Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.~. ~~~~T1~N£2~~Z~,r CROSS COUNTRY SERIES By Jim Talkington CROSS KEYS, SC, MAR. 22 , 0 hide" is the message that Team Honda"s Scott Summers - received on his pit board after taking the lead in round two of the AMA Grand National Cross Country Series - and that's exactly what he did. After fighting traffic for four laps, Summers found his way to the front of the 21-rider Pro field, leaving the competition behind by stepping up the pace and turning in a mistake-free finish. The bumpy, root-infested Big Buck racecourse was obviously a good match for the defending series champion and his big Honda XR. "I really like this place," Summers said from the podium. "The terrain is real similar to my place in Kentucky, so it just feels like I'm riding at home. I honestly feel like the XR is an advantage on this kind of course. It just makes power everywhere (in the powerband) so I don't have to worry about traction in the roots so much." Sharing the winner's circle were AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion Rodney Smith in second and GNCC first-round winner and former National Champion Fred Andrews in third. Team Suzuki's Smith managed to maintain a top-three position throughout the event, a difficult task on a course that saw the nation's premier riders suffering mistake after mistake on the challenging terrain. It was one year ago at this event tha t Smith injured his knee on the first lap after sliding out at the end of a highspeed grass straightaway. "I'm learning a lot every week, and this is where I hurt my knee last year, so I didn't really have any track experience here," Smith said. "My main concern is to get points every week, so I feel really good with the rest of'the series ahead. Some of these tracks I haven't even ridden, where people like Summers and .l;iiG ': Round 2: cross Keys, South Carolina !!i9,~-------------------------------' (Scott) Plessinger have raced on them eight or nine times." Team Kawasaki/ Andrews Cycles' Andrews was also happy to be in the top three, considering how this 'event went for him just a year ago. Seconds after the start of the 1997 Big Buck, Andrews cartwheeled to a stop after elipping an unseen tree stump. Out for four races last season with a broken back as a result of that mishap, Andrews has since won two GNCC events, including the season opener in Okeechobee, Florida. A dominant showing in the sand at round one and a third in Cross Keys combine to give the 1993 Series Champion the early points lead. Team Kawasaki/ Andrews Cycles' Brian Keegan followed the lead trio home in fourth after enjoying the point position during the early laps. Keegan put in a strong performance in a starstudded field to establish himself as one of the rider~ to watch in the coming months. After winning the final GNCC round of the 1997 season, Keegan is in a position to become one of the sport's future stars. Rounding out the top five was no stranger to the spotlight - Team KTM's current AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty. The highly accomplished enduro rider has made retaining his title the number-one priority for the coming season, but for the first time he is also focusing on top finishes in the GNCC series. "I'm trying to put my head and mind into (the GNCCs) more," he said. "It's more mental than anything else. Last year, at the end of the season, I just kind of showed up for some races and I didn't want to get into the mix with everybody. I just rode and got used to the terrain, really. Now everybody's starting even right out of the gate, so I've got my head into it more and I feel more confident. Hopefully, those guys will see that. I'm up here, too, and that I'm willing to run." At just 22 years of age, Lafferty is also a solid pick for future GNCC stardom. Weather conditions leading up to the start of the Cross Key event could not have been more ideal. While neighbor- . ing North Carolina and Georgia endured tornadoes and severe weather in the days prior to the race, Cross Key remajned relatively untouched. The (Above) Defending series champion Scott Summers celebrates after winning the Cross Keys GNCC in South Carolina. (Right) Rodney Smith, who injured his knee in Cross Keys last year, rode to second overall,35 seconds behind Summers. large crowd of racers and spectators were greeted on the mommg of race day by clear blue skies, warm temperatures and a moderate wind. The 1I miles of clay and loam single-track consisted of tight, technical, rooted trail and a couple of high-speed, grassy straightaways. In all, more than 400 riders would compete on the day after adding the morning's C-rider program to the afternoon's main-event tally. The 21-rider Pro gate stretched across the length of the starting field, with series veterans Summers, Andrews and Scott Plessinger choosing the far-inside picks. None of these riders would be considered the crowd favorite on this day, though, with GNCC National number eight Randy Hawkins enjoying an event just 60 miles from his home in Travelers' Rest. The former enduro champ and current Team Yamaha/ HWK Racing four-stroke pilot was coming off a fifth-place finish in the season opener and was looking for another top finish here - in front of his home crowd. Also on four-strokes in the Pro class. were Hawkin's teammate Barry Hawk Jr. and Team Husaberg's Jason Dahners, aboard his new electric-start FE501. In contrast to previous years of GNCC rac. ing, Summers now has competitive four-stroke company on the starting grid. Of immediate concern to Summers just moments before the drop of the flag was that tuner Fred Bramblett noticed fuel running freely from his carburetor's overflow. A bit of sediment was removed from the float-valve seat with less than a minute to spare and the number-one rider powered, off to his usual midpack start along with the rest of the field. Heading into the woods, Smith took command of the lead, with Lafferty, Team KTM's Scott Plessinger and Andrews in tow. After one lap, Smith still held the point position. Plessinger, after carding a DNF in round one, was

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