Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Hatch. "Then a local guy (Dengler) went y me, plus Brian Keegan. It was so usty at that point that 1 was thinking, 'Man, those guys are going to have two . utes on me by the end of the first p.'" Hatch ended up giving away 45 secnds due to restricted vision but was till third and right behind Keegan by he end of the first lap. After chasing eegan for most of the next lap, Hatch was finally allowed past when Keegan aved him on. "I was barking at him a bit, and I he knew I was going faster, so he 'ust pulled over and let me by," Hatch aid, "which was a nice move on his part." Hatch closed considerably on the leader when Smith did a huge swap and endoed, ringing his bell and causing him to back off the pace considerably. , "I did the biggest flip," Smith said. "I gave myself a terrible charley horse and I couldn't stand up or sit down for the rest of the day, and on a track like this, ou have to make that transition a lot. So 1 was actually sitting down a lot today, and I think that's what gave Steve a chance back in after my good start. That crash scared me, because 1 hit a tree real hard with my head - it definitely took it out of me." For the first hour of the race, Smith and Hatch went back and forth, while Keegan gave pursuit on his Kawasaki. Further back rode the poor-starting Edmondson and first-turn crasher Hawk. Both riders were on the move toward the front throughout the second hour, especially Edmondson. At one point, the popular British pilot rode a front-wheel wheelie all the way down the mechanics' row before coming to a perfect stop in front of his own wrench man, Tom Carson. "I was having fun like that all day long," Edmondson said. Toward the end of the run, Edmondson would get progressively faster, eventually reeling in the valiant Keegan on the last lap. As for Hawk, he made it to as far up as fifth before severe cramping slowed him down. "I've never had cramps under my pits before, and let me tell you, they hurt," said Hawk. "I was up to where 1 as battling for fifth, but with two laps to go, the cramps really got to me. 1 had hard time just finishing." Hatch and Smitn waited until the last lap to really pick up the pace, which played more into Smith's hands than his teammate Hatch's. With the long motocross section ending the brutal run, former GP motocrosser Smith only needed to stay ahead in the woods that led up to the MX portion before he could finish Ha tch off in the open spaces. "It was pretty much on after the white flag," said Hatch, who rides a Shane Nalley-prepped RM250. "That's when we started grabbing gears and running hard. 1 would run him down, then he'd slow down in the real tight stuff so 1 couldn't get by, then he'd run again in the open. 1 gave it everything 1 had, but Rodney rode a really good race. 1 was hoping that some lapped traffic would play into my hands at the end, but it just didn't work out." "Steve was riding hard a t the end, but I felt like 1 was pretty much in control," said Smith. "I knew he wasn't going to pass me on the motocross track, because that's what 1 used to do. Besides, 1 taught him everything he knows about motocross." Fifth-placed Dengler was very excited about his position, especially after being forced into the 'pits to change a flat tire at one point. "Not bad for an out-of-shape priva- teer motocrosser," said Dengler. "I've always enjoyed riding in the woods, and 1 think I'm going to consider this more once the motocross season is over." 0 Atlantic City GNCC Manahawkin, New Jersey Results: June 7, 1998 (Round 7 of 13) 01k 1. Rodney Smith (suz); 2. Steve Hatch (Suz); 3. Paul Edmondson (5oz); 4. Brian Keegan (Kaw); 5. Joel Dengler (5uz); 6. Fred Hoess (Suz); 7. Barry Hawk (Yam); 8. Joshua McLevy (Hon); 9. Richard Lafferty (KTM); 10. Steve Anderson (Hon); 11. Scott Mclaughlin (Yam); U. Lee R05tien

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