Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

IFar left) Fred Andrews came on strong late In the _ries, winning the last three races. (Left) Jason Raines finished a strong third. wonderful track, because this place is awesome." his knee began to swell, he dropped out of the race. "My leg started hurting really bad right around the calf muscle," said Watts. "When I got back up, I wasn't too far behind, but it just hurt so much. It felt a lot like when I damaged the ligament on my other leg. Luckily, I didn't hear a pop or anything this time." Watts didn't want to push on and risk another crash or injury, so he dropped out of the race and accepted a 16th-place fmish. "It's too early to tell what's wrong," said Watts. "I'll have it checked out this week. It could be something really bad, but you just have to deal with these sort of things." Watts' problems gave the lead to Smith, who wasn't about to make the same mistake Watts did. "I had a good start and pretty much controlled my own destiny," said Smith. "When my teammates came up, I just moved over and let them by. If they wanted to run away and hide and win the race, good for them." Smith's teammate Steve Hatch did try to run away with the win, although he didn't know it. "My wife gave me the pit board saying 'Watts out!' but I thought she meant he was way out in front," said Hatch, "So I just grabbed gears and tried to get up there." The Suzuki rider was on fire, and even though his hard riding led to two crashes, he managed to get up each time and pass all the contenders to take the lead again. "I crashed into a lapper and probably lost 20 seconds, but no one came up from behind," Hatch said. "Then I crashed again, and it took about 10 seconds before they caught me, so I knew I was going well." Hatch's crashes gave Andrews his first shot at the lead as the Kawasaki rider came from sixth on the first lap. "' was just flooring it, and all of the guys were having trouble," said Andrews, who made up a lot ,of . r ground in a particularly muddy section. "That section was a big help. I had some friends down there, and they were pointing me the right way, so I just floored it and I think J passed everybody back there." Andrews held on to the lead for a while, but Hatch wasn't through yet. "After I had another crash, I was like fourth, but I knew I was faster than those guys, and I passed Rodney, M.K. [Kiedrowski] and Freddy," said Hatch. But he would experience even more trouble when a stick jammed the choke open on his carburetor. He lost valuable time while his bike stumbled and his team struggled to diagnose the problem. "I've never, ever, ever had that happen," said Hatch. "It's a millionto-one deal. I should go play the lottery now." Hatch would finish 11 tho Andrews took the lead once again, but yet another rider, this time the KTM-mounted Lafferty, emerged from the pack to challenge him. Lafferty crashed in the mud on the first lap, but he came back strong to get in contention. The enduro champion from New Jersey was riding his first ONCC on KTM's 400cc four-stroke, and he obviously liked his new machine. "I rode the bike for the first time last week at an enduro," said Lafferty. "I had a great time with it. I just settled down and kept plugging away. I had a really good charge going on." Lafferty cut nearly 20 seconds off of Andrews' lead on lap five, and he stalked Andrews through the infield grass section, trying to get into the lead, but a brief mistake allowed Smith by, and Lafferty fell in a muddy section trying to pass him back. Lafferty's demise opened the door for Raines, who was eighth halfway through the race but moved to third after Lafferty went down. Raines made up time on Andrews and Smith the entire second half of the race. "I was battling for a long time with my teammates," said Raines of his early duels with Randy Hawkins, Robbie Jenks and Barry Hawk. "Once I got around them, I didn't hit any lappers at all. That helped me make up a lot of ground." Raines, though, would run out of time and had to settle for third. Andrews crossed the finish line just 11 seconds ahead of Smith. It's the first three-race win streak of Andrews' career. "My Kawasaki is running great, and I'm finally riding it the way I should," said Andrews. "I worked really hard for this one. I got thrown on the ground a few times and had to come from the back to win it. I think that's more impressive than just getting out front and holding it. It was a However, while Andrews won the battle, Smith won the war, and he was relieved to do so. "When we went into the break, I had a big lead, and I think that was more pressure than if I had a 10-point lead" said Smith. "I could only lose it if I had done something really stupid, and then I would have been ashamed. Even last week during practice, it was on my mind. I was thinking I could get hurt on my practice track." After struggling with injuries last season, Smith felt vindicated by reclaiming the title he won in 1998 and 1999. "Last year was a tough year; I had a thumb injury and a femur injury," said the new champion. "I just struggled a bit, so it feels really good to come back and put in a strong effort and win it again. " eN PDwer Lin. P8I1l St. a.irsvill., Ohio Results: IIcotIlber 7, ZOOl [Round lZ at 131 O/A: I. Fred Andrew. (Kow); 2. Rodney Smith (Suz); 3. Jetson R~ines (Vern); 4. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz); 5. Mike Lofferty (KTM); 6. Robbie Jenks (Yllm); 7. Barry Hawk (Vern); 8. Rtlndy Hllwkins (Yom); 9. Andy Sheo (KTM); 10. Poul Wibbley (Hon). Upcoming Round Round 13 - Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 22 (Below) Last year's champ Shane Watts (1) took the early lead but would later crash and pull out with an Injured knee. BRIEFLY. ••• Recently retired five-time GNCC champion Scott Summers was on hand in St. Clairsville. The Honda rider is still recovering from breakmg his leg in 1999 and again earlier this season. -It feels pretty good. - said Summers of the leg. -but there's still some mystenous pain we're trying to figure out. And when I dab my foot into the ground to try and catch myself. it still hurts." Summers felt good enough to grab a Honda and a course-marshal bib so he could head out and watch the racing up close. Another broken-leg victim on hand but not racing was Kawasaki's Chuck Woodford, who broke his leg at an AMA National Hare Scrambles earlier in the summer, and while it was healed well enough to ride, it wasn't strong enough to race. -It feels good, but my doctor thought it could still be a problem during the race if someone came in and hit me in a tum or something," expiained Woodford. -If I break it again, it takes us into next season to get healed." Woodford will have the injury checked one more time to determine if he will race the series-finale Ironman GNCC in two weeks, Woodford, like Summers, also rode around the St. Clairsville track, as he donned the helmet-mounted - Moto Cam" for the Fox Sports Net GNCC television broadcast. The races air Wednesdays atl1 a.m. Eastem. n. _4 ...._ s __ ~ cue •• - " ~ q,C:rOSjR 'l.',,_ --. . . . ~4. 2001_~7

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