Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

One round after posting his first overall win In the ONCC Series, Mike Lafferty tumed In another strong performance to finish out the day in third. The course was made even tougher thanks to the hot-and-humid weather conditions, which featured temperatures in the high 80s and clear, sunny skies for most of the day. The weather was hotter than what most of the riders had ridden in this year, which made fatigue an even bigger factor than it normally is. The top pros completed six 13mile laps in Tennessee, with lap times hovering above the half-hour mark. The win boosts Raines' points total to 121, while Lafferty is second with 109. Smith's fourth place boosts him into third with 83. All season long, Raines has claimed he isn't thinking about the points lead, and he says that's still the case now: "I have a great champion to work with in Randy Hawkins," Raines said. "He tells me about all kinds of stuff, and I know that the points don't matter until the 13th round. I'm just trying to block all of that out." At the start of the race, all Raines was thinking about was getting out front, as he nailed the holeshot. "That was one of those situations where you kick it and it just hooks up," Raines said. "I had perfect traction, no vibration, and everyone else started to fade away. It's one of those things where you know you got it perfect." Raines was joined early by KTM's Jimmy Jarrett and Smith as the pack headed into the woods. The first casualty at the front of the pack was Hawk, who clipped Smith and got thrown to the ground. "Rodney slammed on the brakes, and I hit him," Hawk said. ''Then I was trying to get going, and [Brian] Garrahan went by and wheelied over my bike." By the time Hawk remounted, most of the pack was gone, which left him playing catch-up for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Raines wasn't having any success running away with the lead. "My right arm kind of pumped up a little bit," Raines sid. "I think it was kind of a blessing though, because I slowed down a bit, and Michael [Lafferty] got by me, which gave me something to key off of. It's really hard to lead one of these." Lafferty used a better line on an uphill to pass both Smith and Raines, and then he put on a charge. "I wanted to save something for the end," Lafferty said. "But, at the same time, I felt so good that I just wanted to get into my own pace and go. That's what I did at the last one when I won." But, unlike the last race, Lafferty's lead was not unsurmountable. Smith lost time when he got tangled in a vine and had to rip his bike free, but Raines stayed with Lafferty. Kiedrowski moved to third, and he then sat back and watched the battle in front of him. "I think I need to get more aggressive and go for the lead," he said. "To be honest, it was kind of a boring race for me. I just rode around in third all day." Nonetheless, the three-rider pack was riding incredibly well, as they pulled out a minute-and-a-half lead on fourth by the end of lap two. "It was a really fast pace," Kiedrowski said. "This is my third year here, and everyone has definitely picked it up. I was wondering if we could run that fast all day." The rest of the pack ran into a variety of problems trying to close the gap on the leaders. Andrews dropped back on the second lap when he pulled into the pits for a new water pump, while Smith struggled to stay smooth on his ill-handling mount. Honda privateer Josh McLevy put on a great charge to get into contention, but he ultimately wore himself out. Eighth at the end of the first lap, McLevy caught and passed Smith and Hawk to take over fourth halfway through the race. Then he began to succumb to fatigue. "I was really beat out there toward the end," McLevy said. "I was just trying to keep going. I even threw up into my helmet on the last lap, so that didn't help." McLevy held on for seventh. Hawk had a similar problem, as he spent most of his energy trying to make up for his early crash. "I just banzaied it trying to make as many passes as I could," Hawk said. "I probably passed 15 guys on the first lap. I think that used too much of my energy. I didn't really hit the wall, but 1just seemed to drag a little bit more each lap." Smith was able to ride through all the carnage to grab fourth. "I'm actually not that tired," Smith said. "I could see