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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127962
AMA Grand National Cross Country Series, Round 9 (Above) Rod ney Smith too k yet an other GNCC win when he t ook t he overall vi ctory at rou nd nine of the series. (Left) Ste ve Hatc h led muc h of the even t but was relegated to seco nd 'by hi s teammate Sm ith. Photo s by Jay Chi tte nde n B UNNER RIDGE, WV, AUG.30 ed-h ot Rodney Smit h co n tin ue d his perfect GNC C Series su m mer with his third straight overall win last weeke nd . This time the Team Suzuki/ FMF/ Moose/ Smi th / Du nlo p yAra ibacked Ca liforn ian ca p tured the Ha rd Rock rou nd of the AMA's 1998 Grand Natio na l C ross Co u n try Se r ies ju s t below Morga ntow n, West Virginia . The narrow win s o li d ifi e d Smith ' s firm grasp on the poi nts lead in the prestigio us off-road series as he goes for his first-eve r GNCC title . "I just went out there todav and tried to do what I' ve bee n doing ali year long, and tha t'sride fast , strong a nd co nsisten tly," said Smith of his win at ro und nine of the 13-race series. As a ma tt er of fact , Smith has fin ished on the podi um in every rou nd of the 1998 series to date, rem arkabl e feat co nsi der ing th e ro ug h -a n d- tu m b le nature of cros s country racing. And the Har d Rock wi n mar ked his fourth of the series. "I was just hoping for anothe r topthree finish today, but it went m y way in the end," Smith said. " It was so close on the last lap tha t I wasn' t sure how it was going to tu m out." The Hard Rock w as not han d ed to Smith on a p late. Finishing a very close second overall on Sunday for the th ird 00 F.j a i~ '~ a 38 straight GNCC eve nt was Smith's Suz uki team ma te Stev e Hatch, who looks like a lock for second ov era ll in the series . The New York -bred, California-based Hatch has seven straight pod ium finishes in the series, and at th e Ha rd Rock, H at ch spe nt the fi rs t ha lf of th e race lea ding the enti re fiel d before Smith too k the lead . In the end , Hatch wo uld finish just eight secon ds off the victo r's time . Ha tch, in tum, was chased across the finish line bv nine-time G ICC and NHS Cha mpion Scott Summers, who crossed the line just four seconds behind Hatch and 12 to tal ticks beh in d the race winner . Man y called it the closest race for a national win of the 1998 AMA Wiseco/Ya maha /Dunlop/ Acerbis/Klotz/ FMF/ Carmate / Cornwell /Scott-ba cked GNCC Series. Round ing ou t th e top fiv e o vera ll were th e Team Green / Axo /Scott / And rews' Racing-backed Fred And rews an d Team Yama ha / Spo r ts Cycle Racing's Dou g Blackwell, whose focus this yea r h as been o n th e AMA Na tio n a l End u ro and N a tio n al Hare Scra mb les series. The Hard Rock GNCC is not named for a ny theme restau ra nt bu t ra the r in hon or o f Co lo n e l Ja ck " Hard Rock" Bunner, the nam esake of Bunn er Rid ge and a benefactor of this event. The race itself was organized by Racer Productions, and the track itself was d esign ed by tr a il b osses Jeff Ru s sell a nd Jerry Huffman . The cou rse for the two-hou ra nd-45-mi nu te- Iong eve nt measured 9 miles per lap, wi th a total of seven laps. The trail was faster than the Hard Rock has u s u a ll v been as a ro un d of the GNCC Seri~s. Like most eastern cross co u ntry ra ce s th at take pl a ce in the su mme r, ther e was dust on Su ndav, but not as bad as it was feared it woti Jd be in the week leading 1.!p to the eve n t. More than 300 riders attended, as well as close to 3000 cross cou n try s pectator s. As is often the case a t the Hard Rock, three rou tes to the top of the Same hill . played the spoiler in the race for the win. The three steep hills have vary ing difficulty factors, going from extremely difficult - affectionately d ubbed "Pa pa Hill" - to fair ly diffic u lt ("Ma ma Hill" ) to the rather easy ("Baby Hill"). " If yo u d id th e hills perfectly, yo u might be able to get by someone," Hatch said later. "Tha t's where Rod ney got by me, and in the end that's wh ere I got by Scott, because) took a different ang le at the top where it got really steep . "You' ve got to take the good with the bad, and today I felt like I ga ve 100 percent," ad d ed Hatch, regarding his close d efeat at th e ha nd s o f his fri end a nd teamm at e Sm i t h . "T h a n ks to m y mec hanic, Sha ne Nall ey, and my wife, Den ise, and my boss, Mike Webb. I put everythi ng I could into winnin g here an d I rod e my bu tt off. today . W ~ switched the lead so many times tod ay tha t it ju s t be cam e a case of w hoe ver held it at the end . Scott had some good lines to ge t by Rodney at one point , and I used the same line on him ." ''' Unfortu nately, so mebod y has 'got to lose," a di sappo inted Su m me rs sa id . "Th is co u rse was tou g h a nd ki n d of dusty, and I d idn' t ge t the kind of start th at I w anted , b ut bo t h Rodn ey a nd Steve we re riding a really good race and I was having a good time just spec tating behind those two for a while . My finis h wasn' t wha t I wanted , bu t I feel like I'm right there, al most back to where I was befor e I was inju red. I hope that I can get back on top in a few rou nd s here before the series ends." I "Scott and Steve both rode a great race toda y, and nobody stuck each other or anything like that ," Smith said . "Scott at one time had a chance to reall y stu ff me and he didn't, because he's not that kind of rid er, a nd I rea lly a p p recia te that." I Wit h four races yet to be run in the 1998 se r ies , Sm ith h o ld s a mass ive poi nts lead of 173 tot al po ints to 145 for teammat e Hatch and 130 for the Hond amou nted Sum me rs . O hio's And re ws is p resen tly fou rth in the s tandi ngs w ith .129 poi nts, including wi ns in two of the firs t th ree round s of the se ries befor e being injured for most of the summer. A su rp rising fifth overall a t this point is Oh io' s Jim Jarret t, who wa s.absent fro m l~ the resu lts at Hard Rock. Bunner Ridge GNCC Bunner Ridge. West Virg inia Results: August 30. 1998 (Rou nd 9 of 13) I, O /A : 1. Rodney Smith (Suz); 2. Steve Ha tch (Suz); 3. Scot t Summers C Hon); 4. Fred Andrews (Kaw); 5. Doug Blackwell (Ya m) .