though he won seven straight GNCC
ATV Ch a mp ions hips, Ba r ry Haw k
now know s why they say it's harder
to def e nd a tit le th an to w in o ne .
fte r storming to the Grand National
Cross Co untry title last year, the Am Pro Yamaha
factory rider came into 2004 ready to defen d his
num ber- one plate . But a se ries of strange incide nts and an injury e nded his run, and now Bar ry
is left w ith nothi ng more than a spoiler's ro le in
the points chase.
But spoil he will. After taking second place in his
first GNCC back from injury two weeks ago ,
Haw k scored a resou nding win at the first-ever
Mountainee r GNCC in Sum mersville, We st
Virginia.
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S4 OCTOBER 13,2004 • CYCLE NE WS
"The day went good," Hawk said in front of a
crowd on the GNCC podium. " I had a pretty bad
crash a few days ago on my track at home, so I
was n't sure wha t I wo uld be able to do here. I
gues s it turned out pretty goo d!"
Hawk wasn't the only favo rite who was pleasantly surprised with his performance. Second
place went to FMF Suzuki's Rodney Smith, the
series points leade r. Smith w as dealing w ith a
severe co ld head ing into the race and also was n't
sure he would run up front.
"It was one of the toughest races of the year,"
Smith said. "I had no energy. But things couldn't
have been bet te r, because I got a good start and
locked onto Bar ry and just let him pull me along.
But halfway through the race, I was feeling bad ."
40th Anniversary
