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(Left) Steve Hatch led
most of the race
before being passed
by his teammate,
Smith, on the last lap.
Hatch still took
second.
(Right) Fred Andrews
came from behind to
finish third.
(Bottom left) Doug
Blackwell broke into
the top five with a
fourth-place finish.
(Bottom right) Paul
Edmondson saw the
checkered flag for the
first time this season,
rounding out the top
five overall.
the pack. Keegan inherited the runnerup slot, and Smith was already in third
after a steady ascent through the field.
Also on the move was Plessinger, in the
fourth position and just ahead of
Edmondson, who chose to back off in
order to learn from his U.s. competitors.
"It's been a long time since 1 finished
a GNCC, and I've still got a bit to learn,"
Edmondson explained. "My technique
through the trees is okay when I'm following the track, bu t I basically need to
ride off-trail a little bit more, you know,
so I was following the other guys and
watching how they do it. I need to learn
a bit more about finding creative lines, as
I call it."
Summers and Andrews hooked up in
sixth and seventh, and Andrews anticipated a charge to the front that never
rnaterialized.
"I saw Summers ahead of me, and if
anybody can come through the pack, he
sure can:' said Andrews, "so I thought,
'Man, I'm just going to stay with him
and go.' But then it just didn't seem like
we were getting anywhere. The guys
(up front) started getting away, so I
yelled at him, and he was nice enough
to let me by to maybe pull him along
and get him to go a little bit faster."
Alread y struggling with la ppers,
Summers' race would be further complicated by a miscommunication; he failed
to see his pit board telling him to stop
for gas. According to a new rule implemented this year, riders are only
allowed to gas in their official pit area,
which meant that the National champ
Ihad to leave the race track to return to
the Team Honda truck for refueling.
After losing a minute of time, Summers
was once again faced with charging
back from a deficit.
At the midpoint of the race, Hatch
was still alone and out front, and he was
maintaining a one-minute lead, while
Smith and Plessinger diced for second.
Plessinger's best effort of the year would
ultimately end in disappointment, as it
has so many times in recent history for
the former G CC Champion. The KTM
rider would retire near race's end with a
leaking rear shock, and legs reduced to
rubber from trying to maintain control
of the ill-handling motorcycle.
With Plessinger out of the picture,
Smith and Hatch were left alone at the
front to decide the winner. A minute
back was the pack of Andrews, Blackwell, Edmondson, Keegan and Summers, all within 22 seconds of one
another after nearly two hours of racing.
With one lap to go, Smith took the
lead for the first time of the day in spectacular fashion. In view of the pits, and
with a short distance to go to the white
flag, Smith charged past Hatch in what
appeared to be a high-flying move
through a mud hole more common to a
last-lap, last-ditch effort. That's because
Smith thought that was just what it was.
"Somebody told me that was the last
lap:' Smith said. "Coming in, when I
passed him (Hatch), I thought maybe it
was the last lap; I wasn't sure. I got
some miscommunication out there, and
I thought it was maybe the checkered
flag, so I floored it."
The appearance of Smith was a surprise to Hatch, who thought that he held
a comforta hie cushion over second
place.
"I just saw a sign that said 'plus 50
seconds' and not more than a minute
down the trail, Rodney was behind me,"
Hatch explained. '1 thought, 'Holy cow,
I don't know what I got (on my board):
but I saw number four, and I knew it
was going to be a battle now."
Once in front, Smith cruised on to the
win with 17 seconds to spare over
Hatch. Two minutes back was Andrews,
folIowed by Blackwell and Edmondson.
Summers trailed behind the top five by
a margin of 50 seconds, and Randy
Hawkins was an equal distance back in
seventh after overcoming arm pump
early in the race. Washington state
native turned West Virginia resident
Scott McLaughlin carded his best GNCC
finish of the year in eighth, followed by
the Kawasakis of Keegan and 250cc A
rider Jimmy Jarrett.
l'N
Wilderness GNCC
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Results: April 26, 1998 (Round 4 of 13)
O/A: 1. Rodney Smith (Suz); 2. Steve Hatch (Suz); 3.
Fred Andrews (Kaw); 4. Doug Blackwell (Yam); 5. Paul
Edmondson (Suz); 6. Scott Summers (Hon); 7. Randy
Hawkins (Yam); 8. Scott McLaughlin (Yam); 9. Brian
Keeg