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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127966
CROSS COUNTRY Round 12: Spring Valley GNCC AMA/GRAND NATIONAL C O SCOUNTRYSERIES RS . LISBON, OH, OCT. 11 eam Suzuki's Rodney Smith did n't let one littl e disappointment bother h im o n hi s way t o b ein g crowned the 1998 AMA Gra nd National Cross Country Ch ampion. Just one race after sufferin g his first an d only DNF of the series, Smith go t back into the w in- ~ U 00 0\ 0\ ,....., 00' N 1-<. ner's circle with a victory at the Spring Vall ey GNCC nea r Lisb on , O hio. The w in marked Smith' s s ixt h ' wi n of the se ries . Smith has alre ady clinched the se ries titl e, and there's still one round left. Finis hing second overall on the day was Yamaha-mounted Doug Blackwell, who recentl y clinched the AMA Nati on al Cham pionship Har e Scrambles Series . Placin g a career- hig h th ird overall was Kawasaki rid er Jim Jarre tt, w ho is th e n ewes t o ff-roa d s tar ou t of O h io . Rou nd ing ou t the top five overall were Smith 's Su zuk i teamm a te s Pa u l Edmondson and Steve Hatch. The AMA Wiseco /Yama ha / Dunlop / Acerbis/Klotz/FMF/ Carma te/Cornwell / Scott-spo nsored GNCC Series was visiting the Spring Valley course for the first time . The track itself featured a fairly s ho r t 8-mile-per-lap la you t, with a good mix of several off-road elemen ts: grass-track, mo tocross, tight woods sections , and reclaimed strip-mining areas . The race was held in nea r-perfect cond iti ons , thou gh three la rg e mud holes wreak ed havoc on the field . Each of the mud sections was fairly easy to negotia te, th ough a wrong lin e co u ld s ink a bike up to the seat. When the green flag dropped for the first row of Pro-class riders, it appeared as though Smith - on the insid e - wo u ld control the earl y lead, but ins tead it was Edmondson, sweeping in from the ou tside, w ho grabbed his first ho leshot in ' recen t m emory. H a tch was rig h t up there in th ird, givi ng Su zuki a n ea rly 1-2-3 lead . Q) .o o ..... u o 16 . (Above) Rodney Smith carded his s ixth win of the GNCC Series at New Lis bon, Ohio. (Left) Hare Scra mbles champ Doug Blackwell took runner-up honors. Ju st on e inile off the s tar t, the first mud ho le claimed a name victim when H onda-mounted Scott Summer s stuc k his big XR600 in one of the ru ts and lost a minute to the lead ers right off the bat. Su mmers wo uld struggle for the rest of the a fte rnoo n a n d co u ld on ly muster 16th overa ll. Su m mers ' lon gtim e cross co u n try rival Fred And rews of Team Green was the next contender to be dis missed from the lead pack. Andrews had a waterhose ripped from his engine a nd , even thou gh his pit crew d id its best to get him back in the race, th e loss of flui d resulted in an early D F. At the end of the first lap, which took the top rid er s jus t over 19 minutes to complete, British rider Edmondson held th e lea d two seco nds clear of Hatch, who was trailed closely by Jarrett and two-time AMA Nationa l End uro title hold er Mike Lafferty. Nex t came Co nnecticut's Josh McLevy, a t a lO-second d eficit , a nd Ha tch, 12 ticks ba ck, fo llowed by Blackwe ll, 18 seco nds back, At the halfway mark , Smit h was still leadin g Jarrett by on ly nine seconds . Also righ t ther e was Lafferty, on his factory-ba cked KTM; he w as chasing the Kawasaki by a bike len gth a t the scoring barrels and o n ly 10 se co nd s behind lead er Smit h. Ed mo ndson was fou rth, whi le Blackwell was up to fifth afte r his slow sta rt b ut now al mos t a min ut e behind the leader. Th e Su z uk i / FM F/M oo se /Smith / Dunlop / Arai-backed Smith crossed the finis h lin e one minute and 20 seconds