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CROSS COUNTRY Round 8: Boyers GNCC AMA GRAND N ATIONAL CROSS COUNTRYSERIES kee sr ling I By Ch ris Onls lott BOYERS, PA, JULY12 o r th e se cond tim e in a s many ro und s of the 1998 AMA G ra nd Nationa l Cross Cou n try Se ries, Tea m Suz u k i /FMF / ¥ oose's' Rodn ey Smit h led a yello w s weep of t he to p th r ee p os iti on s, and , in the p r oces s, s t re n g t he n e d h is hand a s the se ries poi nts lead er. This time , Smith led team mates Steve Ha tch an d Paul Ed mo nd so n across the finish line at the d ry and dusty Boyers GNCC in northwes tern Pennsylvania. . "The GNCC title is my primary focus this year, and I feel like I' m righ t where 1 w an t to be in rega rd s to ge tti ng the title," sa id Ha tch, wh o has several offroad titles on his' resume bu t has never won the cross country crown. Boyers ma rked the eighth time in as many races in the series that Smith has finished on the pod ium . "Tod ay I tri ed to rid e a smart race , because with all the dust out there, there were plenty of chances to ge t yo urself in tro u ble. Th e bik e worked grea t, 1 felt strong and every thing went my way in the end ." "Rod ney was really on it toda y," said team ma te Hatch. "So what else can yo u say ? At least it was all Suzuki out fro nt." Hatch challeng ed Smit h throughout the d ay but came up 56 seconds short after nearly thr ee ho urs of racing. " It was tough going out there all day lo n g, and thi s is th e ki n d of ci rc u it where Rod nev excels," Hatch said. "He rod e solid today." The third member of the Suzuki factory trio - Eng lishman Paul Ed mo nds on - was almost as im pressive as his stablemates, but a fir st-turn cra sh left him playi ng ca tch-up a ll d ay long and he never got closer than a minute a nd a half to race winner Smith. F " O n a track like t h is, it 's n e arl y impo ssible to mak e up t h a t much grou nd w hen you can't see the trail," sai d Edmond son, wh o, ne vertheless, came from la st to th ird . "I feel go od a bo ut the res t of th e series, because I believe tha t I have th in gs sorted o u t, and I'm healthy . After a few weeks back in Eng la nd (b efore th e series kicks up agai n later thi s month) I will be rea dy to get some wi ns ." Roundi ng ou t th e top five o ve ra ll were a pa ir of up-and -com in g cross cou nt ry heroes - Yamah a-backed fourstroker Barry Hawk ]r. and Man cheste r H o nd a ' s Josh Mc l.e v y , t h e latter of whom ran third overall until the whiteflag lap. Finish ing a ver y d isappointi ng seven th was American Honda's Scott Su mmers. "I hurt my finger at the last race in New Jersey, an d it still has n't healed ," expl ained the d efe ndin g GNCC Ser ies Cha m p io n Summ e rs , who ha s ha d a • woe ful s u m m e r o n thi s ci rcu i t. " I s tre tche d the medial radial liga me n t, which keeps it from goin g too far from left to right. It also means that I d idn't have any power to pull the front brake with my index finger, so I had to use my middle finger. We tried to rig up a system w he re the front brake would be co n nected to th e rear b rake w it hou t co m p le te ly lock ing on, bu t we ju s t d idn't hav e time to get it don e. When it starts ge tting violent and yo u 're going fast. it's hard to hold on. Ligament damage can take longe r to heal than a broken bone. "Ot herw ise, no fa lls, no probl em s, " Summers continu ed . "It's really frustrating when you r bod y won't let yo u d o things that you know you can d o." Approximately 450 ride rs turned o u t for the Boyers G CC, which has been a stap le on Racer Productions' cross cou ntry tour throughou t the 1990s . Co urse marshal Jeff Russell was forced to deal with drought-like conditions, as the dry s u m me r left the 10.S-m il e tra il wit h severe dust p roblems. Russell an d crew d id attem p t to wa ter as many pa rts of the cou rse as were accessible, but vision wa s at a minim um for mu ch of the day. As ex pected , the Su zukis o f Smit h and Hatch were at the fron t of the pack off th e s ta r t a lo n g w ith th e Hond a CR250 of McL evy . Left b eh ind w a s Edmondson, w ho got off in the first tum a nd woul d rem ount w ell beh in d the front-ru nners. Not mu ch farthe r into the ru n, Team Green's Brian Keegan , the teammate of sidelined title contend er Fred Andrews, su ffered a ' cary cra sh wh en he o vercooked a turn in to the woods and suf fered a concu ssion in the ensu ing ge toff. Th e s p ill ma rked a qu ick end to Keegan's day as well as that of Tea m Green 's Pro-class effort. At the e nd of the first la p , Hatc h he ld th e poin t by about 10 se cond s over Smith, wh ile McLevy rode third at a d eficit o f 50 se co n d s . Th e fro n t th ree wouid stay that w ay for the firs t tw o 28-minu te laps befor e Smith made a move o n Ha tch a nd effectively put the ra ce for the win on ice. After three of seven la p s, th e two Su zuki s were s t i ll ri ght tog ethe r, bu t after ward Smith began to ease away. Th e Cali fornia would ta ke a lead of 30 se conds into the last la p a nd then nearly double it befo re acc ep ting the checkered flag. "It was a pret ty good ride from start to finish, but I had one scary mom ent," said Smith. "I was go ing through some trees at speed when I got into so me dust left by some tappers. and, wh en I looked up, I was goin g off the track and int o the weeds. If there had been a big tree or so me rocks or some thing ther e, it would have been u gly, but as it was, it jus t served to make me focus and ride with a little more cau tion." Hat ch took the che ckered fla g just (Above) Rodney Smith posted his third GNCC win of the year allhe Boyers round in Pennsylvania. (Below left) Steve Hatch, Smith's teamma te, gave Smith a run but would finis h off the pace in second. (Below right) Paul Edmondson made it anothe r Suzuki ' -2-3 sweep .