi m to ge t goi ng a secon d ahead of Blackw ell, to eventu ally finish fifth. Afte r ove rcomi ng problems all d ay, Hatch was happy to make th e podium in third, and Randy Ha wkins stayed ou t of trouble and pu t in ano ther consisten t GNCC rid e to finish fourth. Nex t cam e And rews and Blackwell, then Brian Kee: ga n i n seventh a nd M cLa u ghlin i n eighth. Fut ur e Pro-class stars Jimmy Jar re tt and Robbie Jenks com pleted the top 10 overa ll o n their Yama has an d took firs t and seco nd , respectively, in th e 250cc A class. Des pi te h is mi sf ortune, An dre w s showed few signs of d is appo intm ent afterwa rd and spoke of th e d ay' s race with enthusiasm. "We had a good time ou t there riding," And rews said . "Smith and I w ere wicking it u p a nd I mad e a few mi stakes, and the pack kind of caugh t up to us. Afterthe last check, I had clear sa iling, and 1 had a lit tle bit uf a lead on them; then I screwed up." Despite being pl eased w it h a g rea t rid e, he also pointed ou t that "go ing fast doesn't put any mo ney in the bank; you have to finish to do tha t." Unbeknownst to everyone but those in Smith's pit, the day's victor had been able to consume very little fluid durin g th e hot and humid day, and ran the very real risk of d eh ydration . It was of great concern to Smith going into the last lap. "1 didn't ge t a ny wa te r at a ll; m y drink system broke . My me chan ic go t me so me wa ter for a couple of laps , and, after I gassed, the y put a new bladder in it, bu t 1 cou ld n' t find the hose. I don 't thi n k they kn ew i t, b ut I neve r g o t another drink. When I caug ht up to all of the fro nt-ru nners, I didn't kn ow if I co ul d keep the pace on th e la st lap. I kn ew I hadn' t been drink ing, and I had a bad ex perience th ree yea rs ago a t a GNCC, and th at was in the back of my mind (Smi th was hospitalized for dehyd ration after that event). I was trying to rid e s moo th a n d ca lm , a n d I ke p t rem embering tha 1." '" Starv at ion Point GNCC Elizabeth, West Virgin ia Resulls: June 15.1 997 (Rou nd 8 of 13) O /A: 1. Rod ne y Smi th (Suz ): 2. Scott Summcrs (Han); 3. Steve Hat ch (5u z); 4. R.1nJy Hawkins (Yam); 5. Fred. Andrews (Yam); 6. Dou g Blackwell (Yam); 7. Bri.l.n Keegan (Ka w ); 8. Scott Mclaughlin (Yam) ; 9. Jim J,arn.>tt (Yam ); 10. Robbie Jenb (Yam ); 11. Tim Shepha rd (Yam); 12. Hea th Bennett (Yam ); 13. Brian Hess (Kaw): 14. Barry Haw k (Suz); 15. Scott Phelps (Yam ); 16. Tom Carson (Suz.); 17. Todd Mora in (Yam); 18. ROs!> Bensen (Suz); 19. Rod ney Jud!KIn Othg}: 20. k ff Morgel (Yam ). 49

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