Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128339
AMA National Hare S cr a mbles Se ries STORY AND PHOTOS BY RAYMOND GUNDY eing injure d is no fun, just ask Y amaha rider Barry Hawk. He has been forced to sit out almost the entire GNCC series due to injury, all the while wondering if he could have successfully defended his GNCC number-one plate. Well, that question might just have been answered at round seven of the National Hare Scrambles Series at Rausch Creek in Pennsylvania. Against a talented field of GNCC regulars, Hawk came out on top , albeit after a fierce battle with his Yamaha teammate Jason Raines and a few other factory-backed racers. After all was said and done, Hawk was extremely happy with his performance. to say the least. "I got to prove and show everybody last year's championship wasn't a fluke," Hawk said. "I want to win the last four GNCC rounds. I am fired up and ready to race . I wish the next GNCC round was tomorrow." As the flag dropped, it was Hawk getting the holeshot, with everyone else following close behind him. After the first lap, Hawk was in first but was beginning to be challenged by Josh McLevyand Raines. The three riders battled for a few laps before McLevy soon became a victim of the rough Rausch Creek course. In one of the tougher sections, McLevy bent his rear brake lever on a rock and was violently thrown over the bars, effectively ending his day not long after it began. With McLevyout of the race, Hawk, Raines, Kanney and Blackwell were B 38 SEPTEMBER 1,2004 • CYCLE NEWS left to duke it out for the lead position . Each lap the four riders would come around jockeying for position. It soon became evident that the strongest racer wou ld be the one coming out on top, and this fact was clearly evident to Hawk. "I didn't try too hard to pull away at first," Hawk said. "I rode a com fortab le pace because it was the fist time I rode three hours since I wrecked . I've been working out, so I knew I wasn't going to get tired ." Hawk didn't get tired and in fact was able to put up quite a fight for the lead, a fight that was easily one of the best this year. "I think everybody took turns leading between Raines, Blackwell and I." Hawk said. "Every time a guy wou ld make a charge for the lead, something would happen or they would make a mistake in the rocks and drop back ." "The race had a lot of good battles between Barry [Hawk] , Nate [Kanney] and Doug [Blackwell]," Raines said. "It was really anybody's race today. " As for Kanney, he had an excellent race and was able to learn a lot from the more experienced veterans that he was battling with. "I felt out the track and waited until I got comfortable before I started pushing it," Kanney said. "I caught the lead pack and I just kind of hung out in the back of for the majority of the race, just kind of watching those guys, 40th Anniversary