Barry [Hawk] was getting tired toward the end, so I was able to pass him." Up front, Raines and Lafferty both fell in the same flat turn on the motocross section, and Kiedrowski passed Raines for second. Raines got back past him, as they headed into the woods again, and then he was able to catch Lafferty. The two series front-runners dueled for several miles after that. "I passed Lafferty a couple of times," Raines said. "Once I would pass him, though, he would just come back on me like a man on a mission. He was going like you wouldn't believe. I think Michael is the best guy in the series that can just crash, be down by 10 seconds, and just come back and floor it." Lafferty was charging hard, but a few incidents with lappers allowed Raines to get away. "He [Raines] was riding really strong," said Lafferty. "I tangled with a Iapper and he got by, and then the same thing happened with Mike [Kiedrowski]. Then I hit a hole and had a pretty good crash there. I pushed really hard all the way to the end to try and get Mike back, Defending ONCC Champion Rodney Smith finished fourth. but I couldn't get him." As most of the pack began to struggle with fatigue, Raines tried to hang on to the blistering pace by himself, and even he began to wilt on the last lap. "I ran out of water in my drink system on the last lap," said Raines. "You try to tell yourself that it's only a half-hour and you'll be okay, but you start getting worried. That last lap was tough. I had to just keep telling myself to keep pushing." eN LoI'8ttJI Lynn's Ranch Hurricane Mills, rennessee Rasults: April 21, 2002 (RDund 5 of 13J PRO O/A: 1. Jason Raines (Yam); 2. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz); 3. Mike Lafferty (KTM); 4. Rodney Smith (Suz); 5. Barry Hawk Jr. (Yam); 6. Randy Hawkins (Yam); 7. Joshua McLevy (Hon); B. Chuck Woodford (Kaw); 9. Cole Calkins (Kaw); 10. Robbie Jenks (Yam). AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 13 rounds): 1. Jason Raines (121/2 wins); 2. Mike Lafferty (109/1 win); 3. Mike Kiedrowski (86): 4. Rodney Smith (83/1 win); 5. Robbie Jenks (73); 6. Fred Andrews (72); 7. Brain Garrahan (65); 8. Randy Hawkins (64); 9. Barry Hawk Jr. (59); 10. Joshua McLevy (44). AMA HARE SCRAMBLES NATIONAL C'SHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 of 10 rounds): I. Brian Garrahan (60/1 win); 2. Jason Raines (48/1 win): 3. Russell Pearson (46); 4. Fred Andrews (43); 5. Matt Karlsen (30/1 win): 6. Chuck Woodford (28): 7. (TIE) Brian Brown/Mike Kiedrowski (25); 9. Mike Lafferty (21); 10. Eric Ducray (Suz). Upcoming Rounds (GNCC): Round 6 - Sparta, Kentucky, May 4-5 Round 7 - Uhrichsville, Ohio, June 1-2 Upcoming Rounds (HS): Round 4 - Kahoka. Missouri, April 28 Round 5 - Elkton, Oregon, July 7 BRIEFLY••• After finishing a career-best second overall at the previous round of the GNCC Series in South Carolina, SCRlYamaha's Robbie Jenks just couldn't get it together again this week. "It was really rough." said the Ohio native. who finished 1Oth at Loretta Lynn·s. "There are rocks everywhere on top of hard-pack. I just couidn't get into a rhythm out there.Another rider who was disappointed with his ride was California's Brian Garrahan. who leads the standings in the National Hare Scrambles Series. "I suck, man. - laughed Garrahan in the pits. "I didn't have any intensity out there. I was trying to miss bumps on the first lap and I wasn't even tired." Lucky for Garrahan. his main NHS Series rivals didn't make up much ground. as Fred Andrews finished well off the pace with a damaged cooling system. and several West Coast contenders didn't make the trip to Tennessee. Team Green rolled out their massive semi·truck for the event. Besides backing Fred Andrews. Chuck Woodford and Cole Calkins in the Pro class, Kawasaki backs several other amateur riders, such as 250cc A class contender Chris Gault and Califomia's Heather Wilson. who won the Women's Class. After nursing thumb and knee injuries along for the last month. Team FMF Suzuki's Steve Hatch tried to race at Loretta Lynn's but had to pull off. The popular rider from Arizona ran with the leaders early. but called it quits on the second lap once the pain started to kick in. Hatch was later seen out on the course with a pit board. cheering on his teammate Mike Kiedrowski. cue I e n e _ S • MAY 1. 2002 37

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