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AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Round 5 of 13: Loretta Lynn's Ranch affair, Lafferty had the traction advantage on his KTM 450 fourstroke. But he was respectful of Hawk and didn't try to take him out, but he couldn't make the pass. Hawk then sped down the Pro pit road and pulled out enough of a lead to take a hardfought win. Lafferty, who came from last-tofirst at the previous round in South Carolina, tried to keep Hawk from doing the same thing at Loretta's. "I wanted to set a fast pace early and try to get away," said the multitime AMA National Enduro Champion. "I couldn't get away from everyone though. I'm happy; we're getting all the little bugs worked out of my program, and we're feeling good." Kiedrowski took third with room to breathe over last year's Loretta Lynn's winner, Raines. Raines is still trying to find that winning form he had last year before breaking his leg. He might have found it this weekend, but an overheated rear brake prevented him from Suzuki's three-person party at the front of the pack was short-lived, as Lafferty was charging hard early and displacing everyone in front of him. The first to exit the battle was Smith, who crashed hard just after the first check point and was slow to get up. The number-one plate holder eventually retired to the pits with bruised legs, thus suffering a rare crashinduced DNF. The defending champ rode well before he swapped out badly on a downhill and crashed hard. "I did a big face plant, broke my visor right off," Smith said. "I got a big charlie horse. My leg hurt so bad, I just couldn't get to my feet." After a short time, Smith was able to get back up under his own power but was in too much pain to continue. Then Hatch lost the fight when the power valve malfunctioned on his RM250, leaving him with an unpredictable power delivery. "My power valve broke just a few miles into the race," Hatch said. "I was feeling good, too. But after that, sometimes the bike had no power, and other times it would just hit all of a sudden without warning. That's pretty scary when you're trying to stay on top of whoops and there are trees on both sides." This left Lafferty and Kiedrowski to battle for the lead, and the two Mikes went at it hard, chasing each other around the 12-mile circuit for the next two hours. The rest of the pack was unable to close the impressive gap they had built. 32 MAY 7, 2003' cue I ... The only one to step up and challenge them was Hawk, who was into the top five by the end of lap one, and he just kept going, moving into third about halfway through the race. He spent the rest of the event tracking down the leaders, and he was aided by a fall by Kiedrowski. "The tires get really worn down here, and I just lost traction in a few spots and went down," Kiedrowski said. The biggest question was if Hawk had any energy left after riding so hard, but he had planned his strategy right so he would. "I didn't panic; in fact 1 was trying to save some energy for the end the whole way," Hawk said. "Then my wife told me we had only two laps left, and I knew there was no reason to save any energy after that, so I gave it everything I had." Hawk closed right to Lafferty's rear fender on the last lap, and when he made the move for the lead a few miles later, his comeback looked complete. But Lafferty wasn't going to let him go, and he latched on to Hawk's Yamaha and tried everything to get around on the final circuit. Incredibly, the three-hour race came down to the final motocross section, and with the track turning into a hard-packed blue-groove IAbove) After winning the previous round. defending Hare Scrambles champ Fred Andrews just couldn't get up to speed but stili finished fifth overall. (Lett) Barry Hawk proudly shows off his impressive first-place trophy. n ... _ s finding out for sure. "Barry [Hawkl got by me early, and I couldn't run with him; I was still tight," Raines said. "I stayed within about 10 seconds of him for a long time, and we were even, but then my rear brake boiled over. I came into the pits, and we bled them, but it never came back right. I had to keep pumping it to get it to catch at the top of the pedal." Raines isn't out of the title hunt, but he's not in the same spot where he was when he was winning races last year. "At this level it doesn't take much," Raines said. "Barry's being real consistent, and I keep having little problems. It's the exact opposite of last year." Andrews followed Raines across the finish line in fifth. After digging down deep for a GNCC win two weeks ago, the defending AMA Hare Scrambles Champion, Andrews, wore his number-one plate at Loretta's and was hoping for another win, but he just couldn't find the fire that got him into the South Carolina winners' circle. "I got up to fifth early, and that was aU I had," Andrews said. "I just didn't have the punch today." l:N Laretta Lynn's Ruch Hurricane Mills, Tennessee Results: April 27, 2003 [Round 5 of 131 O/A: I. Barry Hawk (Yam): 2. Mike Lafferty (KTM); 3. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz); 4. JlIson RllIines (Vern); 5. Fred Andrews (Kew); 6. Joshua McLevy (Yam); 7. Robbie Jenks (Yam); 8. Brian Gerrehan (KTM): 9. Randy Hawkins (Yam): 10. Joshu. Summey. AMA GRAND NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 13 rounds): 1. B8rry Hawk Jr. (126/2 wins); 2. JlJson Raines (100); 3. Michael Lefferty (89/1 win); 4. Robbie Jenks (79): 5. Fred Andrews (76/1 win): 6. Rodney Smith (72/1 win): 7. Randy Hawkins (52): a. Steve H.tch (51): 9. (TIE) Josh McLevy/Mike Kiedrowski (42).