W@[Q)~[];V ~~ DLf[X]
CONTINUES TO
IMPRESS WITH HIS THIRD
By JA SON WEIGANDT
STRAIGHT GNCC WIN
PHOTOS BY RAYMOND GUNDY
I
/':
~
n what shou ld be the twi light of his career, Team FM F Suzuki's Rodney Smith has stepped his
game up to a level perhaps higher than at any point of his already-illustrious career. The 40- .
year-old four-time AMA Grand Nati ona l C ross Country Champion has now claimed three
'
GNCC wins in a row, and five wins in seven races dating back to last season. Simply put , Smith may
be in the midst of his hottest streak ever, and when you consider he already ow ns piles of AMA offroad titles, the accomplishment is noth ing short of amaz ing.
"A lot of people are ta lking about me winning at 40, but I t hink now I just see it as a num ber," Smith said
after coming out on top of another incred ible d uel to win the Yamaha GNCC/Nationa l Hare Scrambles at
Loretta Lynn's Ranch. "I don't know w hat it is right now. I wou ld have never dreamed I cou ld win three
in a row against all the com petition in th is series."
The com petition is there. For the third str aight race, Smith had to survive a full-tilt battle to the finish
with Am Pro Yamaha's Jaso n Raines, wh o ended up se con d again. Two months ago Raines, the defendi ng
Nationa l Hare Scra mbles Cha mpion, said he was trying to take a page fro m Smith's book and just have
fun at the races regardless of his re sults, but it can't be too fun co ming so close yet so far so often .
"T he last few races, I've bee n back there th inking, 'Where can I get him, w here can Iget him?"
Raines said. "But it' s toug h to compete against experience . He's wo n a lot more championships
than I have. All I can say is, I hate to get second , but if it's to a guy like Rodney Smith, it's not tha t
bad . He 's one of the grea test ambassadors of the sport, but hopefully he can retire so I can wi n some
of these races! Last year it was Barry; this year it's Rodney. Iguess I just have to bide my time and kee p learning."
If Raines does want to learn more from Smith, he 's getting a great opportun ity since the duo has spent several
I
28 MAY 5,2004 • CYCLE NEWS
40th Anniversary
