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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127860
r::' '- ,{!\. .~~ . CROSS COUNTRY Round 10: High Point Raceway GRANDNATIONAL C A H MPIONSH IP CRO SCOU YSER S NTR IES - G reat Britain's Paul Edmondson (still reco verin g from a knee inj ury) and Team Yamaha's GNCC National number nine, Frank Keegan . Edmondson's no-show left him with his fifth DNF in a series tha t allows riders to throw o ut their fo ur lowest fi nishes, crea ting a must-w in situation for the series rooki e to ha ve even a long-s ho t cha nce at the championship. Smit h a nd hi s Suzu ki were also nowh ere to be seen just minutes prior to the start. Noticing a coolant leak after warming up his bike , Smith returned to th e pits and found a broken cylinde rhead stud . ". "We mu st hav e !\otten a bad batch of studs," Smith said . "After we built the bike on Frida y, I took it for a quic k spin a n d fo u n d th at o ne had b ro ken . We tried to change this one in the pits , but it was broken right at the cylinder, and we didn't have enough time," Smith said . Gra b bin g h is practice bike (w it h generic numberl ess plates ) that was still w arm fro m be ing ridden in th e m orning' s amat eur e v e n t, Smith rea ched the start in tim e to share th e holes hot with teammate Hat ch. Rarely beat en at th e dead-e ngi ne sta r t, th e Suz uki duo were first into the w ood s, follow ed by the KTM pair of Plessinger a n d Dahn ers a nd t h e Ya ma has of Ha wki n s an d A n d re ws . Th e lo n e Ho nda (a nd solitary fo u r-s tro ke) of Summers was in the seventh spot as they began lap one. By Jim Ta lkington Moum MORRIS, PA, SEPT. 21 - ....,,..,,, his race track has been good . to me since nine years ago," Sco tt Summers told the crow d from a top the victory podi um at rou nd 10 of the AMA Grand Na tional Cross Country Series . Indeed it has, High Point being the site of Summers ' first AMA national o ff-road w in in 1988. . This victory marks the Team Honda rider's 66th nation al w in and moves him into a commandi ng lead for this year's GNCC champion ship. Team Su zuki's Stev e Hatch, who had been th e rider most likel y to sn at ch the number-one plate away from Summers this season, lef t High Point Raceway with medics and a possibly broken back after crashing into a tree at the end of a high-speed strai ghtawa y. Luckily for Hat ch , the compres sed vertebrae he suffered sho u ld heal quickly enou gh to all ow him to climb back on a motorcycle in six to ei gh t weeks . Unfo r tu na te ly , t he GN CC a nd Na tiona l Hare Scrambles series ro un d s will have co ncl u de d before hi>recovery will be completed. " I'm going to train mo re than ever a nd I'll be read y for them in Ocala {next year's season opener)!" Hat ch said . "I may be able to co me back be fore sea son's end, but I'm not going to push it with this kind of an injury . If il was my hand or my foot or somethin g like that, you know I'd find a way to get back into the baili e." Injuries have taken their toll on Team Suzuki this season, the largest of the factory efforts in GNCC racing. Teammates RodneySmith, Paul Edmondson a nd Hatch have all now spent time on the disabled list after winning two events apiece in the series to date. Smith and Edmondson remain long shots to w in the title, as does Team KTM's two-ti me GNCC champio n, Scott Plessinger. It would be necessa ry for Smith, Ed mo ndson and Plessinger to . w in the three remaining rounds and prevent Summers from making th e podium a t a single event to claim the overall. Should Summers finish better than fourth atnn y of the ne xt three race s , he will clai m hi s ninth AMA national off-road title. Continuing his stead y weekly climb up th e fini sh ing orde r was And rews Racing/Team Yamaha's Fred Andrews, who fi ni shed in the runner-up s lot. Combining a good start and settling into the top thr ee on the firs t lap, And rew s rod e a trouble-free race to claim his top finish of the yea r to date. Rodney Smi th rode the wheels ofl his Suzuki practice bike to take third a fter problems were detected o n hi s race bike during th e warmup lap . Usi ng a w ell-worn machine that had be en ridden in th e morning's amateur race by his father , Smith plugged awa y at the course on a less-than -ideal mou nt and showed the power of perseverance by claiming one of the top slots . Cycle Gear /Tea m Yama ha 's Rand y Hawkins rod e ano the r smart and consis tent race to finish in fourth . Haw kins has spe nt the majority of the year work- (Above) SCOll Summers collected his second GNCC vlCIOry 01 the year during round 10 the series at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, the site his 1irst major off-road v jct o ry in 1988. a. a. (RighI)Steve Hatch (3) grabbed the lead off the start and was battling Summers 10r the win be10 re a serious crash saw the Team Suzuki pilot taken away from the scene by medics . Hatch suffered season-en ding Injuries. ing hi s w ay up from med iocre starts , and High Point would prove to be no d ifferent. Team KTM' s Jaso n Dahners rode at the front o f th e pa ck for the majority of the event and appeared to have a lock on third until the final lap, when fati gue set in . Unable to run or train h eav ily due to a nagging rib inju ry, Dahners fell to the cha rges of Smit h a n d Hawkins just before th e white flag. Ra ce m ornin g found th e hill s of southwes tern Penn sylvania shrouded in fog and mist that would eventually burn awa y to reveal bright a nd clear skies by ra ce time, Rains the previous day that had threatened to turn the course into a quagmire dissipated early e no ug h to leav e the 8-mile track in perfect sha pe for rou nd 10 of the GNCC series . When the 13 Pro riders took their spo ts on the star ting li ne, not iceably absent w ere By the midway point of lap one, the Pro field had broken itself into three distinct packs of riders. Ha tch, And rews , Dahners, Summers and Team Green Kawasaki's Brian Keegan comprised the lea d pack. Following some 20 seconds behind them were Smith, Hawkins, SCR Yama ha's Du an e Co nner, Plessinge r and 1998 AMA National End uro Champ ion Mike Lafferty. The SCR/ Yama ha of Dou g Bla ck w ell, Virginia 'S Brian